COVID-19 Task Force Update (May 11, 2020)

Dear KGI Community:

The KGI COVID-19 Task Force met during our regular Monday morning meetings to review important updates regarding the pandemic.

Return Information:

• We do not have a confirmed return to work date.
• We do not have a confirmed return to campus date for students.
• The current LA County Order expires on Friday, May 15, 2020, but there has been no communication regarding an extension of the order. If the order expires on Friday, May 15, 2020, KGI will not automatically report to campus.
• Once a return to work date has been determined, following LACDPH guidance, we plan to give our community advanced notice and information about any changes to campus operations upon our return.

Communication:

• In the event that the internet is not a reliable means of communication to our faculty, staff, and students, we have set up a phone message collection system which can be used by mobile or landline.
• Please enter this number into your phone as KGI Critical Message Delivery: 909.607.7855 #4. When calling this number, press 4 to hear whether we have activated this feature. If activated, you will hear an updated message from the institution with directions for our community. Upon activation, this mailbox will be monitored for messages from our community as needed.

Case Updates:

• 1 new confirmed student case was self-reported. Their last date on KGI campus was 3/25/2020.
• 1 new presumptive case was self-reported. Their last date on KGI’s campus was 3/13/2020.
• Both cases confirmed no contact with anyone in the KGI community since last date at KGI.

General COVID-19 Press Conference Updates:

Cases – Reported as of Summary Time

 

Good sources for tracking data and updated a couple of times of day:

• latimes.com/projects/california-coronavirus-cases-tracking-outbreak
• worldometers.info/coronavirus
• covid19.ca.gov

White House/National Coverage

• Pence’s Press Secretary tested positive for the virus on Friday. The White House plans to ask most officials—not Trump—to wear face masks.
• As the country reopens, most states have not met minimal criteria for doing so safely, and some are reopening even as virus cases rise. The second wave of infection may not wait until fall, many scientists say. Instead, it may become a series of wavelets occurring unpredictably across the country.
• New evidence is showing that masks—if worn in public places, by everyone—are far more effective at stopping transmission than previously realized.
• The American economy plunged deeper into crisis last month, losing 20.5 million jobs as the unemployment rate jumped to 14.7 percent, the worst devastation since the Great Depression.
• Nearly 80 percent of the unemployed said that they had been temporarily laid off and expected to return to their jobs in the coming months.
• The Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it had granted emergency authorization for the first at-home saliva collection kit to test for the coronavirus.
  • The kit was developed by a Rutgers University laboratory, called RUCDR Infinite Biologics, in partnership with Spectrum Solutions and Accurate Diagnostic Labs. They must be ordered by a physician.
  • To date, 8.1 million people in the United States have been tested. But public health experts said testing needed to double by the end of May.
  • The F.D.A. said that Rutgers had submitted data showing that testing saliva samples collected by patients themselves, under the observation of a health care provider, was as accurate as testing deep nasal swabs that the health professional had collected from them. The agency also said the spit collection kits should be limited to people who are exhibiting symptoms.

State of California – Governor Gavin Newsom Update

• The state had constructive conversations with 19 counties over the last three days about self-certifying to allow them to move further into Phase 2 than the state as a whole with nine scheduled today, per Governor Gavin Newsom.
• Announcements on counties moving further into Phase 2 are expected Tuesday—detailed guidelines for different sectors will also be released on dining, offices, and malls.
• Newsom noted that the state has moved beyond the CDC’s guidelines for who should be tested for coronavirus and was the first to do so. So far, the state recommends testing for essential workers, including those who are asymptomatic. Updates on testing will be provided Tuesday.
• California and other states in the Western States Pact are requesting in the range of $1 trillion from the federal government in aid, Newsom said. The group, formed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, includes California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Colorado.
• On Friday, the state distributed 11 million masks to critical industries, Newsom said. That includes:
  • 5 million masks for the Department of Social Services, childcare facilities, in-home support services, and other Social Services-run adult and senior facilities
  • 4.2 million masks provided to farmworkers and in agriculture
  • 750,000 distributed for grocers and those in the food supply chain
  • 500,000 for the Department of Education
  • Tens of thousands to transit agencies
• The state has distributed $13.1 billion in unemployment funds, Newsom said, with a total of 4.5 million people who’ve filed for unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance since March 12. That includes $3.4 billion distributed last week.
• When new numbers are released, Newsom said, the unemployment rate will be north of 20%—potentially between 22 and 25%.
• Major League Baseball presented a plan today to hold games without fans; however, what will happen with baseball is still to be determined. Newsom said that the state will be driven by public health, and that the commissioner of the MLB has told him that the organization will not do anything that isn’t permitted by the state’s guidelines.
• Starting today, riders on Los Angeles County’s transit system are required to wear masks or other protective face coverings.
• The latest national unemployment numbers showed the second highest rate since the Great Depression. Statistics are known to lag behind true unemployment. There were 4.3 million people who filed for unemployment since March 12 and the state of California is over 20% unemployed right now, Newsom said.
• The governor spoke about the November election and how to conduct it safely. He signed an executive order today to send every voter a mail-in ballot but noted that there will still be in-person locations for those who want them—including those who aren’t familiar with mail-in ballots, aren’t comfortable with mail-in ballots, or have disability issues. A plan for in-person voting is planned to be ready by the end of the month.

L.A. Department of Public Health/County of Los Angeles

• 39 new deaths and 591 new cases reported today.
• Of the people who’ve died so far, 92% had underlying health conditions, a statistic that has not changed for two weeks.
• More than 240,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 and had the results reported to county health officials. Of those tests, 12% have been positive.
• 5,437 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (17% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness.
• Ferrer also noted that health officials are working to determine the links between COVID-19 and the unusual and rare Kawasaki syndrome, which has emerged across the U.S. The disease typically affects young children and causes inflammation in the walls of blood vessels in the body. The disease is treatable but is known as a leading cause of acquired heart disease in the U.S., according to the CDC.
• Per Ferrer: “… for many of the cases where this syndrome has been seen in different parts of the country, there has been a link to the following: either a child has tested positive for having antibodies to COVID-19 — that means at some point in the past they had the infection — or a child is currently positive for COVID-19 … We are today beginning a survey at all of our pediatric intensive care units to make sure that they haven’t identified a similar syndrome … we’re going to work with the entire country at better understanding these risks for children.”
• Public Health surveyed businesses this weekend to determine if physical distancing and infection control measures were being followed. Of the 410 businesses surveyed, 162 were in violation of the Health Officer Order because they were allowing customers into stores, not following physical distancing measures and not requiring customers to wear cloth face coverings.
• As a reminder, retail establishments are closed to public entry and must ensure compliance with all protocols before reopening. Inspectors will continue to monitor for compliance and ensure that all adhere to the Health Officer Order.
• Norma Garcia, the acting director of LA County’s Parks and Recreation Department, said the reopening of hiking trails and golf courses after weeks of closure went successfully, if not perfectly.

Business Insider, May 8, 2020
How 25 major US colleges plan to reopen for the fall semester

As a reminder, the most up to date information on KGI’s COVID-19 response can be found on the coronavirus website.

Be well,

Kelly Esperias
Vice President of Institutional Development

 

Back to kgi.edu/coronavirus page