World Socialist Web Site

wsws.org

Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)

1

California

999 San Diego school reopenings update

23 January 2021

999 Covid outbreak at California ports

23 January 2021

Morgues overflow, air quality restrictions on crematoriums suspended as Los Angeles County surpasses 1 million COVID-19 cases

By Angelo Perera, 19 January 2021

Some hospitals report operating at over 300 percent capacity as southern California counties procure dozens of refrigerator trucks to hold the dead.

School nurses return to campuses as United Teachers Los Angeles covers for Democrats

By Tadakatsu Čapek, 18 January 2021

Two years after betraying the strike by 33,000 teachers, the United Teachers Los Angeles is collaborating with state and local Democrats to reopen schools in the epicenter of the world pandemic.

Three million in Los Angeles County have been infected with COVID-19 as workplace outbreaks reach all-time high

By Kevin Martinez, 16 January 2021

The virus is so widespread, according to the Los Angeles Times, that the infection rate has likely been slowed down by the large numbers of people who have already contracted it and developed a temporary immunity.

999 LA county workplace Covid-19 outbreaks at an all time high

15 January 2021

California hospitals ration oxygen as COVID-19 death toll surpasses 30,000

By Peter Ross, 13 January 2021

More than one in ten of the total number of COVID-19 deaths in California since the beginning of the pandemic took place in just the last week, at a rate of almost 500 per day.

Video shows Modesto, California police officer gunned down unarmed man with hands up

By Shawn Velia and John Andrews, 13 January 2021

A body camera recording released by the Modesto Police Department in California shows an unarmed man gunned down, and then shot a second time while trying to surrender with his hands raised.

Hundreds of workplace outbreaks of COVID-19 along US West Coast

By Kayla Costa, 11 January 2021

In California, there are 511 active workplace outbreaks connected to the infections of 10,000 employees in service, logistics, food processing and other industries.

Record numbers of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations across the US as pandemic surge continues

By Kevin Martinez, 8 January 2021

The situation in southern California remains especially dire, with Los Angeles County emerging as a global epicenter of the virus.

999 Interview with California nurse

7 January 2021

California governor pressures schools to reopen as health care system nears collapse

By Dan Conway, 7 January 2021

As COVID-19 cases and deaths break records, California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state will provide cash-strapped districts with extra funding if they resume unsafe in-person learning.

Hospitals overwhelmed and bodies loaded into semi-trailers as California reaches breaking point with COVID-19

By Gabriel Black, 4 January 2021

The flood of coronavirus cases has exposed the underfunded and unprepared health care system in the richest state in the US.

“Our patients are dying like flies, it’s like a warzone”

Nurses call for help as California hospitals pushed to the brink

By Evelyn Rios, 31 December 2020

Every day deaths continue to break one-day records, with 440 deaths on Tuesday, more than half of which are from Los Angeles County.

California hospitals overwhelmed as COVID-19 cases hit 2 million

By Kevin Martinez, 30 December 2020

The state is now the epicenter of the pandemic in the US, with zero percent ICU capacity at many of its regions’ hospitals.

999 California hospitals overwhelmed

29 December 2020

California educators, healthcare and logistics workers: Unite to stop COVID-19 and save lives now!

By Northern California Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 29 December 2020

Urgent and far-reaching action is needed to prevent the reopening of schools and stop the spread of the pandemic across California this winter. Join our committee now!

Reject the SEIU sellout: Mobilize the working class to defend HCA nurses in southern California!

By Evelyn Rios, 24 December 2020

With the pandemic spreading out of control and California hospitals strained beyond capacity by the flood of nearly 20,000 COVID-19 patients, including at least 3,500 in ICUs, nurses in Southern California have taken a stand to demand safe staffing levels and protections that are critical to save the lives of health care workers and patients alike.

Mobilize the working class to defend HCA nurses!

For a general strike to halt nonessential production and alleviate strain on the health care system

By Evelyn Rios, 23 December 2020

With ICUs at zero percent and 100,000 additional hospitalizations expected in January, immediate action must be taken by the working class to save lives.

Southern California nurses should reject SEIU’s effort to sabotage struggle for safe conditions

By Evelyn Rios, 22 December 2020

Nurses are already expressing fear that the contract will do nothing to improve the dire conditions at three Southern California hospitals in the immediate or near future.

As pandemic surges, California hospitals move to ration care

By Brian Dixon, 22 December 2020

With health care systems being overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases and intensive care units filled to capacity, hospitals are starting to ration care, withholding it from those deemed unlikely to survive the disease.

Southern California hospital ICUs reach zero percent capacity as COVID-19 rips through state

By Kevin Martinez, 19 December 2020

The needless suffering and death unfolding in the fifth largest economy in the world are the deliberate outcome of the ruling class’s policy of “herd immunity.”

California officials order 5,000 body bags as state’s intensive care units near full capacity

By Peter Ross, 17 December 2020

On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that state officials had ordered thousands of additional body bags and 63 refrigerated trailers to store the dead, as coronavirus infections explode throughout the state.

Build independent rank-and-file safety committees!

Southern California nurses to strike for health and safety of patients and workers

By Kevin Martinez and Evelyn Rios, 16 December 2020

Citing short staffing levels and unsafe conditions, nurses with SEIU Local 121RN authorized a strike by 92 percent at three Southern California hospitals.

Opposition erupts at San Diego State University following decision to cancel spring break

By IYSSE at San Diego State University, 9 December 2020

The university administration, acting in conjunction with the Democratic Party, has created the conditions for the spread of the virus while providing students with no resources to cope with the stress of school and work amidst a public health emergency.

California’s new COVID-19 restrictions place burden on workers and small business owners

By David Fitzgerald, 8 December 2020

The stay-at-home order which went into effect Sunday night for most of the state offers no protection to workers and no financial compensation to ruined small business owners while allowing large workplaces and factories to remain open.

Hundreds evacuated in the face of fast-moving Southern California wildfire

By Rafael Azul, 4 December 2020

That the continuing fire season has caught California with insufficient resources with which to combat the record spate of wildfires is an indictment of the capitalist profit system.

“I just have been in a fog since the incident”

Two years since the Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise, California

By Linda Rios and Alexa Castro, 3 December 2020

While environmental conditions, such as strong winds and low humidity, factored into the severity of the disaster, the event was largely due to negligence by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), the utility company which provides electricity to northern California.

zzzzz999 Two years since Camp fire destroyed Paradise

2 December 2020

California Highway Patrol evicts homeless families on Thanksgiving eve

By Jacob Crosse, 28 November 2020

Citing COVID-19 state mandated shelter-in-place orders, families and activists with Reclaim and Rebuild our Community attempted to take up residence in vacant publicly owned homes.

Mass layoffs loom for Silicon Valley service workers

By Aditya Veeraiah, 25 November 2020

With many white-collar workers working from home, tech giants are threatening the jobs of thousands of cafeteria, janitorial, transportation and other service workers.

California ballot propositions: Voters reject identity politics, but app-based delivery giants buy protection

By David Levine, 21 November 2020

There were contradictory results on November 3: voters rejected an effort to revive affirmative action programs that discriminate based on race, but they also rejected efforts to protect “gig” workers from exploitation, after a $200 million campaign by corporate giants like Uber and Lyft.