About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2020)
6A Friday, November 13, 2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LOCA^NATION Unwelcome milestone: Calif, hits 1M virus cases BY BRIAN MELLEY AND AMY TAXIN Associated Press LOS ANGELES - A month ago, Antonio Gomez III was a healthy 46-year- old struggling like so many others to balance work and parenting during the corona- virus pandemic. This week, he’s struggling to breathe after a three- week bout with the deadly virus. Gomez let down his guard to see his parents and con tracted one of the more than 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in California. For months, the virus has hammered the economy, disproportionately affected the poor and upended daily life — and now the state and the rest of the country are trying to curb another surge of infections. California on Thursday became the second state — behind Texas — to eclipse a million known cases, while the U.S. has surpassed 10 million infections, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The nation’s most populous state — with 40 million residents — ranks 39th nationwide in the number of cases per 100,000 residents. The timeline of COVID- 19 in America often comes back to California. It had some of the earliest known cases among travelers from China, where the outbreak began. The Feb. 6 death of a San Jose woman is the first known coronavirus fatal ity in the U.S. That same month, California recorded the first U.S. case not related to travel and the first infec tion spread within the community. On March 19, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order, shuttering businesses and schools to try to prevent hospital overcrowding. The spread slowed, but California faced the same challenges as other states: providing enough protec tive gear for health workers, doing enough testing and providing timely results, tracking infections and those potentially exposed. As the state tried to bal ance public health and the economy, cases rose as it relaxed business restric tions. Eleven counties this week had to reimpose limits. The virus has struck poor Californians and Latinos especially hard. Latinos make up 39% of the popu lation but account for more than 60% of infections. In working-class neighbor hoods near downtown Los Angeles, one in five people tested positive at commu nity clinics during the pan demic’s early days, said Jim Mangia, president and chief executive of St. John’s Well Child and Family Center. Many caught the virus in essential low-wage jobs or on public transit and brought it back to crowded homes. “The tragedy of it all is that patients are getting infected at their work, they come to us and get tested, and they’re not being allowed to come back to work until they have a nega tive test,” Mangia said. “So, we have patients who have lost their jobs, lost their homes.” Maria Elena Torres faces that prospect. In late Octo ber, the 52-year-old house- cleaner from Long Beach started feeling lethargic. Then, her head ached. When nausea kicked in, she called the clinic. By the time she was diagnosed a few days later, she was vomiting so severely she had to pray for strength to make it back to her bedroom. Torres doesn’t know how she got infected. Three weeks later, she still has bouts of nausea and chills, which she nurses with oregano tea. She can’t work and risks falling behind on $1,200 in monthly bills. The office that collects her rent told her she can pay 25% now and the rest in 2021. “I said, ‘That’s not help,”’ Torres said. “’If the virus doesn’t kill me, you all are going to kill me with a heart attack.’” The clinic is conducting follow-up checks to assess the long-term impact of the virus, finding patients with stress and anxiety. “People are suffering,” Mangia said. With people worn out by isolation, health officials warned against get-togeth ers as the holidays approach and people spend more time indoors, where the virus spreads more easily. That’s what happened to Gomez, a finance profes sional living in Simi Valley with his wife, a nurse, and three children, ages 1 to 6. As his birthday approached last month, Gomez decided to let his parents visit. They had been following social restrictions, and he feared they were becoming depressed. Gomez and his wife had done the right things — wearing masks, social dis tancing — but were tired from juggling work and child care and missed their family. “We thought even in spite of the risks, to allow my parents to visit for a few days and have some time where we could be together,” Gomez said Tues- GRADUATION ■ Continued from 1A and one in Gainesville. Hall’s graduation rates dipped in the 2018-19 school year compared to a year before, but the 2019-20 school year’s numbers recovered to set a record for the district, despite switching to online learning the spring, school officials said. Hall County also graduated 1,936 students in 2019-2020, com pared to 1,762 graduates from last year, reaching a district record for highest number of graduates. Among the eight Hall high schools included in the 2019- 2020 report, West Hall High School came out on top with a 95.5% graduation rate, just above Flowery Branch High School’s rate of 95.2%. Hall Superintendent Will Schofield stated in a press release Nov. 11, that these numbers are a reflection of the district and board’s focus on its balanced scorecard and “belief in rigor for all students.” “The increase we have witnessed in our graduation rates over the past five years is a testament to the hard work and sacrifice of our team members and students — and it’s a K-12, classified and certified, team effort,” Schofield stated. “We are committed to preparing our students for the oppor tunities that await them after high school, whether that be post-secondary study, military or immediate entry into the workforce.” Gainesville High School also saw its rate jump up over the previous year after a dip from the rate of 87.9% in school year 2017-18 to 81% in 2018-19. Though it still has not made up the ground from that drop, Principal Jamie Green said the school’s 500 students in the class of 2020 earned their diplomas during “the most difficult and unprecedented of circumstances.” “Because of their individual talents and the support of the entire community, they were able to finish strong and pre pare for the next phase of their lives,” Green stated. “Our students earned almost $8,000,000 of merit-based scholar ships and were accepted at some of the nation’s most pres tigious universities. We are excited to track their success as they look to become leaders and influencers in the local community and beyond.” Graduation rates Hall County Gainesville high schools High School 2019-2020: 88.9% 2019-2020: 86.1% 2018-2019: 87.4% 2018-2019: 81% 2017-2018: 88.2% 2017-2018: 87.9% day, breathing supplemental oxygen. “Somewhere along the way, the virus came through my father, managed to infect him, and he carried it right into our house.” On Gomez’s 47th birth day, his father had a runny nose and cough. The father learned he had COVID-19 two days later after return ing home. Gomez said flu like symptoms “hit me hard and hit me fast” the follow ing day. On day six, as it became harder to breathe, he went to the emergency room. He was discharged and told to return if his condition worsened. Five days later, he did. He’d be at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medi cal Center for 12 days with acute respiratory failure. He received new treat ments, such as remdesivir, the steroid dexamethasone and an experimental anti inflammation drug. “My body was spiraling downwards,” he said. “If things continued to prog ress for the worse, who knows what would have happened.” Dr. Thomas Yadegar, a pulmonologist who treated Gomez, said he fears more cases of the unpredictable disease as people gather for the holidays. “Some patients have minimal symptoms, and others, such as Mr. Gomez, have severe symptoms war ranting hospitalization,” Yadegar said. “If COVID-19 spreads throughout your household, you can’t predict which of your loved ones may die.” Gomez’s father was hos pitalized for five days. His mother got sick but man aged her symptoms at home. His wife, also infected, did the same while looking after their children. JAE C. HONG I Associated Press A nurse assists a COVID-19 patient at El Centro Regional Medical Center July 21, in El Centro, Calif. 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