 | | A drive-through coronavirus testing site in Anaheim. California announced a deal that will increase its daily testing capacity by 150,000.Jae C. Hong/Associated Press |
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California officials on Wednesday flexed the market muscle of the nation’s most populous state, announcing a deal they said would more than double the state’s coronavirus testing capacity, driving down costs significantly. |
“We are moving forward in a different direction to disrupt the market,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “We’re advancing this partnership as only California can with our purchasing power and the number of people we have.” |
Coming in addition to the more than 100,000 tests conducted across the state on average each day, the new lab and supply chain run by the diagnostics company PerkinElmer, based in Massachusetts, will allow for 150,000 more tests per day, with a required turnaround of no more than two days, allowing public health officials to move quickly to identify outbreaks. |
That speed and capacity, officials said, will be critical for safely reopening schools and businesses. Mr. Newsom said that he would unveil updated reopening guidelines on Friday. |
The lab will ramp up starting this fall, a time at which experts worry a second wave of coronavirus cases will coincide with flu season, creating what Mr. Newsom described as a kind of respiratory “twindemic.” |
He said the deal with PerkinElmer would allow health care workers in California to test simultaneously for the flu and the coronavirus at no additional cost. |
The announcement comes not long after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly revised its testing guidelines to exclude people who don’t have symptoms of Covid-19, even if they have been exposed. |
Public health experts, who attribute much of the virus’s spread to people who are infected but not symptomatic, called the guideline change alarming and dangerous. |
California was the first state to recommend tests for some people without symptoms, and officials have been vocal about the need for widespread testing — particularly in populations that have been disproportionately affected by the virus, such as Latino Californians working in essential jobs. |
On Wednesday, Mr. Newsom roundly rejected the C.D.C. guidelines and positioned the new testing program as a kind of response to insufficient help from the federal government. |
“This is exactly what the federal government should be doing,” he said. “If you had seen the federal government doing this, it would’ve saved taxpayers billions of dollars.” |
State officials said the average cost of a coronavirus test currently ranges from $150 to $200. Once the new partnership is at full capacity, each test will cost as little as $31, though the higher figure also included things like staff protective gear, while The Sacramento Bee reported the lower price does not. |
Testing availability has varied widely across the country, and waits for results have stretched into weeks in some cases, making it impossible to warn contacts in time to contain the spread. |
Now, a brief update on the wildfires |
 | | From left, Jerry Rehmke, Marcia Ritz and Pam Stadnyk surveyed the damage in Spanish Flat. “We’ve lost so many people who won’t be back,” Mr. Rehmke said.Max Whittaker for The New York Times |
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Mr. Newsom on Wednesday once again underscored the historic scale of the wildfires this year. |
“If you don’t believe in climate change, please come to the state of California,” he said. “We will educate you.” |
In this latest round of blazes, he said, more than 15,000 firefighters were battling fires that have burned 1.3 million acres, with the weather continuing to be a challenge. Over the past day, 423 more lightning strikes sparked 50 new fires — though firefighters were able to suppress all of them. |
Seven deaths have been linked to the fires, though the governor warned that more may be discovered as neighborhoods reopened. Similarly, the number of homes and buildings that have been destroyed, currently 1,690, was expected to increase significantly once officials and residents could better survey the damage. |
- “2020 can go to hell.” In Lake Berryessa, residents have watched a pandemic and now fires ravage their town. [The New York Times]
- New evacuations were ordered in Yolo County as the L.N.U. Lightning Complex Fire continued to burn. [The Sacramento Bee]
- State lawmakers have proposed last-minute legislation that would add a fee — less than a dollar per month — to utility bills to help fight wildfires. [CalMatters]
- A Big Sur sanctuary for California condors was destroyed by fire. [The San Francisco Chronicle]
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Here’s what else to know today |
 | | Protesters voiced their displeasure at a likely wave of evictions in Los Angeles last week.Lucy Nicholson/Reuters |
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- As crucial deadlines loom, state lawmakers are working on only a short-term solution to the state’s eviction crisis. Nobody’s happy about it. [The San Francisco Chronicle]
- First the Milwaukee Bucks said they wouldn’t play in a playoff game against the Orlando Magic in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake by police officers in Kenosha, Wis. Then other athletes in the N.B.A., the W.N.B.A., Major League Baseball and other leagues said they wouldn’t play either. [The New York Times]
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- A sailor is being investigated for arson in a July fire that engulfed a warship in San Diego and took four days to extinguish. The Pentagon declined to answer questions about the investigation. [The New York Times]
- It’s hot and dry. You’ll want to plant some succulents. And if you’re one step ahead of me on that, here are some tips for not killing them. [The New York Times]
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 | | LeBron James was the headliner in a group of athletes who recently started a multimillion-dollar effort to recruit more and younger poll workers in Black electoral districts.Pool photo by Kim Klement |
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As we hurtle toward the election, there’s been a lot of attention paid to the mechanics of casting a ballot during a pandemic. |
So — although the postmaster general said he’d suspend cost-cutting measures until after the election following an outcry — California election officials created this mail-in ballot tracker aimed at easing voters’ minds. It will tell you when your ballot has been mailed, received and counted, the site says. |
Jill Cowan grew up in Orange County, went to school at U.C. Berkeley and has reported all over the state, including the Bay Area, Bakersfield and Los Angeles — but she always wants to see more. Follow along here or on Twitter, @jillcowan. |
California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley. |
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