Ana B. Ibarra /CalMatters

The California Legislature has approved several Medi-Cal budget items that would remove barriers to care, such as the asset rule. Now it’s negotiating with Gov. Newsom.

As the governor and lawmakers wrangle over the budget, local public health departments are underfunded and overwhelmed. Outdated equipment and insufficient staff hamper handling of everything from asthma to syphilis.

Doctors and other health experts predict that, in the near future, the year-long delays in patients seeking medical care brought about by the pandemic could cause worsening health conditions, delayed diagnoses and earlier deaths.

The CEO of Blue Shield predicts it will take until the end of April to ease California’s backlog. “When you make millions of people eligible overnight, there’s not millions of appointments immediately available,” he told CalMatters.

California today hit a benchmark of delivering 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to underserved communities, triggering a big change that will transform the state’s reopening map from purple to mostly red.

About 73% of farmworkers said they would get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, but vaccination clinics at farm worksites are still infrequent and reliant on scarce supply.

Will California’s bumpy vaccine rollout, more contagious coronavirus mutations, and decision to open up the state send COVID-19 cases surging again?

The new variant so far has been detected in six people in the Golden State, after its initial discovery in the U.S. in a Colorado National Guardsman.

After painting a dark forecast for the pandemic earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom today offered parents and students some hope: He has a $2-billion plan for schools to start in-person learning by spring.

California is in the throes of another COVID-19 surge — cases are skyrocketing and hospital beds are filling up quickly. But a glimmer of hope has emerged in the last leg of 2020: The first batch of vaccines could arrive in early December.

The governor announces the opening of a PerkinElmer lab in Santa Clarita that will help double statewide COVID-19 testing capacity by March.

A still rampaging coronavirus pandemic means schools have spent gobs of money just to add the necessary protective equipment and cleaning staff necessary for a safe and effective school reopening.