Coronavirus hospitalizations have doubled in California over last three days

Reza Khandan got the word from friends locked away in Iran’s most feared prison, Evin. A prisoner and a guard in their cell block had been removed because they were suspected of having coronavirus, and two guards in the women’s ward had shown symptoms.

It was frightening news. Khandan’s wife, Nasrin Sotoudeh, one of Iran’s most prominent human rights lawyers, is imprisoned in that ward in close quarters with 20 other women. Only days earlier, the 56-year-old Sotoudeh — known for defending activists, opposition politicians and women prosecuted for removing their headscarves — had held a five-day hunger strike demanding prisoners be released to protect them from the virus.

“The virus has entered the jail, but we don’t know the extent of it,” Khandan, who had until recently been imprisoned in Evin as well, told the Associated Press by phone from Tehran.

“It will be impossible to control,” Khandan warned.

Tens of thousands of political prisoners are jailed in Iran, Syria and other countries around the Middle East, punished for anything from advocating for democracy and promoting women’s or workers’ rights to holding Islamist views, protesting or simply criticizing autocratic leaders on Facebook or YouTube.

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As a cruise ship stranded at sea with dozens sick and four dead makes for Florida, passengers who have been confined to their rooms for more than a week are anxious for relief, hoping Gov. Ron DeSantis will change his mind and allow them to disembark despite confirmed coronavirus cases aboard.

Orlando technical writer Laura Gabaroni and her husband, Juan Huergo, have wanted to explore the southernmost tip of South America for years — to see the penguins on the Falkland Islands and the glacial landscapes of the Strait of Magellan. But their vacation turned harrowing as countries shunned them and people fell ill.

“It’s been a trying time, especially because of the many ups and downs we’ve seen along the way,” Gabaroni said. “We are unable to leave our rooms, haven’t had fresh air in days.”

Hundreds of passengers and crew members from the Zaandam have not stepped on dry land for 15 days as the novel coronavirus prompted authorities around the world to seal borders, implement checkpoints and force people into quarantines. Passengers were asked to keep their rooms dark and leave their drapes closed when they passed through the Panama Canal on Sunday night after days of wrangling with local authorities.

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Convicted Los Angeles lawyer Michael Avenatti urged a court on Monday to release him from a federal jail in New York after a judge agreed that his health could be jeopardized by the spread of the coronavirus among inmates.

The former attorney for adult-film actress Stormy Daniels is part of a growing group of high-profile prisoners, including comedian Bill Cosby and financier Bernie Madoff, who say they should be set free to protect them from COVID-19.

The pleas for mercy come amid mounting concerns that jails and prisons could serve as dangerous breeding grounds for the coronavirus. An inmate and four people who work in Los Angeles County jails have tested positive for COVID-19. After displaying symptoms Thursday, the inmate was taken to L.A. County-USC Medical Center.

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Social distancing is reducing transmission of the coronavirus in the Seattle area, but not enough to contain it, according to a new study.

It estimated that by March 18, each newly infected person was transmitting the virus to an average of 1.4 other people — down from 2.7 in late February, before bans on gatherings and other measures were put in place.

But to start reducing the growth in new cases, that figure would have to fall below one.

Health officials warned that Seattle’s progress was insufficient, and urged residents to redouble their commitment to hand-washing, working from home and staying away from anyone but close family members.

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More than 1 million Californians have applied for unemployment assistance as coronavirus cases have surged in recent weeks.

The pandemic and the economic devastation it has caused have led many renters to wonder how they’re going to pay rent on April 1 — after weeks of being asked to stay home and, in some cases, not work to slow the spread of the virus.

From eviction bans to mortgage relief, here’s a guide to protections for renters and homeowners in California.

Do I still owe rent?

Yes. No government program passed to date relieves California renters of their duty to pay. Even in Los Angeles and other cities where renter relief efforts have been approved, tenants are required to ultimately pay back rent in full.

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Prosecutors and public defenders vented their anger Monday with a decision by California’s judicial leaders to extend some legal deadlines and recommend that hearings be held remotely.

The state’s Judicial Council, which makes policy and sets rules for the courts, voted unanimously Saturday to extend the deadlines for pre-trial criminal matters and recommended they be conducted remotely by telephone or video if possible, during the coronavirus crisis.

Public defenders, who have been trying to get clients out of jail, were furious about the extension of deadlines. Prosecutors were upset that judicial leaders merely recommended remote hearings rather than ordering them.

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Earth movers crawl over huge mounds of dirt. Dump trucks creep onto Prairie Avenue, bringing traffic to a crawl. Back-up alarms beep and dust swirls as heavy equipment navigates the sprawling site where the gleaming, sail-shaped centerpiece of Inglewood is rising toward completion.

SoFi Stadium, the $5-billion future home of the NFL’s Rams and Chargers, is scheduled to open in late July with a Taylor Swift concert. And nothing, not even the coronavirus outbreak that has staggered entire industries and kept tens of millions of workers across the county at home, is stopping construction.

Over the weekend, an unidentified worker tested positive for COVID-19 and another Monday was said to be “presumed positive.” But an estimated 3,000 people — carpenters, crane operators, electricians, iron workers, painters and tile layers — remain on the job. Some of them, though thankful for the opportunity while unemployment skyrockets, worry that the project could expose them and their families to the virus.

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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Monday that landlords would not be allowed to increase the rent for hundreds of thousands of apartments in the city, in his latest effort to ease the financial hardship on Angelenos from the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement covers about 624,000 apartments that currently fall under the city’s rent stabilization program, according to city statistics. Normally, that program allows owners of apartment buildings built on or before October 1978 to increase rents by about 3% or 4% every year. Most newer apartments and single-family rentals, which are not subject to rent control under state law, will remain unaffected by Garcetti’s executive order.

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Ford Motor Co. is speeding up plans to produce ventilators in cooperation with General Electric Co. by selecting a simpler design of the medical devices and will aim to churn out 50,000 units in the next 100 days.

The automaker will convert an auto-parts plant in Michigan to make breathing machines designed by Airon Corp. and licensed by GE Healthcare starting the week of April 20, according to a statement. The new configuration chosen by the companies will allow them to start production before another type of ventilator they has announced last week, which won’t be ready until June.

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At Sharp Memorial Hospital in Serra Mesa, Calif., nurses treat a patient diagnosed with Coronavirus in a special negative pressure isolation room of the Emergency Department.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda/Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Hospitalizations continued to spike in California as the coronavirus spreads, officials said Monday.

Between Friday and Monday, the number of California patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in intensive-care beds nearly tripled to 597 from 200.

The number of hospitalizations has nearly doubled, from 746 to 1,432.

Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s secretary of health and human services, said the state’s modeling suggests California will need 50,000 new hospital beds by mid-May.

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As teachers throughout the Burbank and Glendale unified school districts begin a transition to online learning this week, Charter Communications is extending its 60-day free internet offer to kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers and college instructors.

The offer is available to teachers throughout the United States who currently do not have Spectrum service. A self-installation kit is also available for free.

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Burbank officials are cracking down on stores that have been allowing customers to line up on city streets and ignore social-distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The city issued new social-distancing rules on Friday for essential businesses that don’t heed health officials’ advice on people maintaining a 6-foot buffer between one another.

Any business or person found in violation of the order will be issued a misdemeanor citation, according to a statement from city spokeswoman Simone McFarland.

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Home sharing company Airbnb Inc. said it will give $250 million to hosts on its platform who have lost money from coronavirus-related cancellations at their properties.

Airbnb initially resisted refunding U.S. guests over coronavirus-related cancelations, relenting only after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global pandemic on March 11. A few days later, Airbnb said travelers in the U.S. could receive refunds. The decision eased criticism from consumers but was bad news for hosts, many of whom were already worried about their future lost earnings.

Monday’s announcement is a response to sustained backlash from those hosts, some of whom bought properties specifically to list them on Airbnb. The company said it would pay 25% of what the host would “normally receive through your cancellation policy.”

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Regulators on Monday directed health insurance companies to provide increased telehealth access for consumers during the state of emergency issued by California’s governor in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

In a news release, the California Department of Insurance pointed out that health insurance companies must continue to “provide access to medically necessary care, and California policyholders should be able to access medically necessary health care without physically visiting their provider in person, when clinically appropriate.”

The action affected 2 million Californians covered by Department of Insurance-regulated health policies.

“Being able to interact with your healthcare provider electronically will protect vulnerable people from unnecessary in-person visits with their health providers and get them help faster,” Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a statement. “Increasing access to telehealth helps consumers comply with social distancing guidelines, protects the health of vital healthcare providers and guarantees access to care for our most vulnerable during these extraordinary times.”

Previously, Lara had directed health insurance companies to submit emergency plans detailing how they will ensure continued access to medically necessary healthcare services for the duration of the state of emergency.

Monday’s notice also provides that insurance companies should:

• Allow all network providers to use all available and appropriate modes of telehealth delivery, including, but not limited to, synchronous video and telephone-based service delivery
• Immediately implement reimbursement rates for telehealth services that mirror payment rates for an equivalent office visit
• Eliminate barriers to providing medically and clinically appropriate care using appropriate telehealth delivery models
• Use telehealth service delivery methods to enable consumers to have access to mental-health and substance-use disorder services, family therapy and behavioral health services, including services to treat autism, among others.

Earlier this month, the California Department of Managed Health Care — which oversees all HMOs in California and finances healthcare services for about 13 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries — sent out a similar advisory to health plan representatives.

In the letter, the agency’s acting general counsel, Sarah Ream, noted, “Health plans shall reimburse providers at the same rate, regardless of whether a service is provided in-person or through telehealth, if the service is the same regardless of the modality of delivery.

“For example, if a health plan reimburses a mental health provider $100 for a 50-minute therapy session conducted in-person, the health plan shall reimburse the provider $100 for a 50-minute therapy session done via telehealth,” Ream wrote.

Additionally, for services provided via telehealth, a health plan cannot subject enrollees to cost-sharing greater than the same cost-sharing if the service were provided in person.

Los Angeles County officials are investigating coronavirus outbreaks at 11 area nursing homes, where elderly residents with underlying health conditions are among the most vulnerable to the deadly new pathogen.

That’s nearly quadruple the number of nursing home outbreaks county officials had announced on Friday. The county defines an outbreak as three or more cases involving residents or staff at a facility.

The county’s Department of Public Health was also investigating reports of at least one suspected coronavirus infection at seven additional nursing homes as of Monday afternoon. Of the county’s 44 deaths from coronavirus, six were nursing home residents.

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Arizona is the latest state to issue shelter in place guidelines in response to the coronavirus crisis.

“Keeping Arizonans safe and healthy as we slow the spread of COVID-19 remains our top priority,” Gov. Doug Ducey said in a news release.

“Arizona citizens and businesses are already responsibly responding to this crisis. This order builds on the state’s efforts to protect public health by reminding Arizonans to maintain healthy habits and find alternative ways to stay connected with friends and loved ones while spending time at home. Slowing the spread of COVID-19 will ensure we build capacity in our healthcare system, and help protect the lives of those we love most. It’s important to emphasize that there are no plans to shut down grocery stores. People should continue to buy what you need for a week’s worth of groceries. I’m grateful to everyone making adjustments to fight this virus and protect others. Arizona will get through this, and we’ll do it together.”

L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said four employees have tested positive for coronavirus along with one inmate.

More than 100 recreational vehicles in a lot at Dockweiler State Beach are being used to house people who have tested positive or have symptions of COVID-19.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles County officials confirmed seven new coronavirus-linked deaths Monday, bringing the death toll to 44.

Six of the victims were 65 or older, and one was in the age range of 41 to 65, Public Health Department director Barbara Ferrer said.

Ferrer announced an additional 342 confirmed cases of the virus in the county, bringing the total to 2,474.

That count includes individuals who have recovered — a number that officials are working to accurately track.

“More than 15,500 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the county,” Ferrer said. “Of that group, 12% tested positive for the virus. Although our numbers continually rise, we have to assume there are others infected.”

Officials are investigating cases at 25 different institutions, including 18 nursing homes or skilled nursing facilities.

Eleven of those facilities have three or more COVID-19 cases, which Ferrer said was the mark of an outbreak.

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Gjusta will be closed through April 5 after one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19, according to a sign posted on the restaurant’s door on Monday.

The sign said that while the source of the coronavirus infection was unknown, the employee had not been involved in the care of a COVID-19-positive individual or recently traveled to any affected areas, leading the Venice deli and bakery to assume the virus was contracted through community spread.

A post to Gjusta’s Instagram account clarified that the employee had “presented with fatigue and a sore throat, with no reported fever or coughing” and that “the individual tested out of an abundance of caution due to an immunocompromised family member.”

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Authorities nationwide are starting to crack down on pastors who violate stay-at-home orders intended to stop the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

In Florida on Monday, the pastor of the River at Tampa Bay megachurch was arrested and released on bond, charged with misdemeanor unlawful assembly and violation of a public health emergency order. The charges were filed after the Rev. Rodney Howard-Browne held two Sunday services that were packed in defiance of a county stay-at-home order, according to livestream video posted online.

In Texas, three Houston pastors on Monday challenged a similar stay-at-home order in the surrounding county that does not exempt churches. They asked the state Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the order after they held evangelical services Sunday, said Jared Woodfill, their attorney.

While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued orders limiting gatherings, he exempted churches.

The stay-at-home order in Houston’s Harris County carries a penalty of up to one year in jail or a $1,000 fine. Police have yet to impose those penalties on the pastors, but they cited one of them — the Rev. Juan Bustamante of City on a Hill Church — attempting to halt his service even though he preached outside with 10 feet of social distance between worshipers, Woodfill said.

No one in the three churches has tested positive for COVID-19, Woodfill said.

He said the order “clearly violates the religious beliefs of people” by deeming some businesses such as grocery stores essential and allowing them to stay open while churches are closed.

“You can go to a liquor store, but you can’t go to church,” Woodfill said.

The same has been true in Louisiana, where some churches held services Sunday in defiance of a statewide stay-at-home order, including the Rev. Tony Spell at Life Tabernacle Church outside Baton Rouge.

At a Monday briefing, Gov. John Bel Edwards said he has not pressured local authorities to close the church, “but I do implore those folks to comply.”

“We’re asking everyone, including our faith leaders and Pastor Spell, to discontinue those services and do what many others have done and look at ways to transition their ministry,” including online, Bel Edwards said. “We’re asking people to do what is their obligation as a citizen.”

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Coronavirus infections continue to climb in Orange County — and reached 464 Monday.

Since the start of last week, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county has more than tripled. Today, the cities of Anaheim, Irvine and Newport Beach alone have 126 confirmed cases among them — one more than the entire county had only a week ago.

Four deaths — two men and two women — have been reported. Three of those individuals were at least 65 years old, and one was between 45 and 64 years old, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

So far, 5,522 people have been tested countywide.

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SACRAMENTO —Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an urgent call for healthcare workers to join the state in caring for an expected surge of sick patients while announcing an executive order to expand the services medical professionals can perform in their jobs.

Newsom said he believes the state can add 37,000 healthcare workers by asking recently retired providers, those in the process of getting a medical license in the state and students enrolled in medical or nursing schools to apply to the newly created California Health Corps.

Newsom’s message to anyone with healthcare experience was clear Monday: “We need you.”

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Besides coaches, players, fans and parents being affected by the suspension of pro, college, high school and youth sports seasons, some officials are facing a severe loss in income.

High school baseball and softball umpires could have been working close to 20 games this spring. That’s a loss of $1,600 in the Southern Section and $1,700 in the City Section for baseball umpires receiving up to $87 a game. Softball officials are losing out on more than $1,500.

Officials are also losing out on working youth leagues and adult leagues during weekends. While most use officiating to supplement their incomes from a main job, it’s all part of the sports economy that has come to a halt because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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“Call 213-995-6090 for a good time,” reads the strip of paper affixed to a glass wall with blue painter’s tape. It’s the smallest in a series of directive signs posted outside Tilda, a wine bar and shop in Echo Park, where employees strive to evoke an element of human connection in the contactless buying experience they’re offering.

The unexpected luck of Tilda’s design — the clear wall separates an enclosed atrium from the shop and its inventory — allows for some welcome face-to-face interaction during the coronavirus outbreak. People call into the shop one at a time to talk through their order, peering through glass at a lineup of three dozen or so natural wines. There’s an aromatic, auburn-colored blend called Meditazione from Long Island, for example, or a deep-strawberry rosé made by Say When Winery’s Rachel Silkowski, who lives nearby.

A lone employee tends the store. Phone in hand, he or she answers any questions, smiling and making frequent eye contact from the other side of the transparent barrier.

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MEXICO CITY —It was bad enough that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was seen shaking hands with a 92-year-old woman Sunday in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

But what really upset many Mexicans was that the woman in the encounter is the mother of notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

A 30-second video of their brief meeting quickly went viral, and by Monday the phrase “Narco President” was trending on Twitter, along with hashtags about the importance of staying inside to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

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Fresh strawberry donuts at the legendary Donut Man on Route 66 in Glendora.

(Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

When you’ve been dubbed “the first destination doughnut in Los Angeles” by Jonathan Gold, a critical factor of your success is the ability to draw people through snarling traffic for a glazed, gleaming, glutinous ring of fried dough.

But for the last two weeks, it’s been the locals who’ve kept business going at the Donut Man in Glendora on Route 66.

“We’re finding a lot of people, to get out of the house, they’re stopping by for some doughnuts,” Aaron Wearp said. Wearp is the general manager of the venerable doughnut parlor that is still churning out thousands of crullers, old fashioneds and epic strawberry doughnuts every day.

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo addressed National Guard troops last week at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, which is being turned into a 1,000-bed medical facility.

(John Minchillo / Associated Press)

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the coronavirus crisis is approved by 87% of the state’s registered voters, according to a poll released Monday by Siena College. That’s more than double the 41% of New Yorkers who approve of President Trump’s management of the global pandemic that has killed more than 2,000 Americans.

Cuomo, who is dealing with the epicenter of the crisis in the United States, has gained widespread recognition for his efforts to protect New Yorkers. During his daily briefings that are aired on national TV, Cuomo bluntly details the growing infection rate and death toll, defends New Yorkers as other states try to crack down on their movements, and at times consoles his state’s 20 million residents about the uncertainty the virus has created in their lives.

President Trump, citing the approval numbers, said Cuomo’s popularity was buoyed by the medical aid that the federal government has provided for New York. He also said that Cuomo would be a better Democratic presidential nominee than Joe Biden.

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MILLBRAE, Calif. —Conditions are deteriorating at Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, a long-term-care facility in San Francisco, amid a coronavirus outbreak there, city officials said Monday.

The mayor said nine employees of the large facility had tested positive as well as two patients. Infection control nurses from the state and infection control physicians and epidemiologists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been sent to San Francisco to help deal with the outbreak, officials said.

“I am saddened to report Laguna Honda hospital has a growing outbreak of coronavirus,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of public health for San Francisco. Because long-term-care facilities around the world have been at greater risk in the COVID-19 pandemic, “we expect the situation to unfortunately get worse,” Colfax said.

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San Diego County reported 31 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, bringing the total to 519. The death toll remained unchanged at seven.

The largest number of cases, 130, was among patients in the 30-39 age range, followed by 107 cases of those ages 20 to 29. Only four cases were patients 9 or younger, and 298 of the patients were males.

The city of San Diego, with by far the largest population in the county, had 314 cases, or 60.5% of the total. El Cajon had 29 cases, Chula Vista had 25, and Carlsbad had 20.

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WASHINGTON — President Trump praised the “pretty good job we’ve done” when he predicted in late February that the number of Americans infected by the coronavirus would dwindle to “close to zero” in a couple of days.

Over the last weekend, one of his most chaotic since the pandemic struck, Trump drastically redefined success, claiming that if the pandemic killed fewer than 100,000 Americans, “we all together [would] have done a very good job.”

Trump has stood in front of TV cameras as much as any president in history the last two weeks, holding forth with meandering, frequently testy, near-daily news briefings that often go 90 minutes or longer while tens of millions are Americans are marooned at home, desperate for information.

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The Los Angeles Police Department is taking the temperatures of its officers as they arrive for their shifts to try to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus inside the department, which has seen 26 employees test positive.

Anyone with a temperature will be sent home immediately and directed to get medical treatment. “We are taking every step to ensure officers’ health,” Assistant Chief Horace Frank said.

Department roll calls are now conducted with officers spaced far apart to ensure social distancing as part of efforts to get as many officers as possible working. Those with even slight signs of illness have been ordered to stay home, Frank said.

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The annual summer Dew Tour skateboard competition and festival in Long Beach has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Originally scheduled for May 7-10, the event is now slated to take place Sept. 10-13.

“Our primary focus is still to ensure the safety and health of our athletes, fans, partners and staff,” Dew Tour vice president and general manager Courtney Gresik said in a statement. “Of course, we will continue to monitor the developments around COVID-19. As we know, the landscape is changing daily and safety is paramount to everything we do.”

Skateboarding will be making its Olympic debut in Tokyo. The Long Beach event was intended to be the final global qualifying event in the U.S. for men’s and women’s park and street competitions. But with the Summer Games postponed from 2020 to 2021, World Skate is working to update the status of the Olympic qualification system.

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Health officers in six counties of the the San Francisco Bay Area are set to extend a shelter-in-place order until at least May 1.

The counties that plan to extend the order are San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin, Alameda, and Contra Costa.

At a news conference Monday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said more people in the city seemed to be adhering to the shelter-in-place order over the weekend.

There are 374 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in San Francisco, and six people have died.

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An inmate and four people who work in the Los Angeles County jails have tested positive for the coronavirus infection, heightening fears that the disease could spread quickly in the overcrowded jail system.

The inmate, who was at Twin Towers Correctional Facility, displayed symptoms Thursday and was moved to the jail’s Correctional Health Center for isolation, Correctional Health Director Jackie Clark said. His test came back positive over the weekend, and he is now at L.A. County-USC Medical Center.

The inmate had been held in a one-man cell in a “high observation housing” area reserved for mentally ill inmates. About 16 others in that housing area were being quarantined, with staff monitoring them regularly with temperature checks, Clark said. She added that classes and therapy sessions for that group were halted about three weeks ago to minimize the risk of exposure.

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Right now, Ryan Choura should be celebrating another busy South by Southwest and another BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament and preparing for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in two weeks.

Choura, the 41-year-old founder of the Torrance-based production firm Choura Events, builds tents, staging and facilities for tens of thousands of revelers at music, sports and dining events in Southern California and nationwide. But in the span of a month, what had been a growing market for live events collapsed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Live Nation and AEG closed down their entire festival and concert schedule, along with all major sports leagues playing now. His 200 employees were suddenly without any work, and it was difficult to see when anybody would be gathering in public in the near future.

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Everybody stay calm. Everybody stay calm!

Steve Carell and John Krasinski had a mini “Office” reunion over the weekend as part of a new YouTube series launched by the latter in search of “Some Good News” amid the coronavirus crisis. In an effort to lift spirits, Krasinski touched on several heartwarming stories that had emerged during an otherwise bleak news cycle and welcomed his first guest, Carell, via webcam.

“I miss you a ton, man. It’s so good to see you, and thank you so much for doing this,” Krasinksi said on Sunday. “We are trying to start a news network just for good news, and boy, are you good news.”

In celebration of the workplace comedy’s 15th anniversary, the “Office” alumni reminisced about their time together on the hit NBC program, recalling the many fun and hilarious moments they shared as an ensemble.

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Until now, the voices warning against prematurely lifting stringent social regulations to combat the novel coronavirus have been those of doctors and epidemiologists.

But a blue-ribbon group of economists has just weighed in, and they agree — virtually unanimously.

The panel of 44 economists assembled by the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago was asked to opine on coronavirus policy in three respects.

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Three more people died over the weekend in Ventura County after testing positive for COVID-19, bringing the death toll from the novel coronavirus to four one week after the county reported its first fatality.

Those who have died were all in their 70s or 80s and had preexisting health conditions, county spokeswoman Ashley Bautista said Monday. The county’s health department has not identified where the four lived.

Following a steady increase last week in the number of confirmed cases, the county added 48 new patients over the weekend, bringing the total to 109. That’s nearly an 80% increase from Friday’s count, which was 61. The county’s latest numbers show Simi Valley leads the region with 20 confirmed cases, followed by Camarillo with 19.

Residents ages 45 to 64 continue to make up the largest number of cases, at 46. Thirty-one cases include people over the age of 65, while 23 are ages 25 to 44. There are eight cases among those 18 to 24, and one case of someone under the age of 17.

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New York State reported a 26% increase in COVID-19-related deaths in the last day, pushing the total above 1,200.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the 253 new coronavirus fatalities on Monday even as he offered some positive news: The rise in confirmed cases is slowing, and the hospital-discharge rate is rising.

Even so, there was still no clear pattern in the data. While the doubling of infections has slowed from every two days to every six, the number of people who had to be moved into intensive care with intubation surged in one day.

New York added almost 7,000 confirmed infections overnight, for a total of more than 66,000, Cuomo said. Of those, roughly 9,500 are hospitalized, an increase of more than 1,000, and about 2,350 were in intensive care, up 315.

Cuomo, at a news conference in Manhattan, continued to press Washington for more help, seizing on President Trump’s description of the outbreak as a war.

“This is a war. Let’s act that way,” he said. “And let’s act that way now, and let’s show a commonality and a mutuality and a unity that this country hasn’t seen in decades, because the Lord knows we need it today more than ever before.”

Medical cots and equipment are being delivered to the San Mateo County Event Center in the Bay Area to prepare for a surge in COVID-19 patients.

Deliveries began Sunday, and the National Guard is expected be at the center through Tuesday to set up the equipment, which will make available a federal treatment site that can house 250 patients who are not critically ill.

“The latest projections estimate that a medical surge could push the hospitals in our county to capacity and we’ll need another location to house patients requiring particular levels of care,” County Manager Mike Callagy said in a statement. “We can’t just wait to see if this will happen.”

About one-third of some 120,000 Los Angeles high school students have not logged onto online classes every day, and 15,000 are absent from all online learning as efforts to continue distance learning fall short, according to the L.A. Unified School District.

The disappointing figures were released Monday by L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner during a morning video update.

“It’s simply not acceptable that we lose touch with 15,000 young adults or that many students aren’t getting the education they should be,” Beutner said. “This will take some time and a good bit of trial and error to get it right. And it will take the continued patience and commitment of all involved — students, families and teachers.”

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It was the glow that first caught my eye.

The truck is sandwiched between a freeway exit and a smog check station. You can hear the Gold Line train whiz by and, somewhere nearby, a pit bull defending its territory, but not much else. If there ever was a cursed corner for a taco truck, Tacos El Flaco found it — Pluto in the taco truck galaxy.

When I spotted the truck, I rushed to set up my tripod, hoping I could capture the particular light — lonely but hopeful in a dimmed city — it threw on the street. Instead, I caught a different kind of illumination: the story of a father and son who depended on the food truck to earn their living.

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The Pac-12 has extended its suspension of organized team activities an additional two months amid the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that a complete shutdown of collegiate sports in the conference will last through May.

The conference announced its decision Monday to suspend activities through May 31, while assuring it would reevaluate its position periodically in the coming weeks.

The updated policy will continue to bar any type of in-person workouts or team activities, while also clarifying limits for virtual team activities.

Online supervised workouts or skill instruction remain prohibited. Coaches, however, are able to recommend workout plans or pass along taped demonstration videos for workout plans, “in order to demonstrate proper form and technique,” the Pac-12 statement read.

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John Prine, the esteemed Americana singer-songwriter who has been hospitalized in critical condition since Thursday with COVID-19, is now stable, his wife said Monday on social media.

“I have recovered from Covid-19,” Fiona Whelan Prine tweeted. “We are humbled by the outpouring of love for me and John and our precious family. He is stabile. Please continue to send your amazing Love and prayers. Sing his songs. Stay home and wash hands. John loves you. I love you.”

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WASHINGTON — The State Department says it has successfully arranged the repatriation of some 25,000 American citizens stranded abroad in more than 50 countries due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Department officials say they are continuing to ramp up evacuation efforts and that more than 100 flights for U.S. citizens have been scheduled for the coming weeks. About 9,000 Americans have registered for those upcoming flights and there is still space available on many.

Many of those stranded are in Latin American countries, notably Peru, where some Americans have been quarantined by authorities.

Meanwhile, department health officials said there are 75 confirmed coronavirus cases among employees at the 220 U.S. embassies. Inside the United States, the officials said there are 30 confirmed cases of the virus at State Department offices in nine cities.

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s parliament on Monday approved a bill giving Prime Minister Viktor Orban‘s government extraordinary powers during the coronavirus pandemic, and setting no end date for them.

The bill was approved by Orban’s Fidesz party and other government supporters by 137 votes in favor to 53 against. It needed 133 votes to pass.

President Janos Ader signed the bill into law shortly after its approval in parliament, and it will take effect beginning Tuesday.

The legislation has been criticized by opposition parties, international institutions and civic groups for failing to include an expiration date for the government’s ability to rule by decree.

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Several of Glendale’s Little Free Libraries have been converted into free food pantries to help those in need during the coronavirus emergency that has left scores of residents jobless and struggling financially.

Helmed by the Glendale library department’s staff and several community groups, people are encouraged to take and leave nonperishable items in the libraries-turned-pantries scattered across the city.

Like many other public facilities across Los Angeles County, Glendale’s library branches are closed to limit the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

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Hollywood Burbank Airport on Monday consolidated its parking to three sites to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, officials said.

Lots A and C as well as the airport’s valet service are closed amid a drastic decrease in travelers caused by shelter-in-place orders put in place because of the spreading virus. The employee parking lot is also closed.

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Coffins from the Bergamo area of Italy, where there were many victims of COVID-19, arrive at a cemetery near Milan.

(Claudio Furlan / Associated Press)

Among European countries, the coronavirus outbreak has hit Italy and Spain the hardest. As of Monday, the two nations have recorded more than a combined 17,000 deaths from COVID-19.

Spain’s total number of coronavirus deaths climbed to 6,528, as the country enters its third week of almost total shutdown to stop the spread of the virus, the Asssociated Press reported. The number of infections also jumped by 6,549 overnight to reach 78,797.

In Italy, there have been 97,689 confirmed cases in total, which includes 13,030 recoveries and 10,779 deaths, according to the latest figures from the Italian government, released to the AP on Sunday evening.

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Walt Disney Co. Executive Chairman Bob Iger will forgo his salary starting in April as the company deals with the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis that has shuttered theme parks and film productions.

Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek said on Monday that senior executives including Iger would have their salaries reduced to “shoulder the burden” of the Burbank entertainment giant’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapek, who was named CEO in February, will take a 50% salary cut.

Iger’s annual base salary is $3 million, while Chapek’s is $2.5 million.

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