TimesOC: Exasperation grows as people can’t find COVID-19 tests
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Jan. 5. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you today’s TimesOC newsletter with the latest roundup of news and events.
Coronavirus tests are a hot commodity this week, with people becoming frustrated with the long lines they’re facing once they actually do manage to track down a site that is open for business. Young adults ages 18 to 49 are driving the spread of the disease, according to data.
Reporter Matt Szabo scoped out the situation in Orange County and learned that people in need of a free test can request one online at ochealthinfo.com/COVIDtest, or call the county’s COVID-19 hotline Monday through Friday at (714) 834-2000.
County Supervisor Katrina Foley maintains that tests are available; it’s just a matter of getting the information into the public’s hands. “I’m actually working with the healthcare agency to do a text blast to everybody who has a cellphone in the county ... [but] I feel like I only post about this. It’s becoming all I talk about.
“I just can’t believe two years later we’re all still talking about this,” Foley continued. “A year ago, we were all excited because the vaccines were out ... And now we’re still trying to get people vaccinated. We’re dealing with testing challenges because not enough people got vaccinated. They had a whole year to get vaccinated. It’s very frustrating.”
The chief executive of Huntington Beach-based COVID Clinic, a nationwide network, told Szabo that over the last week and a half all the clinic’s locations have been swamped with demand. “As far as demand for testing goes, we’ve been doing this since the beginning of the pandemic and we’ve never seen demand so high for these services. It’s creating these circumstances that are more extreme than they’ve ever been.”
A Newport Beach woman said she’s come to the realization that to secure enough at-home rapid antigen tests she has to treat shortages of that product as she did toilet paper in the early days of the pandemic. “I will go online at multiple hours daily hoping I might hit a window when they get some in ... For me, being over 60, how many times do I want to go run around to a CVS or a Walgreens around the general public?”
MORE NEWS
— A couple hundred people gathered at the Huntington Beach Pier on Monday afternoon, protesting against vaccine mandates for their children. The rally, dubbed “The Capital to the Coast Stand Up and Sit Out,” was organized by the Unity Project.
— Four people are dead from a possible string of fentanyl overdoses in three unrelated cases in Anaheim that unfolded Monday, authorities said. All three cases were called in the span of about an hour, police said.
— Huntington Beach resident Kelly Ernby, who ran for an Orange County state Assembly seat two years ago as a Republican, died this week of COVID-19 at the age of 46. Ernby served 10 years as an O.C. deputy district attorney. Before the coronavirus pandemic, she took a firm stance against existing vaccine mandates on the campaign trail when appearing on Mark Newgent Live for an online town hall.
— Former Rep. Harley Rouda said Monday he will not run for a newly drawn O.C. congressional seat, averting a potentially bruising intraparty battle with Rep. Katie Porter, a fellow Democrat. Political correspondent Melanie Mason has the report.
— Thousands of historical artifacts related the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, the region’s early inhabitants, have long been in storage in scattered locations and are in need of a home, a cohort of community and tribal members say. To that end, according to a story by my colleague Ben Brazil, there is a push for the city of Irvine to create a cultural and natural history museum in the Great Park.
— Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, a UC Irvine professor who claimed in a lawsuit to have a natural immunity to COVID-19 has been fired for refusing the vaccine. Kheriaty wrote in a blog post that the University of California system removed him from his position on Dec. 17.
— The Orange County Sheriff’s Department responded Tuesday at around noon to a portion of the Santa Ana River in Huntington Beach, where a body was discovered in the swiftly moving water. No information as to the age, size or gender of the decedent or the circumstances surrounding the individual’s death was immediately available. On Dec. 24 a search and rescue operation for a man who was believed to have gone under the water took place on the river but was unsuccessful and called off after four hours.
LIFE & LEISURE
— A Costa Mesa Realtor who has a special appreciation for vintage homes recently joined the local historical society and decided in late November she’d like to pull together a 2022 calendar. In very short order, Renee Pina galvanized others, including business sponsors, to create a calendar showcasing homes built between 1900 and 1930, some erected in a still unincorporated Costa Mesa and others relocated in the first quarter of the 20th century. Calendars can be purchased at the Costa Mesa Historical Society, Kéan Coffee or by visiting homevaluesineastsidecostamesa.com, emailing renee@reneempina.com or calling (949) 698-2003.
— The Orange County Museum of Art announced Monday the appointment of Courtenay Finn as chief curator and Meagan Burger as director of learning and engagement of the museum. The two come into their new leadership roles as the museum prepares to open in a new building in Costa Mesa in October.
— At the tender age of 15, Jack Rico just collected his bachelor’s degree in history from University of Nevada, Las Vegas a few weeks ago with a 3.78 GPA. Amazingly, the Huntington Beach resident has already secured five college degrees, as he previously earned four associate’s degrees from Fullerton College. Read Matt Szabo’s feature on Jack’s educational endeavors here.
He lived to tell the tale: a thrill ride on the back of a ‘Beezer’
Retired educator Joe B. Lawrence, now a resident of Carmichael, recalls a heady day when he got one of the rides of his life on the not-yet-completed Golden State (5) Freeway in O.C. He shares it today with TimesOC newsletter readers:
“Tustin High School sat on the edge of the new Interstate 5 they were building in the ’50s. I’d gaze out the windows of my sixth-period Spanish class and marvel at the huge trucks and graders rumbling past.
“After the freeway’s slab had been laid, but before it was open to traffic, we used to take nighttime rides down the lanes, “trying out” various hot rods and motorcycles.
“Once, Irv Seaver, dealer of BSA bikes in Santa Ana, loaned my friend Roger a new Road Rocket ‘Beezer,’ the fastest, top-of-the-line model, to test ride. I rode pillion, seated behind Roger. We wore no helmets.
“Of course, we zoomed over to the new freeway. Roger cranked the throttle to the max — roaring, objects flying by, riding into a tunnel of speed.
“Then he throttled back and I could glimpse that were were doing a mere 80. Felt so slow I could imagine jumping off the projectile and running alongside. When we further slowed so we could talk, I asked Roger what maximum speed we had attained.
“Pulled over a ton [100 mph]” he grunted.
“Later, we got pulled over by a CHP officer, who kindly cautioned, ‘Stay off the freeway ’til it’s opened, boys.’
“We did.”
If you have a memory or story about Orange County, we would love to read it (please keep your submission to 100 words or less).
We want your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Send your memory of life in O.C., news tips or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com or benjamin.brazil@latimes.com.
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