SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles and San Francisco officials took steps Wednesday to end requirements that certain businesses require patrons to show proof of full vaccination as new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations continued falling.

The Los Angeles City Council ordered the city attorney to craft an ordinance that makes vaccine verification voluntary for indoor areas of businesses such as bars, restaurants and gyms, and eliminates proof of vaccination for large outdoor events.

A final vote will be taken when the ordinance is introduced at a future council meeting. There was no immediate indication of when that will occur.

Proof of vaccination or a negative test will continue to be required to attend indoor “mega-events” with 1,000 or more people in the nation’s second-largest city.

San Francisco on Friday will stop requiring proof of vaccination to enter indoor businesses including restaurants, bars, fitness centers and gyms.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health said it will be up to businesses to choose whether to require proof of vaccination or a negative test from their staff and customers.

Proof of vaccination will still be required to enter indoor “mega” events in accordance with state guidelines, the department said in a statement.

San Francisco was one of the first cities in the country to require proof of vaccination before entering certain indoor businesses. City officials issued the mandate in August as the delta variant spread.

“With cases and hospitalizations continuing to fall and our high vaccination rate providing a strong defense against the virus, San Francisco is ready to further reduce COVID-19 restrictions and allow individuals to make their own decisions to protect themselves and their loved ones,” said Health Officer, Dr Susan Philip.

The vast majority of city residents, or 83%, are fully vaccinated.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Los Angeles and San Francisco officials took steps Wednesday to end requirements that certain businesses require patrons to show proof of full vaccination as new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations continued falling.

The Los Angeles City Council ordered the city attorney to craft an ordinance that makes vaccine verification voluntary for indoor areas of businesses such as bars, restaurants and gyms, and eliminates proof of vaccination for large outdoor events.

A final vote will be taken when the ordinance is introduced at a future council meeting. There was no immediate indication of when that will occur.

Proof of vaccination or a negative test will continue to be required to attend indoor “mega-events” with 1,000 or more people in the nation’s second-largest city.

San Francisco on Friday will stop requiring proof of vaccination to enter indoor businesses including restaurants, bars, fitness centers and gyms.

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The San Francisco Department of Public Health said it will be up to businesses to choose whether to require proof of vaccination or a negative test from their staff and customers.

Proof of vaccination will still be required to enter indoor “mega” events in accordance with state guidelines, the department said in a statement.

San Francisco was one of the first cities in the country to require proof of vaccination before entering certain indoor businesses. City officials issued the mandate in August as the delta variant spread.

“With cases and hospitalizations continuing to fall and our high vaccination rate providing a strong defense against the virus, San Francisco is ready to further reduce COVID-19 restrictions and allow individuals to make their own decisions to protect themselves and their loved ones,” said Health Officer, Dr Susan Philip.

The vast majority of city residents, or 83%, are fully vaccinated.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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South San Francisco Mayor Mark Nagales held a news conference Wednesday to announce progress of the city’s Guaranteed Income Program — a pilot initiative that pays 160 residents $500 a month for a year with no strings attached.

“South San Francisco is not afraid to lead, today we lead by example,” Nagales said during the event. “As of today, 160 residents have received at least one full payment of $500.”

While several other cities across the country have launched similar programs, South San Francisco’s initiative is the first of its kind in the county.

One participant in the program, South San Francisco resident Janet Juarez, said through a translator that her family has experienced exceptional hardship during the pandemic and the financial support will help her meet basic needs. She also said she is grateful that the program is available and accessible to Latino families.

Recipients were selected earlier this year through a tiered lottery system, with priority given to supporting young people leaving care, single householders and those in the lowest income neighborhoods.

Guaranteed income programs pay residents unconditionally, without work requirements or other restrictions often associated with welfare systems.

The city will monitor recipient spending trends and the program’s overall effectiveness in reducing poverty throughout the year-long trial. Nagales said depending on the results, he hopes to get additional funding for expansion.

“The goals of this program are twofold, first, to provide immediate direct financial relief to our most vulnerable residents, and second, to learn from this pilot program whether Guaranteed Income is a sustainable and effective poverty reduction program,” Nagales said.

Funding comes from $1 million in federal pandemic aid, $100,000 from the county, and another $100,000 from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

In addition to cash, income earners will be offered financial counseling and other resources administered by the YMCA Community Resource Center, a resource center for the county administering the pilot.

The program was made available to undocumented and ex-prisoners.

“We’ve struggled as a society to deal with poverty for years, and we don’t have enough success to show that,” said San Mateo County Superintendent David Pine. “I commend Mayor Mark Nagales and the City of South San Francisco for their willingness to do so now.”

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SAN JOSE (BCN) – The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors has approved the American Rescue Plan Act stimulus fund allocation to provide up to $ 2,500 in bonuses to county employees for their work during the pandemic.

In Tuesday’s vote, approximately $ 76 million from the county’s first tranche of the $ 187 million ARPA funding will be used to make one-time payments to nearly all of the county’s 22,000 employees through December 3 of this year Afford.

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The county is expected to receive its second tranche of $ 187 million in ARPA funding in May 2022.

The only district employees excluded from receiving the rewards the district calls Hero Pay are the five district managers and the district executive Jeff Smith.

That means senior positions like the sheriff, district attorney, and county assessor – who each earned between $ 330,000 and $ 460,000 in total compensation for fiscal 2019 – also receive a bonus of $ 2,500.

This is an idea that apparently made Supervisor Otto Lee uncomfortable and could explain his decision to abstain. Had he voted for it, the Hero Pay would have been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors.

“I have concerns about how this came about … I don’t want to vote for a $ 2,500 bonus for myself as an elected officer,” Lee said. “I think for so many reasons the amount that has been allocated here seems very generous, but in some ways it is too generous.”

After Lee raised reservations, Supervisor Cindy Chavez made a change to exclude the five district managers from the bonus payment – a move that was supported by all district managers.

Lee also urged employees to create a way for county employees to opt out of Hero Pay for those who are uncomfortable or who don’t need the $ 2,500.

CEO Mike Wassermann attempted to extend Hero Pay to Smith due to his “Herculean” efforts during the pandemic, but Smith graciously refused to accept it.

As of this writing, full-time workers and county part-timers will receive a prorated amount based on the full-time equivalent status of the part-timers and the additional hours worked by the employee.

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Independent In-Home Supportive Services providers receive a $ 500 bonus from the county to top up the additional $ 500 they receive from the state.

Ellenberg found that $ 2,500 is double what other similarly populated counties give in Hero Pay.

Smith said the reason for the amount was because he believed it was what superiors wanted, and joked that the board was “twice as progressive”.

“We had a strong feeling that everyone in the county was actually doing the maximum possible vigorous engagement in responding to the pandemic,” said Smith. “So administratively, we didn’t feel that we could take on a group or a particular job or activity, and that made more money than any other.”

Smith also pointed out that ARPA funding calls for some to be used for Hero Pay, so providing these bonuses is in line with the federal government’s idea of ​​using those dollars.

“We’re just pursuing the intent of the bill,” said Smith.

The district also decides on the granting of bonuses for the approximately 3,000 “additional workers” who did not have a regular schedule and instead supported the district’s efforts at times.

Additional assistants, often referred to as shift workers, can be found in “pretty much any department that does a variety of things,” including nurses, clerks, secretaries, and social workers, Smith said.

“We still have a formula to work out,” continued the district executive. “We couldn’t agree on what we would agree on.”

Smith said the county will have to consult with several unions to ensure everyone is on board with Hero Pay before the money is distributed in December.

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SACRAMENTO – With deadline looming, budget lawmakers said late Friday they had reached a budget framework with Governor Gavin Newsom negotiating deals on homelessness financing, health insurance for undocumented seniors and other ongoing political differences.

But officials, who refused to go on record, said some key details remained unresolved even as lawmakers prepare to revise the $ 262.2 billion spending plan on Monday, three days before the new fiscal year begins , to adopt.

Legislators already approved a wildcard budget last week to meet a constitutional requirement and get paid, and negotiations on sharing a surge in tax revenue continued. An unexpectedly strong economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has left California with an estimated discretionary surplus of $ 38 billion along with $ 26 billion in federal stimulus money, leading to a number of competing proposals on liberal priorities such as access to health care, early childhood education and college scholarships.

The deal has been delayed in recent days as officials haggled over payments to government-subsidized childcare providers. Legislative leaders gathered outside the Capitol on Thursday, with hundreds of vendors urging the governor to raise their rates.

Legislative budget officials said discussions on how much to raise fees for childcare providers are ongoing. Follow-up calculations are also needed to complete several other spending packages, including $ 6 billion to expand broadband Internet access, $ 3.7 billion for climate resilience projects, $ 3 billion to cope with the rapidly worsening drought, and $ 1 billion US dollars for forest fire preparation, according to a summary document submitted by officials.

Newsom governor’s office and Treasury Department spokesmen did not respond immediately.

In a historic move, the budget would extend eligibility for Medi-Cal, the government’s health program for the poor, to undocumented immigrants aged 50 or older. Undocumented immigrants from low-income families are already eligible for insurance up to the age of 26. Newsom had proposed that the undocumented immigrant program from age 60 should be discontinued.

The agreement includes $ 1 billion annually for each of the next two years to help local governments pay for homelessness services and $ 2.75 billion to extend Homekey, a pandemic program Converting hotels, motels and other vacant buildings into supportive housing for homeless Californians. Newsom had aimed for a wider expansion of Homekey, which he has identified as one of its outstanding accomplishments in rapidly creating thousands of new homes.

It doesn’t include an increase in funding for public health officials, which lawmakers had been pushing for in the wake of the pandemic, despite legislative budget officials saying they would come back to the issue in the years to come.

The spending plan would bolster California’s financial footing a year after the pandemic-induced recession forced the state to close a projected deficit of $ 54 billion. Reserve accounts that officials dipped into last year would grow to more than $ 25 billion, and the state would repay $ 11 billion in deferred K-12 school funding.

California would also spend $ 8.1 billion on a second stimulus package to help ease the financial pain of the pandemic. The state already allocated $ 3.8 billion earlier this year to pay $ 600 to millions of low-income households and residents who participate in government welfare and social security programs.

As part of the budget, additional checks of $ 600 would go to middle-income households, up to $ 75,000 a year, who did not receive the first round of support. Families with children and undocumented immigrants would receive an additional $ 500, so some taxpayers could receive multiple payments from the state.

Other pandemic relief programs in the budget include an additional $ 2.6 billion to help the state meet all rent that lower-income tenants missed out on during the pandemic; $ 2 billion to clear overdue utility bills; and $ 1.5 billion in small business grants.

The budget summary also outlines agreements to gradually roll out universal pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds over the next four years and roll out extensive post-school and summer school programs in low-income districts, spending $ 3 billion to create more community schools with social services on Expand Campus, a college scholarship program for middle-class families, by $ 515 million and spend $ 211 million to tackle increasing gun violence, among other things.

Alexei Koseff is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff

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July 21, 2021 – Contact FacilitiesNet editorial team »

Higher education institutions plan to welcome students and faculty back in the fall as the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be easing. What the returning residents will find in these facilities remains to be seen, but it is clear that maintenance and engineering managers and their staff are implementing a range of HVAC tactics and strategies to create safe spaces and keep residents healthy guarantee.

At the University of San Francisco, facility management staff evaluated more than 600 ventilation, air conditioning and filtering devices, replacing 76 non-standard devices. Facility management staff checked for heating and cooling-related issues and checked the quality of ventilation for each unit to prevent airborne transmission of the coronavirus.

At the University of Virginia, facility management has set up a task force that advocates energy savings and at the same time implements measures to ensure a safe indoor climate. The group focused on identifying and evaluating existing HVAC mitigation measures and ranking them for implementation. One area the group focused on is the use of high efficiency filters and increased ventilation rates to create an extra layer of airborne reduction in buildings.

At Simon Frasier University, facility services examined campus ventilation, room entry, measuring airflow, and verifying that the systems met the best indoor air quality standards. The audit covers approximately 1,000 rooms and includes the review of plans and diagrams that are reviewed on site by energy specialists, air conditioning mechanics and HVAC balancing service providers.

Dan Hounsell is the Senior Editor of Facility Market.

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