California State University's Closed for the Fall →

The 23-campus California State University system plans to all but cancel in-person classes in the fall and instead will offer instruction primarily online, Chancellor Timothy White announced Tuesday.

The vast majority of classes across the Cal State system will be taught online, White said, with some limited exceptions that allow for in-person activity. The decision comes as schools throughout the country grapple with how long to keep campuses closed amid the coronavirus crisis.

We are in for a new normal. And with Los Angeles announcing a shelter-in-place order until the end of summer, it’s going to be a very different West Coast experience or lack-thereof. At least the beaches are open?

Lingering Long Term Effects of COVID-19 →

In a study posted this week, scientists in China examined the blood test results of 34 COVID-19 patients over the course of their hospitalization. In those who survived mild and severe disease alike, the researchers found that many of the biological measures had “failed to return to normal.”

Chief among the worrisome test results were readings that suggested these apparently recovered patients continued to have impaired liver function. That was the case even after two tests for the live virus had come back negative and the patients were cleared to be discharged.

Needless to say, this isn’t looking great at all for those who have been survivors of mild to severe cases.

At the same time, as cardiologists are contending with the immediate effects of COVID-19 on the heart, they’re asking how much of the damage could be long-lasting. In an early study of COVID-19 patients in China, heart failure was seen in nearly 12% of those who survived, including in some who had shown no signs of respiratory distress.

Degradation in lung capacity and heart function! Twelve percent is unbelievable and to think of the actual effect this has on the longevity of life? For further reading, the actual link to the medical paper can be found here.

Possible Herd Immunity in California →

As of Tuesday, the state had 374 reported COVID-19 fatalities in a state of 40 million people, compared to New York which has seen 14 times as many fatalities and has a population half that of California. Social distancing could be playing a role but New York's stay-at-home order went into effect on March 22, three days after California implemented its order.

"Something is going on that we haven't quite found out yet," said Victor Davis Hanson a senior fellow with Stanford's Hoover Institute.

Hanson said he thinks it is possible COVID-19 has been spreading among Californians since the fall when doctors reported an early flu season in the state. During that same time, California was welcoming as many as 8,000 Chinese nationals daily into our airports. Some of those visitors even arriving on direct flights from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China.

This would be great if this were true and we’ll know in a few weeks. For the sake of safety, science, and medicine, I hope that these serology and anti-body tests get carried out more rapidly as well as general testing for COVID-19. It’s great to see that ALL RESIDENTS of Los Angeles with symptoms can get tested now.

Hanson said through all of this the Chinese have been disingenuous about the timing of the initial outbreak of COVID-19.

"They originally said it was in early January, then it got backdated to December and then early December and now they are saying as early as November 17," said Hanson.

China’s continuance of hiding the truth from the world has only hurt us as a human race. I really hope that when this is all over that something gets done about this. Victor Davis Hanson points out that with 8,000 Chinese Nationals / passengers landing at San Francisco Airport and Los Angeles Airport daily as well as direct flights from Wuhan that it would be naïve to think that we weren’t already being exposed to it back in late 2019.