Health emergency ends in Butte County | Chico shelter site half full | Monkeypox in Sacramento

By Angel Huracha,

Published May 25, 2022 at 8:59 AM PDT

The latest North State and California news on our airwaves for Wednesday, May 25.

Local health emergency terminated in Butte County

The Board of Supervisors in Butte County Tuesday terminated its local health emergency declaration for COVID-19.

The termination was requested by the county’s public health director, Danette York, who said the declaration — put into place two years ago — enabled the county to get state and federal dollars to help respond to the pandemic. She said the declaration is no longer needed.

“Public Health does still continue with many aspects of the response to COVID-19, but the duties involved in these efforts are stabilized with funding support from federal and state funds,” York said.

York said those efforts include things such as COVID-19 vaccine clinics and helping get the vaccine into the offices of health care providers.

The health director said the county, like the state and country, is seeing a rise in coronavirus cases.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to terminate the local health emergency declaration. In a separate vote last month, the board ended the county’s emergency proclamation for COVID-19 on similar grounds.

— Andre Byik, NSPR

Chico’s Pallet shelter for the unhoused about half full

It’s been about a month since the city of Chico’s Pallet shelter site for the homeless opened. City officials say about 90 people are now using the site in south Chico that’s made up of 177 individual micro shelters.

The city’s interim city manager, Paul Hahn, told the Butte County Board of Supervisors that the site’s operation is going well.

“For the first time in many, many months and sometimes years, they’re basically sleeping in a bed. They have a locked door that gives them some comfort. They are eating well. They are getting a whole night’s sleep,” Hahn said.

Hahn said there have been some issues — such as calls for emergency medical services — but none that have required a police response.

The city was legally required to set up the shelter after it was sued last year over its sweeps of homeless encampments set up in parks and along waterways. With the shelter up and running, those sweeps have resumed.

— Andre Byik, NSPR

First suspected monkeypox in the state reported in Sacramento

California's first suspected case of monkeypox was reported Tuesday. The patient had recently traveled to Europe. Officials are releasing few other details about the patient and have only confirmed that they live in Sacramento County.

Dr. Olivia Kasirye, Sacramento County's Public Health Officer, said the individual is isolating at home and that her office is doing contact tracing with people who may have recently been exposed to the patient.

A rare outbreak of monkeypox continues to move around the globe, at least 90 people have been infected in a dozen countries. Kasirye said so far reported cases have been mild.

"I think the concern for us in public health is always that there might be some people that may end up with a severe disease so we want to make sure that we prevent any additional cases," Kasirye said.

Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and exhaustion.

— CapRadio Staff

Legislative staff could join a union under new bill

Workers in the California Legislature are not allowed to unionize, but a new bill would change that.

Some legislative workers have complained about long overtime hours and the process for reporting workplace misconduct.

California allowed most public employees to unionize in 1977, but legislative staff has always been excluded.

This is the fourth bill in recent years that would allow Capitol workers to collectively bargain with legislative leadership. This time, 30 Democratic lawmakers have already signed on.

The bill would not create a union, but allow staff to move forward with starting or joining one.