Troubled California Virus Testing Lab Won’t Face Sanctions

Los Angeles Times: California Officials Release Report On Troubled State Lab
After investigating its own COVID-19 testing lab for much of the year, the California Department of Public Health closed its case without issuing sanctions as the state released a long-overdue report Monday that downplayed widespread issues identified during inspections at the Valencia Branch Laboratory. The lab, which was opened in partnership with Massachusetts-based diagnostics company PerkinElmer, has been beset with problems since the $25-million facility opened late last year. The Newsom administration promised a full report in March on “significant deficiencies” found during inspections, but it was not released until Monday — weeks after the state renewed its $1.7-billion, no-bid contract with PerkinElmer to keep the testing site going. (Gutierrez, 11/22)

AP: No Sanctions Over Deficiencies At California Virus Test Lab
California’s new coronavirus testing laboratory won’t face sanctions for what state officials had called “significant deficiencies” that a whistleblower said threatened the accuracy of its results, authorities said Monday. The Valencia Branch Laboratory was found to have problems with training and record-keeping but authorities couldn’t substantiate reports stemming from a whistleblower that the lab destroyed data or documents, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). The problems found were “routinely found in laboratory inspections,” the department said. (11/23)

In news about a nursing home outbreak in Massachusetts —

The New York Times: A Judge Has Dismissed Criminal Charges In Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Outbreak
A Massachusetts state judge on Monday dismissed criminal charges against two administrators of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, where an outbreak of coronavirus led to 76 deaths, reasoning that the actions of administrators did not lead to the infections. The state’s attorney general, Maura Healey, had sought criminal charges of criminal neglect and permitting body injury to an older person against the two administrators based on their decision to combine two understaffed dementia units, crowding together infected and uninfected men. But Judge Edward J. McDonough Jr., of Hampden County Superior Court, wrote in his dismissal that he believed the five veterans named in the case had been exposed to the virus before the two units were merged, so the administrators could not be held legally responsible. (Barry, 11/22)

ABC News: Criminal Charges Dismissed Against Former Leaders Of Holyoke Soldiers' Home In Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak
A Massachusetts judge has dismissed all criminal charges against two former officials from the Holyoke Soldiers' Home, citing no "reasonably trustworthy evidence." The facility made national headlines last year, when 77 veterans, who were residents of the home, died of coronavirus in the early months of the pandemic. (Mitropoulos, 11/22)

Also —

Los Angeles Times: About 44,000 LAUSD Students Miss First Vaccine Deadline And Risk Losing In-Person Classes
Close to 80% of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District are on track to comply with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, school district officials announced Monday, raising concerns about the potential for thousands to be displaced from in-person classes for the start of the spring semester on Jan. 10. The figure represents substantial progress — and officials hope many more students have been vaccinated, but simply have not yet uploaded documentation to the school district. About 225,000 students ages 12 and older fall under the mandate, half of the district’s enrollment. Based on the percentage, about 44,000 students have not met the deadline — either by getting at least one shot, obtaining a medical exemption or receiving a rare extension. (Blume, 11/22)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Philadelphians Isolated By Long COVID Find Hope And Connection Through Social Media
As often as three times a day, Alexandra Hackett posts on her TikTok account, adding another video entry to her chronicle of a 20-month journey with long COVID-19. Some are wry, such as the one showing her haunted by a computer-animated ghost as a metaphor for symptoms that continue her suffering long after the initial illness. Others are fiery. She has no tolerance for COVID-19 deniers or anti-vaxxers, and readily responds to trollish comments. In a few, the really raw ones, the 44-year-old Philadelphia woman seems both anguished and exasperated by a condition that saps her energy, plagues her with inexplicable fevers, and so far evades science’s efforts to understand or treat it. (Laughlin, 11/22)

The Baltimore Sun: For TeamoTherapy, Raising Money For Baltimore Area Hospitals While Streaming Video Games Is Child’s Play 
Six months ago, Andrew Dardick and Brandon Millman were trying to figure out what kind of help they could offer to people in the Baltimore area. Having worked for Johns Hopkins Hospital as a nurse, Dardick suggested raising money to buy video games for young patients. While children’s hospitals often have video game systems, the games are frequently out of date, Dardick said. The duo launched the nonprofit TeamoTherapy (pronounced tee-moh-therapy) in May. They primarily raise money through Twitch, a livestreaming video platform. (Louis, 11/23)

The Hill: Missouri School District Backtracks Ban On LGBTQ+ Books
A Missouri school district on Monday said it would return two books exploring LGBTQ+ themes to its high school libraries following public outcry. The North Kansas City School district announced its plans to reshelve “All Boys Aren’t Blue” and “Fun Home” in a letter to students’ families on Friday, according to the Associated Press, which obtained a copy of the letter on Monday through a district spokeswoman. Both books were pulled from library shelves following a school board meeting in October, when parents complained they were inappropriate and sexually explicit. (Migdon, 11/22)

Houston Chronicle: 4-Year-Old Galveston Girl Didn’t Die Of COVID, Medical Examiner Says In Reversal
A 4-year old Galveston County girl who passed away in September after testing positive for COVID-19 did not die of the virus, officials said Monday. Kali Cook, of Bacliff, died at home in early September after what her mother, Karra Harwood, said was a brief fever. Two days later, Galveston County health officials released a statement calling it “the county’s first COVID-related death in a child” younger than 10. (Mishanec, 11/22)