Coronavirus news update: Friday, April 3
Here are some of the top headlines for stories on coronavirus in Southern California and beyond for Friday, April 3.
For the second consecutive day, officials announced the death of a Riverside County Sheriff's Department deputy who contracted COVID-19. On Friday, the Riverside Sheriffs' Association identified the second deputy as 22-year veteran David Werksman, who died Thursday. Werksman is survived by his wife and three children.
A record-long streak of U.S. job growth ended suddenly in March after nearly a decade as employers cut 701,000 jobs because of the viral outbreak that's all but shut down the U.S. economy. The unemployment rate jumped to 4.4% from a 50-year low of 3.5%.
Our local job force is taking a major hit amid the coronavirus pandemic. The cost of keeping people home in this pandemic is taking a heavy toll on work. Firings are up and hirings are down. Meanwhile, employment experts say while you are looking, try and maintain a normal routine. Employment consultant Darrell Gurney says if you have kids at home, get them set on their assignments, have your work time blocked off and create a dedicated work space for yourself. As many are now working from home, a new survey from Waveform finds that a lot of people like it. Around 60% prefer working from home and 48% want to keep doing it. Meantime, more than 33% admit they don't get as much work done, while 25% believe they are more productive.
Los Angeles County is opening three more drive-up coronavirus testing sites Friday, while planning continues for at least three more. The new sites are at the Pomona Fairplex, the South Bay Galleria and the Antelope Valley Mall. Testing is by appointment only. Walk-up appointments are not available. Additional sites in Northridge, Long Beach, Lancaster and Pasadena are in the planning stages, and sites in Lancaster and Glendale are already operating.
Despite official measures aimed at keeping people away from public beaches during the coronavirus pandmemic, several surfers took to the water Friday morning at Will Rogers State Beach near Pacific Palisades.
President Donald Trump announced new federal guidelines Friday recommending that Americans wear face coverings when in public to help fight the spread of the new coronavirus. The president immediately said he had no intention of following the advice himself, saying, "I'm choosing not to do it." The new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages people, especially in areas hit hard by the spread of the coronavirus, to use rudimentary coverings like T-shirts, bandannas and non-medical masks to cover their faces while outdoors.
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