►
Description
California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly provides an update on the state's efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 in California.
Recorded August 7, 2020.
For more information regarding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in Cupertino, please visit https://www.cupertino.org/coronavirus.
C
Coronavirus
good
afternoon,
it's
nice
to
be
with
you
again
today.
I
want
to
provide
you
with
an
update
on
the
data
reporting
issue.
I
brought
to
your
attention
earlier
this
week.
It's
a
problem.
The
governor
demanded
my
team
and
I
sold
addressing.
This
has
been
our
top
priority
and
our
focus
over
the
last
72
hours.
C
I
want
to
explain
to
you
what
went
wrong
and
its
effects
here
are
the
bottom
lines
number
one
our
data
system
failed
and
that
failure
led
to
inaccurate
case
numbers
and
case
positivity
rates.
It
also
prevented
counties
from
having
some
of
the
data
they
need
to
monitor
and
respond
to
the
virus
in
their
communities.
C
C
C
Simultaneously,
we
discovered
that
we
were
not
receiving
data
from
one
of
our
largest
commercial
labs
for
a
period
of
five
days
between
july
31
and
august
4th.
This
was
due
to
a
certificate
that
the
state
neglected
to
renew
timely,
which
resulted
in
data
not
being
able
to
transmit
to
the
state
throughout
the
pandemic.
The
cal
ready
data
reporting
system
has
been
challenged
by
the
volume
of
covet
19
data
and
short
delays
are
not
uncommon.
C
C
C
C
C
E
C
As
I
said,
we
learned
of
the
issue
monday
afternoon
after
the
earlier
press
conference,
where
the
governor
unveiled
some
of
the
changes
in
cases
and
test
positivity,
and
we
immediately
began
conversations
with
our
local
partners
about
some
of
those
test
reporting
data
reporting
issues
and
tuesday.
I
began
to
notify
the
public
about
those
challenges
and
have
since
been
working
on
it.
D
David
baker,
bloomberg
news,
two
things
one:
are
you
satisfied
that
the
problems
with
the
data
go
back
no
farther
than
july
25th
and
two
when
you
say
250
000
to
300
000
records
are
backlogged.
Does
that
mean
250
000
to
300
000
case
results
or
test
results.
C
Yeah,
thank
you
both
important
questions.
We
believe,
after
extensive
look
at
pretty
far
back,
not
just
all
of
the
last
month,
but
even
into
the
prior
month,
that
the
root
cause
of
this
problem
and
challenge
started
on
the
25th
of
july.
C
When
we
look-
and
I
mentioned
250
to
300
000
records,
I
appreciate
a
chance
to
clarify
those
are
records.
We
often
receive
records,
sometimes
they're
duplicate
records
and
those
there's
a
deduplication
function
that
allows
us
to
make
sure
that
we
only
have
unique
records
and
those
are
test
results.
We
don't
yet
know
how
many
of
those
are
positive
or
how
many
are
negative,
and
in
fact
this
entire
cal
ready
system
accepts
results
not
just
for
covid
but
for
other
reportable
diseases.
F
Dr
golly
good
afternoon,
I'm
going
to
follow
up
his
question
and
I
have
a
separate
one.
Looking
at
that
data,
exactly
how
far
skewed
are
the
results
from
the
25th
of
july,
or
is
it
going
to
take
a
period
of
time
for
you
folks
to
work
that
out?
The
second
part
of
my
question
there's
been
a
growing
number
of
homeless
people
in
los
angeles
county
who
obtained
themselves.
In
fact,
in
2016,
40
of
the
suicides
were
by
hanging
according
to
a
los
angeles
times,
analysis
that
figure
shut
up
the
55.
F
My
question
to
you
is:
has
the
state
increase
its
efforts,
especially
in
mental
health
preparedness
for
californians,
who
are
homeless,
that
are
dealing
with
challenges
and
now
the
covet
on
top
of
it
and
maybe
even
homelessness
caused
by
covid?
This
is
particularly
critical,
since
so
many
of
them
are
now
not
going
to
have
access
to
the
internet
or
even
access
to
the
government
site,
and
you
know
obviously,
for
the
lgbtqi
community
there's
a
disproportionate
amount
of
them
that
are
young
people
who
are
lgbtq.
C
Sure,
thank
you
for
the
questions.
On
the
second
question.
We
continue
to
work
with
our
local
partners
on
in
increasing
and
strengthening
mental
health
and
behavioral
health
resources.
Broadly
speaking,
we
know
that
the
covid
pandemic,
both
the
risk
and
concern
around
being
infected
and
even
additionally,
the
changes
to
how
our
daily
lives
are
led,
create
challenges
for
all
populations
and,
in
particular,
individuals
experiencing
homelessness.
So
we
work
with
our
counties.
C
I
know
los
angeles,
county
department
of
mental
health,
public
health
and
the
entire
county
family
working
hard
with
local
partners
to
increase
the
availability
of
those
services
and
to
ensure
that
any
trends
of
increase
in
suicide
hangings
are
addressed
through
not
just
direct
services,
but
other
policy
considerations
and
looking
at
any
additional
funding
or
resources
that
can
go
to
address
those
concerns.
G
C
So
I'll
answer
your
for
last
question:
first
cal
ready
has
been
built,
and
I
mean
many
jurisdictions
have
lab
reporting
systems
and,
frankly,
public
health
data
systems
that
you
know
have
been
working
for
a
number
of
different
diseases
throughout
the
last
many
years
and
decades,
coveted
19,
certainly
as
a
large
pandemic,
where
we're
not
only
reporting
hundreds
of
tests,
hundreds
thousands
of
tests-
frankly,
not
just
the
positives,
but
the
negatives.
Really.
C
It
requires
us
to
build
a
type
of
system
that
will
certainly
hold
all
of
that
information
and
continue
to
serve
the
function
that
we
need.
We
have
been
able
to
use
cal
ready
adequately.
We
have
had
some
delays
in
the
past
and
been
able
to
address
those
delays
with
both
some
I.t
fixes,
as
well
as
some
other
programmatic
changes.
C
But
we
feel
that
at
this
point,
given
the
importance,
the
ongoing
importance
of
having
the
data
be
timely
and
accurate
and
complete
that
we're
electing
to
in
parallel
to
right
now
create
that
new
system.
So
we
have
it
at
the
ready,
as
far
as
the
time
that
it's
going
to
take
for
us
to
work
down
the
backlog.
As
I
mentioned,
we
are
doing
that
actively
now.
We
believe
it
will
take
anywhere
from
24
to
48
hours
to
work
through
the
backlog.
C
I'll
remind
you
that,
once
we
do
work
through
that
backlog,
there's
still
an
important
function,
that
the
counties
must
do
to
verify
those
positive
labs
and
to
attach
all
of
the
demographic
information
that
we've
been
talking
about
with
many
of
you,
race,
ethnicity,
sexual
orientation,
gender
identity,
tying
it
exactly
to
the
county
and
the
area
of
record.
So
it
does
take
a
little
bit
more
time
before
that
gets
reported
as
a
positive
test
on,
let's
say
the
state's
dashboard.
C
So
we
look
forward
over
the
next
48
hours,
24
to
48
hours,
to
work
down,
that
backlog,
support
our
counties
and
making
sure
that
the
work
that
they
need
to
do
can
be
done
timely
so
that
we
can
report
any
new
positive
tests
and
we
can
understand
a
little
better.
Our
total
statewide
epidemiological
curves
understand
when
and
where
these
positive
tests
belong
over
the
past
couple
of
weeks.
C
So
we
can
not
only
do
improved
contact
tracing
at
the
local
level,
but
we
can
understand
what
the
future
state
of
hospitalizations
will
be
because
I'll
remind
you
again:
hospitalizations
lags
test
results
and
those
test
results
in
cases
allow
us
to
understand.
What's
to
come
in
our
hospitals,
janie.
H
You
know
in
july
and
since
then
the
state
has
continued
to
make
decisions
about
businesses
and
school
reopenings
and
you've
added
counties
to
the
monitoring
list
and
updated
the
transmission
rate
data.
E
H
C
Yeah,
I
mean
all
very
excellent
questions.
We
are
currently
working
to
understand
the
the
sort
of
communication
of
this
issue
within
our
organization,
both
the
agency
of
health
and
human
services,
as
well
as
the
california
department
of
public
health.
We
are
aware
that
individuals,
there
were
knowledgeable
of
some
of
these
challenges
and
we
are
doing
a
complete
look
into
how
that
communication
both
could
have
been
better
and
where
it
went
wrong.
C
We
we
know
that
the
data
has
been
an
important
tool
of
our
decision
making.
We
know
that
our
data-driven
approach
has
been
foundational
and
that
we
expect
now
that
we
have
made
some
of
the
changes
and
we've
increased
our
confidence
now
with
additional
redundancies,
to
look
at
the
data
more
closely
additional
individuals
and
teams
to
make
sure
that
it's
timely
and
complete
that
that
confidence
will
will,
you
know,
continue
as
far
as
it
refers
to
the
county
data
monitoring
list.
C
C
Actually,
as
a
result
of
a
different
reason,
we
were
looking
at
ensuring
that
the
hospital
data
that
we
knew
had
transitioned
from
our
local
state
data
reporting
metrics
to
the
national
federal
reporting
metrics.
So
we
froze
them
in
order
to
make
sure
that
we
were
inputting
that
data
adequately.
So
since
friday,
all
counties
have
been
sort
of
paused
or
frozen
with
the
county
data
monitoring
list
and
as
we
increase
our
comfort
in
the
confidence
with
the
with
the
numbers
now
and
we
work
the
backlog
that
we
just
finished
speaking
about.
D
Oh
thank
you
very
much,
dr
kelly
and
curry
how
great
your
concern
level,
with
these
quarter
million
cases
that
they
are
too
late
now
to
to
contact
traits
and
that
perhaps
we
may
have
more
spread,
because
we
haven't
been
able
to
contact
them
to
trace
those
cases
and,
secondly,
a
tangential
collection.
If
you
would
have
been
concerned
with
the
increasing
use
of
self-administered
global
testing.
D
C
Yeah,
I
mean
both
excellent
questions.
First
and
foremost,
we've
been
in
the
middle
of
this
dealing
with
reporting
delays
from
labs
turnaround
time
challenges
so
together.
Yes,
we
want
to
be
certain
to
get
these
lab
results
back
to
the
counties
as
quickly
as
possible,
so
that
contact
tracing
work
can
begin.
C
C
I
think
that
what
we
know
are
that
people
who
are
symptomatic
and
having
even
more
extreme
or
moderate
symptoms
that
they're
more
likely
to
have
a
positive
test,
they're
the
ones
usually
getting
tested
in
clinics
and
emergency
rooms
and
hospitals,
those
who
are
doing
the
self-administered
tests
might
be
mildly
symptomatic
or
asymptomatic
and
just
been
exposed,
and
for
them
it's
absolutely
important
and
imperative
that
they
follow
the
instructions
that
come
with
the
self-administered
tests
and
do
it
and
and
be
really
thoughtful
as
they
administer
the
test.
C
Because
absolutely
the
way
the
tested
is
administered
may
impact
the
result,
and
I
think
what
we
do
know
is
that
people
who
test
initially,
if
they
get
a
negative
test
and
they
develop
symptoms.
They
will
then
be
able
to
go
to
a
clinic
or
an
emergency
room
and
get
tested
if
their
symptoms
become
so
severe.
D
Lab
that
is,
and
what
type
of
certification
they
fail
to
renew,
and
how
often
that
certification
is
yeah
great.
C
Question
so
to
get
into
the
weeds
a
little
bit,
we
have
there's
there's
a
lab
reporting
intermediary
that
functions
across
the
nation
for
certain
labs,
the
lab
that
is
strong
partner
of
ours
quest.
They
send
their
lab
results
to
this
intermediary.
C
That
has
a
certificate
process
and
because
of
that
certificate,
it
then
routes
the
quest
labs
directly
to
our
lab
reporting
system.
The
challenge
was
that
the
la
the
certificate
expired
at
the
end
of
last
month
and
for
a
series
of
four
four
to
five
days.
That
certificate
was
not
renewed.
It
required
the
state
to
take
action.
California,
department
of
public
health
to
take
action
with
that
intermediary
to
renew
the
certificate
as
soon
as
it
was
renewed.
The
quest
labs
began
to
flow
in
back
into
the
state
reporting
system.
C
That
certificate,
I
believe,
is
renewed
every
two
years,
and
so
this
was
when
it
expired,
and
now
it's
been
limited.
D
Thomas
fuller,
the
new
york
times
hi
dr
dally.
This
is
just
three
quick
questions.
Just
doing
a
little
simple,
math,
300,
000
cases,
potential
covic
cases
at
a
six
percent
positivity
rate
would
be
18,
000
positive
cases.
So
can
we
say
that
at
most
there
were
18
000
cases
of
positive
cases
that
were
not
reported.
E
D
Just
want
to
make
sure
that
this
is
only
that
the
breakdown
in
the
system
only
affected
cases
and
not
hospitalizations
and
deaths,
and
then
third,
can
you
give
give
us
a
follow-up
to
the
governor's
assessment
on
monday?
Can
you
tell
us
if
you've
been
appropriate
situation,
has
stabilized
it's
declining
or
otherwise?
Given
what
you
know
right
now,.
C
Sure
all
three
excellent
questions,
the
first
one
I'll
answer
so
just
to
spend
a
little
bit
of
time,
250
000
to
300
distinct
records.
We
know
that
those
are
not
all
coveted
records,
because
the
cal
ready
system
invites
all
records
for
all
reportable
lab
tests
to
the
state.
A
majority
of
those
we
know
are
going
to
be
for
copic.
19.
C
I'll
remind
you
that
some
of
those
records,
because
labs,
sometimes
out
of
an
abundance
of
caution,
send
the
same
data
file
twice.
So
the
first
thing
that
needs
to
happen
are
any
duplicate.
Records
have
to
be
reduced
down
to
just
a
single
unique
record,
so
that
will
happen
and
reduce
that
300
000
potential
number
down
and
then
those
will
be
divided
up
into
the
positives
and
the
negatives.
So,
although
your
good,
quick
math
exercise
could
hold
true,
we
will
see
frankly
by
the
number
of
unique
records.
C
With
regards
to
your
third
question,
I'm
going
to
remember
your
second
one
in
just
a
moment.
With
regards
to
your
third
question.
We
do
feel
confident
in
the
trend
we've
been
looking
at
today's
number
validating
it
doing
similar
sort
of
calculations
as
you
went
through
and
believe
that
the
trend
has
been
stabilizing
and
coming
down.
In
regards
to
your
second
question,
the
hospital
and
death
data
is
absolutely
collected
in
a
different
manner.
C
The
data
is
reported
to
us
differently
and
we
have
the
benefit
of
being
able
to
call
our
416
hospital
partners
across
the
state
and
reality
check
with
them.
Are
you
seeing
the
actual
inquiry
decreases
that
we're
seeing
in
the
data
within
the
wards
of
your
hospitals
within
your
icus
and
overall?
What
we
know
is
many
many
of
the
areas
where
we've
seen
that
decrease
validated
by
our
hospital
partners
and,
as
we
said,
there
are
parts
of
california
that
are
still
experiencing
an
increase,
and
we
see
that
as
well,
so
that
data
rest
assured.
C
We
feel
good
about
and
we've
seen
these
decreasing
trends
in
hospitalizations
over
the
last
couple
of
weeks,
and
those
will
then
lead
to
what
we
expect
are
reduced
numbers
of
deaths
in
the
coming
weeks
as
well.
D
Daniel
morrison,
the
san
jose
mercury
news
doctor,
thank
you.
Can
you
help
me
out
understand
a
couple
of
things:
santa
clara
county,
first
person,
santa
clara
county,
says
the
problem
reporting
dated
back
to
july
16..
F
C
Sure,
thanks
for
all
those
questions,
so
on
your
first
question
regarding
earlier
in
july,
as
I
said,
we
have
periodic
cal,
ready
and
data
reporting
system
delays,
slow
downs.
They
are
often
temporary
in
nature
lasting
a
short
period
of
time
and
then
things
normalize.
C
We
call
that
the
episode
date-
and
that
gives
us
the
most
accurate
sense
of
when
somebody
in
our
community
was
positive
and
then,
in
regards
to
your
third
question
on
our
level
of
confidence,
we
are
constantly
looking
at
the
data
after
developing
confidence
in
the
ability
to
capture
all
of
the
data
and
looking
at
these
numbers,
even
for
example,
today,
day
over
day,
we
are
seeing,
although
the
the
the
underlying
numbers
are
different.
D
Spencer,
custodian
voice
of
oc
hi,
thanks
for
taking
our
questions,
dr
galley
mine,
is
on
the
schools.
There's
been
a
host
of
schools,
especially
in
orange
county
last
count
over
a
hundred
mix
of
public
and
private
charter
schools,
but
it
will
all
apply
for
the
waiver
process,
and
that
was
the
reporting
backlog
with
the
of
the
you
know,
testing
results,
you
know,
has
this
process
been
put
on
hold,
or
is
there
any
kind
of
plan
to
slow
that
down,
or
maybe
just
put
it
off
altogether
for
a
week
or
two.
C
Yeah
excellent
question:
as
I
mentioned,
the
county
data
monitoring
list
was
frozen
last
friday.
We
will
only
unfreeze
it
after
we
have
the
confidence
in
all
of
our
data.
It's
not
just
accuracy
but
completeness,
give
us
a
chance
to
work
with
the
counties
to
update
what
those
data
numbers
look
like
and
then,
if
counties
can
proceed
with
the
waiver
process
they
will
be
allowed
to.
We
are
not
putting
some
time
delay
on
that
process
now,
because
we
know
for
around
the
urgency
of
planning
and
the
questions.
C
Many
parents,
teachers,
school
administrators
have
around
this
process
that
we
look
forward
to
really
resuming
that
once
the
county
data
monitoring
list
is
is
unfrozen
so
that
our
local
communities
like
orange
county,
can
make
decisions
based
on
the
guidelines
of
that
waiver
and
the
local
conditions
and.
E
To
some
early
ones,
but
I'm
still
not
clear
on
it,
so
I
want
to
ask
them
a
different
way.
San
diego
county
is
on
the
monitoring
list
and
our
case
rate
has
been
going
down
and
getting
us
closer
to
coming
off,
but
it's
reporting
a
slightly
lower
case
rate
than
what
the
state
is
reporting
for
our
region.
I'm
actually
not
talking
about
what
the
state
has
posted
on
its
county
data
website.
That
currently
says
134
for
us,
but
you
said
that
was
frozen.
E
The
county
is
reporting
on
its
own
website,
a
case
grade
that
it
calculated
of
110
and
then
a
case
rate
of
112
that
it
says,
was
calculated
with
state
data.
So
I'm
trying
to
understand
why
the
county
and
state
patriots
are
still
different
and
which
one
you're
going
to
follow
to
determine.
If
we
come
off
the
monitoring
list.
C
So
with
that,
I
just
want
to
thank
you
all
your
your
patience
joining
us
on
a
friday
afternoon.
We
will
continue
to
work
over
the
weekend
so
that,
early
next
week
you
on
the
status
of
the
backlog
and
what
it
meant
in
terms
of
cases
and
how
it
impacts
the
broader
sense
of
transmission
across
the
state.