COVID-19

Deacon Jim Vargas, president and CEO at Father Joe's Villages, praised San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria Saturday for extending the shelter operation at the San Diego Convention Center to protect hundreds of homeless San Diegans as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.

Several American political leaders have been caught preaching one thing on the coronavirus and doing another. Politicians have long been called out for hypocrisy. But their actions can feel like a personal insult during a pandemic that’s forced millions into seclusion and left many without paychecks.

California hospitals are battling to find beds to house patients amid fears that the exploding coronavirus infection rate will exhaust resources and health care workers. Hospitals around the state are putting patients where they can to free up ICU beds, including using tents for emergency room overflows.

Gloria — acting without official council approval — directed city staff to provide funding to support operations through January using funds previously slated for shelter operations in November and December that remain unspent due to cost-saving measures and other factors, as well as to use available state grant funding specifically for homelessness-related programs and services.

An appeals court Friday stayed a judge's decision to halt enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions against San Diego County restaurants, meaning eateries must again abide by the state's regional stay-at-home order, at least for now.

It marks the first time the number of daily infections has surpassed 3,000 as well as the 18th consecutive day with more than 1,000 cases and the 11th day overall with more than 2,000 new cases.

The U.S. is adding a second COVID-19 vaccine to its arsenal. The Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use Friday of the vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health.

San Diego receives its first batch of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, transportation advocates have high hopes for a major expansion of bus and rail service, and a look back at how KPBS covered the top stories of 2020.

Teachers are currently expected to be vaccinated behind frontline healthcare workers and nursing home residents.

The unemployment rate in the San Diego-Carlsbad Metropolitan Statistical Area dropped to 6.6% in November, down from 7.5% in October and above the year-ago estimate of 2.9%