The Republican nominee for president in the upcoming November election took the podium at about 10 a.m. at Trump National Golf Course, which is a course he’s owned for more than 20 years.

Trump talked about the ongoing crisis in Rancho Palos Verdes during the news conference Friday. Many residents have been displaced from their homes, and thousands of others have had electricity shut off as landslides have affected crucial elements of the community’s infrastructure.

“I want to express my support for all of the families affected by the landslides in Rancho Palos Verdes,” Trump said. “Landslides are something to be taken care of … The mountain is moving and it can be stopped, but they need some help from the government.”

Trump’s criticism of the government’s response comes more than a week after California Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in the community, giving the city state funding and support from the Office of Emergency Services.

Still, many residents congregated outside the golf course on Friday, hoping to have the chance to show the former president the impact that the landslides is having on their lives.

One resident, identified as Jerry, told KTLA’s Omar Lewis that his daughter was about to move into his new home in the city when Southern California Edison abruptly turned his power off on Labor Day weekend.

“We’re hoping for FEMA money to come in,” he said. “It’s a working class neighborhood. I think the perception is these people have an endless amount of money … You have a lot of older people that have nowhere to turn.”

Jerry said he was not present at the event in support of former President Trump, but rather to get his attention on the issue.

“We’re not going to go out without a fight,” he said. “We’re here to stay.”

While lots of residents were there to advocate for the residents affected by the natural disaster, most in attendance were there in support of Trump, who rarely makes campaign stops in California due to the political demographics of the state.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of Trump supporters were seen outside. One large banner read “Kamala Harris is an idiot,” alongside an American flag.

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Gov.ca.gov | Contributed

Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the COVID-19 State of Emergency will end on February 28, 2023, charting the path to phasing out one of the most effective and necessary tools that California has used to combat COVID-19. This timeline gives the health care system needed flexibility to handle any potential surge that may occur after the holidays in January and February, in addition to providing state and local partners the time needed to prepare for this phaseout and set themselves up for success afterwards.

With hospitalizations and deaths dramatically reduced due to the state’s vaccination and public health efforts, California has the tools needed to continue fighting COVID-19 when the State of Emergency terminates at the end of February, including vaccines and boosters, testing, treatments and other mitigation measures like masking and indoor ventilation. As the State of Emergency is phased out, the SMARTER Plan continues to guide California’s strategy to best protect people from COVID-19.

“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been guided by the science and data – moving quickly and strategically to save lives. The State of Emergency was an effective and necessary tool that we utilized to protect our state, and we wouldn’t have gotten to this point without it,” said Governor Newsom. “With the operational preparedness that we’ve built up and the measures that we’ll continue to employ moving forward, California is ready to phase out this tool.”

To maintain California’s COVID-19 laboratory testing and therapeutics treatment capacity, the Newsom Administration will be seeking two statutory changes immediately upon the Legislature’s return: 1) The continued ability of nurses to dispense COVID-19 therapeutics; and 2) The continued ability of laboratory workers to solely process COVID-19 tests.

“California’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has prepared us for whatever comes next. As we move into this next phase, the infrastructure and processes we’ve invested in and built up will provide us the tools to manage any ups and downs in the future,” said Secretary of the California Health & Human Services Agency, Dr. Mark Ghaly. “While the threat of this virus is still real, our preparedness and collective work have helped turn this once crisis emergency into a manageable situation.”

Throughout the pandemic, Governor Newsom, the Legislature and state agencies have been guided by the science and data to best protect Californians and save lives – with a focus on those facing the greatest social and health inequities – remaining nimble to adapt mitigation efforts along the way as we learned more about COVID-19. The state’s efforts to support Californians resulted in:

• Administration of 81 million vaccinations, distribution of a billion units of PPE throughout the state and processing of 186 million tests.

• Allocation of billions of dollars to support hospitals, community organizations, frontline workers, schools and more throughout the pandemic.

• The nation’s largest stimulus programs to support people hardest hit by the pandemic – $18.5 billion for direct payments to Californians, $8 billion for rent relief, $10 billion for small business grants and tax relief, $2.8 billion to help with overdue utility bills, and more. California’s pandemic response efforts have saved tens of thousands of lives, kept people out of the hospital and protected the economy:

• California’s death rate is the lowest amongst large states. If California had Texas’ death rate, 27,000 more people would have died here. If California had Florida’s rate, that figure jumps to approximately 56,000 more deaths.

• In only the first ten months of vaccines being available, a study showed that California’s efforts saved 20,000 lives, kept 73,000 people out of the hospital and prevented 1.5 million infections.

• California’s actions during the pandemic protected the economy and the state continues to lead the nation in creating jobs and new business starts:

– “‘Lockdown’ states like California did better economically than ‘looser’ states like Florida, new COVID data shows,” with California’s economy having contracted less than such states – economic output shrank 3.5% on average for the U.S., compared with 2.8% for California. – Since February 2021, California has created 1,628,300 new jobs

– over 16% of the nation’s jobs, by far more than any other state. By comparison, Texas created 1,133,200 jobs (11.3% of the nation’s) and Florida created 787,600 jobs (7.9% of the nation’s) in that same timeframe.

– Since the beginning of 2019, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that over 569,000 businesses started in California, by far more than any other state.

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GOV.CA.GOV | Contributed

As part of the state’s ongoing response to the monkeypox outbreak, Governor Gavin Newsom today declared a State of Emergency to bolster the state’s vaccination efforts. The proclamation supports the work underway by the California Department of Public Health and others in the administration to coordinate a whole-of-government response to monkeypox, seek additional vaccines and lead outreach and education efforts on accessing vaccines and treatment.

“California is working urgently across all levels of government to slow the spread of monkeypox, leveraging our robust testing, contact tracing and community partnerships strengthened during the pandemic to ensure that those most at risk are our focus for vaccines, treatment and outreach,” said Governor Newsom. “We’ll continue to work with the federal government to secure more vaccines, raise awareness about reducing risk, and stand with the LGBTQ community fighting stigmatization.”

To expand vaccination efforts, the proclamation enables Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel to administer monkeypox vaccines that are approved by the FDA, similar to the statutory authorization recently enacted for pharmacists to administer vaccines. The state’s response to monkeypox builds on the infrastructure developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to deploy vaccine clinics and ensure inclusive and targeted outreach in partnership with local and community-based organizations.

Last month, California public health leaders urged federal partners to make more vaccine doses available to the state as quickly as possible so that the state can expand eligibility to both confirmed and probable exposures, as well as to individuals who are at high-risk of contracting the virus. To date, the state has distributed more than 25,000 vaccine doses and will make additional allocations in the coming days and weeks. Los Angeles County has received a separate allocation of vaccine. In all, the state has received more than 61,000 doses. The state is also supporting overall vaccination efforts in collaboration with locals, including helping provide staffing and mobile clinics. The state allocates doses to local health departments based on a number of factors, including the number of reported monkeypox cases in an area and estimate of at-risk populations.

As of July 28, the state had expanded its testing capacity to process more than 1,000 tests a week. The state’s public health laboratory leaders have been working with local public health, academic, and commercial laboratories to ensure testing capacity is increasingly available and coordinated with the public health response. CDPH is also expanding treatment options. Access to the antiviral prescription drug tecovirimat (TPOXX) used to treat monkeypox is limited, but the treatment can now be administered at more than 30 facilities and providers across the state.

The state continues outreach and education efforts to inform Californians about monkeypox and ways to limit its spread. The state has hosted multiple webinars for local health departments, community-based organizations, and other health care providers and has attended various town halls and community meetings to speak with and hear from the public and local leaders. CDPH is also scheduling listening sessions with the LGBTQ community. CDPH is currently running paid ad campaigns on various digital media platforms to promote awareness and engage communities at higher risk of contracting monkeypox.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s governor on Monday declared a state of emergency to speed efforts to combat the monkeypox outbreak, becoming the second state in three days to take the step.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said the declaration will help California coordinate a government-wide response, seek more vaccines and lead outreach and education efforts on where people can get treatment and vaccination.

“We’ll continue to work with the federal government to secure more vaccines, raise awareness about reducing risk, and stand with the LGBTQ community fighting stigmatization,” Newsom said in a statement announcing his declaration.

Nearly 800 cases of monkeypox have been reported in California, according to state public health officials.

The monkeypox virus spreads through prolonged and close skin-to-skin contact, which can include hugging, cuddling and kissing, as well as through the sharing of bedding, towels and clothing. People getting sick so far have mainly been men who have sex with men, though health officials note that the virus can infect anyone.

“Public health officials are clear: stigma is unacceptable and counterproductive in public health response,” Michelle Gibbons, executive director of the County Health Executives Association of California said in a statement. “The fact is that monkeypox is primarily spread by skin to skin contact and sharing objects like bedding or towels, without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The type of monkeypox virus identified in this outbreak is rarely fatal, and people usually recover within weeks. But the lesions and blisters caused by the virus are painful, and they can prevent swallowing or bowel movements if in the throat or anus.

The declaration in California came after a similar one in New York state on Saturday, and in San Francisco on Thursday. Newsom’s administration had said as recently as Friday that it was too soon for such a declaration.

After pressing for Newsom to make such a declaration, Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco hailed the governor’s decision.

“The monkeypox outbreak is an emergency, and we need to use every tool we have to control it,” Wiener said.

Newsom’s proclamation allows emergency medical personnel to administer monkeypox vaccines that are approved by the federal government.

That’s similar to a recent law that allows pharmacists to administer vaccines, Newsom’s administration said. It said the state’s response is building on the steps developed during the coronavirus pandemic to set up vaccination clinics and make sure there is outreach to vulnerable populations in cooperation with local and community-based organizations.

California has received more than 61,000 vaccine doses and has distributed more than 25,000 doses.

“We don’t have any time to waste,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a statement. She said the nation’s most-populous county must use all available resources to speed the distribution of vaccines and help to those who have been infected.

Newsom’s office said Los Angeles County has received a separate allocation of vaccine.

As of last week, the state had expanded its testing capacity to process more than 1,000 tests a week. Critics have said the long wait for test results delayed treatment options.

In San Francisco, Peter Tran was among hundreds who lined up sometimes for hours to receive the monkeypox vaccine at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Monday after the clinic was forced to close last week because it did not receive enough doses.

“It’s horrible. Like this is a vaccine that’s been out for such a long time. And like, it’s not even a deadly disease. It’s harder to be transmitted than COVID. But the rollout of the vaccines throughout this nation is absolutely horrible,” Tran said.

“I think the science shows that protection is greatly improved with the vaccine. So that’s why I’m doing it. And I honestly just don’t want the lesions on my body. I heard the lesions are painful and leave scarring. So I think that’s another motivation to go out and get it.”

Before making their own emergency declaration last week, San Francisco city officials were criticized for not responding rapidly enough to the outbreak. They, in turn, faulted the federal government for failing to deliver enough vaccines. The city received about 4,000 doses on Friday, enabling it to restart vaccinations, and hopes to administer them by mid-week, said Dr. Lukejohn Day, chief medical officer at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

The city had 305 cases as of Monday, he said.

The World Health Organization has declared the monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries a global emergency.

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