• A staff member in Governor Gavin Newsom's office turned up COVID-positive, and now multiple staffers are in quarantine. Newsom was not exposed to the staff member because he is in his own quarantine due to his children's exposure last week. [Chronicle]
  • The Supreme Court has ordered a lower court in California to reexamine the state's rules around religious services during the pandemic, following last week's decision striking down New York's rules. [Associated Press]
  • A 68-year-old male pedestrian and a 45-year-old man on a scooter were struck dead Tuesday evening in separate vehicle collisions in the Outer Richmond and Mission neighborhoods. [Examiner]
  • "Several" police officers in the city of Napa are COVID-positive, and anyone they were in contact with is being informed by contact-tracers. [KRON4]
  • California had 20,759 new coronavirus cases reported in one day this week, and 113 deaths in one day — while the U.S. is breaking new records for both every day. [KRON4]
  • Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is telling city residents to "hunker down" and "cancel everything" amid the COVID surge there. [KABC]
  • There was a 4.9M earthquake Wednesday night near the California-Nevada border, about 15 miles south of Mina, Nevada. [Chronicle]
  • It was CDC staff in California who tipped off local authorities in Kaua'i about the COVID-positive couple who boarded their plane at SFO earlier this week after testing positive at the airport — in a first-of-its-kind situation. [KRON4]
  • Three gyms in Contra Costa County have been fined for illegally operating indoors, including Diablo Crossfit in Pleasant Hill, which has been fined three times. [KRON4]
  • A sophisticated hacking operation likely tied to a nation-state (ahem, China or Russia) has been sending phishing emails and attempting to learn about the "cold-chain" used to distribute the coronavirus vaccines. [Associated Press / New York Times]

Photo: James Coleman