California coronavirus updates: Northgate Boulevard gets $2 million to support business recovery due to COVID-19 pandemic

11:39 a.m.: Northgate Boulevard gets $2 million to support business recovery due to COVID-19 pandemic

The Sacramento City Council has approved allocating $2 million to help boost small businesses along Northgate Boulevard, which is a historically underserved area of the city.

The money is intended to help restaurants and shops recover after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Northgate has really had almost no investment at all for the last 24 years, so this is incredibly significant of what can be achieved with an infusion of money like this,” City Council member Jeff Harris said.

The money comes from the city’s allocation of federal American Rescue Plan funds approved by Congress last year.

Among other things, it’ll help pay for business consulting, lease assistance and training on financial planning. It’ll also be used to help businesses make the upgrade from gas to electric equipment.

“It’s about bolstering the business community on the corridor. It’s about supporting small businesses and bringing them back to life after the ravages of the pandemic,” Harris said.

11:56 a.m.: A record 40 million children missed out on measles vaccine dose last year

The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say measles immunization has dropped significantly since the coronavirus pandemic began, as reported by the Associated Press.

This means that there’s a record high of nearly 40 million children globally who missed a vaccine dose last year.

In a report issued Wednesday, WHO and the CDC said there were about 9 million measles infections and 128,99 deaths worldwide last year.

Scientists estimate that at least 95% of a population needs to be immunized to protect against epidemics — the WHO and the CDC reported that only about 81% of children receive their first dose of measles vaccine, while 71% get their second dose, marking the lowest global coverage rates of the first measles dose since 2008.

The WHO and CDC said continued drops in vaccination, weak disease surveillance, and delayed response plans due to COVID-19, in addition to ongoing outbreaks in more than 20 countries, mean that “measles is an imminent threat in every region of the world.”