CALIFORNIA

F RIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020::L ATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

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SPORTS INSIDE:Former boxer Mia St. John finds it tough to stay sober in a pandemic. B

A day after the World

Health Organization de-

clared the coronavirus out-

break a pandemic, friends

Annie Bickerton and Cristin

Lim knew they couldn’t wait

around for government to

help.

The two millennials mo-

bilized, as Bickerton, 33,

went to Lim, 24, with an idea.

“Can you help me make a

website for a rapid response

thing for neighbors if COVID

gets really bad?” Bickerton

texted Lim.

In a matter of hours, they

had launched Westside

Friends, a network of neigh-

bors helping one another

during the outbreak with

grocery runs, meals, phar-

macy pickups, check-in calls

and other errands.

Their skills aligned

perfectly.

Bickerton works in

public policy and has a

knack for rallying people.

She organized a core group

of volunteers.

Lim is a freelance de-

signer who always thinks of

her audience. She created a

domain, designed and devel-

ANNIE BICKERTON, left, Richard Tamayo and Cristin Lim post fliers in Mar

Vista offering to help Angelenos who are struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jason ArmondLos Angeles Times

Random acts of kindness

As the coronavirus strains government services,

neighbors ramp up an all-hands-on-deck approach

By Cindy Carcamo

[SeeNeighbors,B2]

Beachgoers

warned virus

may be lurking

Atmospheric chemist

fears the coronavirus

could enter coastal

waters and then be

kicked into the air. B

Pet adoptions

soar in pandemic

Across L.A. and around

the world, in uncertain

times, it seems as

though every animal is

now a therapy pet. B

Lottery.........................B

Nine-year-old Trevor de la Torre

was home with a migraine when his

parents got word that his school was

closing in response to the coronavirus

emergency — and his critically

needed hands-on therapies would ef-

fectively stop, too.

His one-on-one reading specialist,

gone. His speech therapy, gone. His

occupational therapist who is teach-

ing him how to write letters, gone. His

one-on-one classroom aide is no long-

er by his side to help him understand

assignments and break down lessons

into more manageable parts.

Trevor was born with a rare brain

malformation called hemimegalen-

cephaly — half his brain was removed

when he was 6 months old to stop life-

threatening seizures. He has only half

of his vision and his mobility, as well as

visual, auditory, speech and devel-

opmental delays, said his mother,

Kelly de la Torre.

Now the expert support team pro-

vided by the Poway Unified School

District is only permitted by the dis-

DARLIN PEÑA watches his siblings Heaven and Richard play in their Los Angeles yard. Darlin has
cerebral palsy and is struggling with the tools he’s been given by his school for remote learning.

Dania MaxwellLos Angeles Times

A new challenge for

special-needs students

With schools shut, they struggle with inadequate resources

“I WANT to learn more, but they don’t have anything for me to do,”
Darlin Peña said of his Willowbrook training center, now closed.

By Sonali Kohli

[SeeStudents,B5]

A family foundation con-
trolled by Dr. Patrick Soon-
Shiong is seeking to buy an
empty hospital near down-
town Los Angeles and turn it
into a sprawling campus for
COVID-19 patients and co-
ronavirus research.
Soon-Shiong and his
wife, Michele B. Chan, run
the Chan Soon-Shiong Fam-
ily Foundation, which has of-
fered to purchase St. Vin-
cent Medical Center out of
bankruptcy for $135 million.
Soon-Shiong, who owns
The Times, said in an inter-
view that the goal was to cre-
ate a “central command”
center that would attract
doctors and experts on the

virus, and relieve pressure

on other hospitals.

The state recently moved

to lease the property to help

the region cope with the co-

ronavirus pandemic, and

Soon-Shiong said his pur-

chase would bolster that ef-

fort.

“That’s what every city

should have done, they

should have established a

central command,” Soon-

Shiong said, adding that “we

are in a war zone now.”

Ajudge on Wednesday

approved the Chan Soon-

Shiong Family Foundation

as the lead bidder for the

hospital at a federal Bank-

ruptcy Court hearing. Com-

peting offers must be sub-

mitted to the court by Fri-

day.

St. Vincent has been

closed since January amid

bankruptcy proceedings, a

blow to the working-class,

predominantly Latino

neighborhood served by the

Times owner seeks

to buy St. Vincent

Soon-Shiong wants to

turn vacant hospital

into a coronavirus

‘command’ center.

By Dakota Smith

[SeeSoon-Shiong,B5]

SACRAMENTO — A

Pentecostal church in a Sac-

ramento suburb is the epi-

center of a coronavirus out-

break, with more than six

dozen confirmed cases,

prompting county officials

to warn against religious

gatherings.

“It’s outrageous that this

is happening,” said Dr. Peter

Beilenson, the Sacramento

County public health direc-

tor. “Obviously there is free-

dom of religion, but when it’s

impacting public health as

this is, we have to enforce so-

cial distancing.”

The church, Bethany

Slavic Missionary Church,

did not immediately return a

call for comment Thursday.

But Beilenson said health

officials were concerned

that church members may

still be meeting in private

homes to conduct services,

despite county orders.

“Whether or not you have

community-wide sermons

or meetings in people’s

houses, they are all dangers

and they are very detri-

mental to the public’s

health,” Beilenson said.

Beilenson said 71 of the

church’s members who live

in Sacramento County have

tested positive, and more

members who live in sur-

rounding counties also have

confirmed cases, though he

could not say how many.

Information and ser-

mons on the church’s web-

site indicate it stopped

holding large gatherings

March 18. The church is the

largest Russian-language

Pentecostal church in the

area and has a congregation

of more than 3,000 people,

according to published re-

ports. Its two-story building

is normally packed with con-

gregants, many of them old-

er immigrants, during multi-

ple services each week.

According to a sermon

from Sunday posted online,

the church’s senior pastor,

Adam Bondaruk, is hospi-

talized with the virus, as are

two other pastors, who were

described as “critically ill” by

an unidentified pastor in the

video.

“We have many different

people in our church, they

are ill, so we need to pray. We

need to intervene,” the pas-

tor continued in the video.

Sacramento

church linked

to outbreak

Health officials say

over 71 worshipers

have the virus, raising

concern that members

are meeting in private.

By Anita Chabria,

Sean Greene and

Rong-Gong Lin II

[SeeChurch,B4]

The death toll from co-

ronavirus surged again

Thursday to 78 in Los Ange-

les County as officials

warned residents “many

weeks of work” were ahead

before the region might see

signs that the spread was

slowing.

Although cases are rising

across the state, Los Ange-

les County — the state’s

most populous — has seen a

large number of fatalities

and new cases. Officials ac-

knowledged the psycholo-

gical toll of the losses but

said it’s essential people

keep following social dis-

tancing rules and follow

health guidelines.

“Please don’t lose hope,

and please don’t stop follow-

ing all of the directives that

you are following right now

to slow the spread of

COVID-19,” said Barbara

Ferrer, director of the Los

Angeles County Depart-

ment of Public Health.

The county confirmed 13

new coronavirus-related

deaths Thursday, bringing

the toll to 78. Twelve of the

victims were over age 65, and

all but one of them had

underlying health condi-

tions, Ferrer said. The other

person who died was be-

tween ages 41 and 65 and also

had underlying health con-

ditions, she said.

L.A. County officials also

announced 534 new

COVID-19 cases. Long

Beach, which has its own

health department, an-

nounced 14 new cases, bring-

ing the city’s total to 153.

There were 49 confirmed

cases in Pasadena, which

also has its own health de-

partment. There were more

than 4,000 confirmed cases

overall in L.A. County as of

Thursday night. The daily

count increased by more

than 1,000 in 48 hours.

“The psychological im-

pact of rising case counts

and deaths is real, both indi-

vidually and collectively, and

I urge everyone to take care

of their emotional health

and to check in frequently

with those in your extended

communities,” Ferrer said.

“This will be a long haul, and

we have many weeks of work

CASES

SURGE,

DEATHS

HIT 78 IN

COUNTY

L.A. County has 40%

of state cases. ‘Please

don’t lose hope,’

health director says.

By Hannah Fry,

John Myers

and Paige St. John

[SeeCounty,B2]