Every resident of Los Angeles will be eligible for a free coronavirus test, regardless of symptoms, at testing sites that have been set up throughout the area, Mayor Garcetti announced Wednesday.

Here’s your Daily LA for April 29, 2020

Happening in LA

Riverside County Extends Face Masks And Social Distancing Into June

Face coverings and social distancing will remain in effect until June 19 in Riverside County. That revised order came Wednesday from the county’s top health officer who also said stay-at-home orders will follow those from the state.

Coronavirus testing Los Angeles: Every county resident eligible for free test regardless of symptoms, Garcetti says

Every resident of Los Angeles County will be eligible for a free coronavirus test, regardless of symptoms, at testing sites that have been set up throughout the region, Mayor Garcetti announced Wednesday. Prior to the mayor’s announcement, testing at the 34 drive-thru sites set up around Los Angeles city and county had been restricted to individuals who were presenting symptoms, or critical front-line workers like grocery store employees and rideshare drivers, who were not presenting symptoms.

LA County Nursing Students Forced To Choose Between Delaying Graduation Or Risking COVID-19 Infection

A nursing school operated by Los Angeles County’s Department of Health Services is requiring nursing students to continue their clinical rotation in county-owned hospitals, even as other nursing programs in the country have transitioned to online education in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

LA County deaths rise by 56 as experts adjust predictions on hospital readiness

Los Angeles County reported another 56 deaths from the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, April 29, as public health officials adjusted their predictions upward slightly for how many hospital beds the county could need in the weeks ahead as they weigh when and how to ease “Safer at Home” orders.

Downtown LA (DTLA) Business Owner Plans to Defy LA Shutdown Order

One business owner in downtown Los Angeles said Wednesday she plans to reopen two retail locations even after she was charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly violating the City’s “Safer at Home” order that directed the closure of ‘non-essential’ businesses.

Headlines

Antiviral Drug Remdesivir Shows Promise For Treating Coronavirus In NIH Study

Preliminary results of a major study of the antiviral drug remdesivir show it can help hospitalized patients with COVID-19 recover faster. Dr. Anthony Fauci hailed the findings, released Wednesday, as “quite good news.”

Lyft lays off almost 1,000 staffers as Uber weighs big layoffs

Lyft is laying of 982 people, the company said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. That represents 17 percent of the company’s official workforce (the company considers its thousands of drivers to be independent contractors).

Juul to Cut Up to 40% of Workforce in New Round of Reductions

Juul Labs Inc. is preparing to cut 25% to 40% of its workforce, according to a person familiar with the matter, in the latest round of layoffs at the e-cigarette company. The San Francisco-based company currently employs about 3,000 people after slashing about 650 jobs late last year. It could cut between 800 to 950 people in the latest round, the person said.

Apple is making it easier to unlock your iPhone without Face ID, since everyone’s wearing masks now

Apple released beta iPhone software on Wednesday that makes it easier to unlock your iPhone without using Face ID and while wearing a mask. Right now, if you’re wearing a mask, you need to lift your mask to unlock an iPhone with Face ID. Otherwise, there’s a small but annoying delay between when the phone realizes it can’t see your face and when it presents the screen to enter in a passcode. You can just turn off Face ID, but then you don’t get the convenience when you’re at home and not wearing a mask.

Hackers hit Chegg for the third time since 2018

The education tech company has been beset by several security incidents. In 2018, hackers made off with 40 million customer records, forcing the company to reset user passwords. Then, almost exactly a year later, Chegg confirmed another data breach at Thinkful, which it had just acquired.

Google Duplex now speaks Spanish, starts calling businesses in Spain to update hours

Google today launched Google Duplex, it’s AI chat agent that can arrange appointments over the phone, in Spain to automate the updating of business hours across Google Search and Google Maps. For the first time, it’s speaking in Spanish — Duplex previously only spoke in English.

Tesla to reduce the price of standard range Model 3 in China

Tesla said it will reduce the price of its standard range Model 3 vehicle in China to meet the government’s new eligibility requirements for subsidies. This marks the second time this year that the automaker has reduced the price. Several months ago, the base version of China-made Model 3 was lowered by 9%.

John Diep

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Founder, Editor-In-Chief // A native Angeleno. John studied engineering at UCLA; founded Schmoozd, an offline social tech networking event in LA with 30,000 subs; ran a startup accelerator (StartEngine). Worked for several major brands like Toyota, DIRECTV, Hitachi, ICANN, and Raytheon. A mentor at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) Entrepreneur School, Dr. David Choi. And advises a dozen local LA startups building amazing tech in various industries; and invested in some. // Let's Connect: john@lastartups.com