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- Written by: LYNDA LAUGHLIN, AUGUSTUS ANDERSON, ANTHONY MARTINEZ AND ASIAH GAYFIELD
Many of the nation’s health care workers are now on the front line of the battle with COVID-19. Who are these people putting their lives at risk daily to care for the millions who have contracted the coronavirus?
There were 22 million workers in the health care industry, one of the largest and fastest-growing sectors in the United States that accounts for 14% of all U.S. workers, according to the Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey, or ACS.
The health care and social assistance industry sector includes establishments that provide medical care in hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices, nursing and residential care, and social assistance such as family and childcare services.
In 2019, around seven million people worked at general medical, surgical or specialty hospitals; some two million at outpatient care centers and about 1.8 million worked at nursing care facilities.
Health care occupations
There were 9.8 million workers employed as health care technicians and practitioners, including physicians, surgeons, and registered nurses. About two-thirds were non-Hispanic White.
Another 5.3 million worked as nursing assistants, home health and personal care aides and in other health care support occupations. One-quarter of health care support workers were Black.
Women accounted for three-quarters of full-time, year-round health care workers.
Women working as registered nurses, the most common health care occupation for women, had median annual earnings of $68,509.
In contrast, women working as nursing assistants, the most common health care support occupation, earned $28,686.
Among full-time, year-round health care workers, more than half of paramedics, surgeons, and other physicians were men. Median earnings for men in selected health care occupations ranged from under $30,000 for home health aides to over $250,000 for emergency medicine physicians.
Health care workers by state
States with over 500,000 health care practitioners and technicians include California, Florida, New York, and Texas. However, the overall distribution of health care related workers varied by state.
For example, there were about six health care practitioners and technicians per 100 civilian-employed workers ages 16 and over in the United States.
While about 58,000 workers in West Virginia were health care practitioners and technicians, they accounted for nearly 8 out of 100 of the state’s workers ages 16 and over. In the District of Columbia, 4 out 100 workers, or just over 17,000, worked as health care practitioners.
The number and distribution of health care support workers also varies across the United States.
California had 718,011 health care support workers — the largest number of any state — accounting for about 4 out of 100 workers in the state.
In contrast, nearly 5 out 100 workers (454,514) in New York had health care support jobs. Nearly 2 out 100 workers (just over 23,000) in Puerto Rico worked in a health care support occupation.
We used statistics from the 2019 American Community Survey to profile health care workers at the national and state level.
Data.census.gov provides selected labor force statistics. ACS estimates are based on data from a sample of housing units and people. Therefore, respondents may or may not live and work in the same geographic location as their employer.
Additional information on industry and occupational classifications is available from the Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch.
Lynda Laughlin, Augustus Anderson, Anthony Martinez, and Asiah Gayfield are survey statisticians in the Census Bureau’s Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch.
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- Written by: Dominique A. Phillips, University of Miami and Jill Ehrenreich-May, University of Miami
Pilar’s parents took all the recommended precautions to shield her from the dangers of COVID-19. They stayed at home, away from family, friends and group activities. Pilar had remained in virtual schooling throughout the pandemic as a first and then second grader.
As things began to open up again and her grandmother received the COVID-19 vaccine, Pilar’s parents began to hear a new signature phrase from her: “I don’t want to go.” Not to her gymnastics class, not to the grocery store, not even to the outdoor patio of her favorite restaurant.
After all the events of the past year, 7-year-old Pilar was apprehensive and worried about reengaging with the world outside her close-knit family. With the return to in-person school looming, Pilar’s parents were at a loss.
As researchers and clinicians who work directly with children and families experiencing anxiety, we have heard many versions of this story as the U.S. enters a new stage of the coronavirus pandemic. For some children, avoiding others has become understandably normal and the path back to pre-pandemic interaction may feel like a challenge to navigate.
Feeling stressed is normal these days
The pandemic led to abrupt and extended changes to families’ routines, including more isolation and removal from in-person schooling, that are associated with worsening mental health in young people.
Since March 2020, there’s been a significant increase in reported youth anxiety, particularly in relation to fears of the coronavirus, along with greater frustration, boredom, insomnia and inattention. Results of a survey from summer 2020 found that over 45% of adolescents reported symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress.
Parents are also struggling emotionally. Adults report increased symptoms of depression, especially those experiencing high levels of anxiety related to risk of coronavirus exposure or infection. Parents are at even greater risk for psychiatric illness, with many reporting less personal support since the arrival of COVID-19. Parents must juggle the demands of work, home management, virtual schooling and child behavior during this time of prolonged isolation. The majority of people are able to adapt to new and stressful situations, but some experience severe and extended psychological distress.
So, what can parents do to care for both themselves and their children as we gradually transition back to interacting in public?
Worried about catching COVID-19 out there
As children and adolescents begin to leave isolation and return to public spaces, they might worry more about becoming sick. Of course it’s entirely reasonable to have concerns about health and safety in the midst of an ongoing pandemic. Parents can listen to children’s worries and express understanding about them in a brief and age-appropriate way.
But parents should also pay attention to how intense these worries seem to be. Is your child getting caught up in excessive hand-washing and cleaning? Adamant about avoiding even public spaces that you deem safe? With kids who are struggling, parents can discuss the differences between appropriate and excessive safety precautions.
Remind your child that while it’s important to be safe, it is also important to adapt your safety strategies to new information and situations. Drawing distinctions between what you and your children can and cannot control when it comes to getting sick, limiting excessive reassurance about safety and having a plan to manage challenging situations as they occur can help your child feel ready to meet the world.
Not ready to socially reengage
Throughout the pandemic, some children have continued to attend school in person, while others have conducted most of their learning online. During the transition back into in-person environments, different people will adjust to engaging with others at different speeds.
For kids expressing worry about resuming face-to-face social interactions, parents can help ease the process by expressing empathy simply and clearly. This hasn’t been an easy time for anyone.
Assist your child in taking smaller, more manageable steps toward regular interactions. For example, your child may not feel ready to spend time with friends indoors, but they may feel comfortable meeting one pal at an outdoor park. This first step can get them started down a path to participating in additional activities with more friends or in more settings, where safe and appropriate. Setting incremental goals can help children feel more in control about facing uncomfortable situations where their initial response may be to avoid.
While it may feel easier in the moment to accommodate your child’s desire to avoid social situations that feel more awkward or overwhelming than before, it is important not to reinforce such behavior. Prolonged avoidance can lead to even more anxiety and less confidence in socializing.
Instead, acknowledge that engaging with others can feel hard when you’re out of practice. Help your child think about ways they’ve successfully coped with similar worries in the past. For example, you might ask how they handled adjusting to kindergarten when it felt new and different for them. What did they do then that felt particularly helpful for coping?
If they’re assuming the worst about upcoming contact with others, encourage flexibility and help them develop more realistic expectations. In so many cases, the anxious anticipation is much worse than the reality of a dreaded social interaction.
Resistant to a busier, more active schedule
For many families, the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic cleared calendars that were usually packed with obligations. Some kids might have welcomed a slower pace or gotten cozy with the more low-key bubble lifestyle. Now the shift back to a more active schedule might feel overwhelming.
If your child is having trouble handling the loss of downtime, work with them to strike their own version of “work-life balance.” Help your child create new routines that incorporate regular meals, good sleep hygiene, necessary breaks and organization around completing schoolwork. These steps can establish more structure where it may be lacking and help ease the burden.
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Remember to make new or renewed activities as fun as possible to promote buy-in from family members. While things will most certainly get busier, maintaining positive one-on-one or family time with your child will help them feel supported as they move into this next stage.
The good news is that many children like Pilar are highly resilient and recover well from difficult circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic is something kids have been coping with, in some cases, for much of their young lives. It may take time and patience, but with positive support, even more anxious kids like Pilar can ease their way back to a comfortable, confident “new normal.”
Dominique A. Phillips, Ph.D. Student in Clinical Psychology, University of Miami and Jill Ehrenreich-May, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Child and Adolescent Mood and Anxiety Treatment Program, University of Miami
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The commission will meet beginning at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
The agenda can be viewed here.
Submit comments and questions in writing for commission consideration by sending them to
To give the planning commission adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit written comments prior to 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 13.
The public may attend planning commission meetings in person. However, the council chambers will have limited capacity and attendees must adhere to masking and social distancing mandates.
Community members also can participate via Zoom and view the meeting live on the Youtube channels for the city of Clearlake or Lake County PEG TV.
A public hearing to discuss a use permit and development agreement to allow the establishment of a commercial cannabis microbusiness, Akwaaba LLC, at 3995 Alvita Drive, will be continued to the next regularly scheduled planning commission meeting no later than April 27.
On the consent agenda – items that are considered noncontroversial and accepted together on one vote – are the adoption of two resolutions finding conveyance of 14141 Lakeshore Drive and 16332 27th Ave. are consistent with the City's General Plan and exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.
The commission’s members are Chair Kathryn Davis, Vice Chair Robert Coker and commissioners Lisa Wilson, Erin McCarrick and Fawn Williams.
mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Karen Sullivan, Kim Riley and Terre Logsdon
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With a background of slick green pebbles, the vibrant wildflowers on serpentine soils send a siren song of vibrant colors; many of them pink to fuschia, and all of them unique as the seemingly sprout from gravel.
Serpentine, the official California state rock is apple-green to black and is often speckled with light and dark colored areas as is found at Highland Springs Recreation outside of Lakeport, the McLaughlin Natural Reserve outside of Lower Lake, as well as many areas around Lake County and the state.
“Soil created from ultramafic rocks, serpentine soil, covers about 1% of California, but 13% of the state’s endemic plant species call it home,” according to the California Native Plant Society, and as serpentine rock is exposed to the elements of wind, sun, and rain – it decomposes to create a nutrient-deficient soil that not only stunts the growth of plants, but keeps other plants from successfully growing on these soils.
Composed of one or more of the three magnesium silicate minerals, "lizardite," "chrysotile" and "antigorite," the California Department of Conservation notes that, “Chrysotile in fibrous form is the most common type of asbestos. Asbestos is a term applied to a group of silicate minerals that readily separates into thin, strong, and flexible fibers that are heat resistant,” which made it popular to use in housing insulation and siding, as well as heat-resistant fabrics up to the late 20th century until it was phased out and banned due to the human health consequences of breathing in asbestos fibers; but serpentine soils are home for some stunning – but small – wildflowers.
One of these serpentine-growing wildflowers is known as Bitterroot, which also is the state flower of Montana, with delicate pale to vibrant pink flowers growing on what appears to be a succulent-type plant. Only visible for a few months in early spring, the bitterroot plant withers away when the heat sets in above ground, but a long taproot lies in wait for the next spring to grow again.
Wildflowers in the onion (allium) genus also are quite happy on serpentine soils and are related to the onions and garlic that we commonly eat, with California having over 45 different species of native onions, with 15 of those species growing in Lake County such as the scythe (or sickle) leaf onion, so named for the curve of the leaves similar to a scythe (a hand tool to cut grass or grains) and the Siskiyou onion (allium siskiyouense).
Highly developed in California, the allium genus often provides great drifts of color on dry slopes, ridges, and open fields with vivid shades of pink, rose, rose-purple, and wine.
Like bitterroot and other wildflowers growing on serpentine soils, the leaves die back after flowering as temperatures warm into mid-spring, with peak bloom time in late March through April – so #GetOutThere now and succumb to their siren song of spring!
Nurseries where you can purchase seeds/starts:
Bitterroot: https://calscape.org/nurseries.php?id=2168&showmap=1
Scythe leaf onion: https://calscape.org/nurseries.php?id=136&showmap=1
Siskiyou onion: Unknown at this time
Terre Logsdon is an environmentalist, certified master composter, and advocate for agroecology solutions to farming. An avid fan and protector of California wildflowers, plants, natural resources, and the environment, she seeks collaborative solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change. Kim Riley is retired, an avid hiker at Highland Springs, and has lived in Lake County since 1985. After 15 years of trail recovery and maintenance on the Highland Springs trails, she is now focused on native plants, including a native plant and pollinator garden on her property as well as promoting and preserving the beauty of the Highland Springs Recreation Area. Karen Sullivan has operated two nurseries to propagate and cultivate native plants and wildflowers, has lived in Kelseyville for the past 30 years, rides horses far and wide to see as many flowers as possible, and offers native plants and wildflowers for sale to the public. You can check her nursery stock here: https://calscape.org/nurseryplants/416/ord-popular/np-0/page-all?fbclid=IwAR1qIxpajtUTpRKm4yRl_GjZK4h4El3yJNU4vojBg_C9d3Hdp-5_qJ1UMYI. They are collaborating on a book, Highland Springs Recreation Area: A Field Guide, which will be published in the future. In the meanwhile, please visit https://www.facebook.com/HighlandSpringsNaturalists and https://www.facebook.com/HighlandSpringsRecreationArea.
