Eden Health District COVID-19 Bulletin
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"At one level, the White House is a workplace like any other. From all accounts, it wasn’t one that took seriously testing precautions, physical distancing, masks, and contact tracing. That several people who work in the White House contracted coronavirus shouldn’t come as a surprise."
Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean of Boston University School of Public Health, 10/5/20
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Healthy foods made in Berkeley build immunity — and community |
Eat real food. The advice is simple, and it’s become more important than ever as people work to protect their minds and bodies from the impacts of COVID-19. According to recommendations from the Harvard Medical School, eating healthy food can bolster your immune system and reduce anxiety.
“Food really is medicine to us,” said Mud Hut, a long-time worker-owner at Three Stone Hearth community kitchen. Three Stone Hearth is one of a host of Berkeley makers and bakers who provide customers with nourishing meals and are at the forefront of the real food movement that focuses on the natural purity and health benefits of eating healthy, wholesome foods that are grown or raised.
Since its founding in 2006, Three Stone Hearth has rooted its philosophy in the health benefits of traditional food, inspired by researchers who studied the diets of indigenous people around the world. Many of its customers are referred by their health care practitioner.
“When I see the gratitude from our customers, people who are struggling with chronic illness, digestive distress and compromised immune systems, who are recovering from surgery or cancer, my heart just bursts. I feel so proud and grateful to be providing these foods,” said Danielle Deibert, another long-time worker-owner. “They come in and say, ‘You’ve saved my life! Thank goodness you’re back!’”
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Three Stone Hearth also sells food products made locally by companies that share their values, including Morell’s Bread and Ancient Organics.
“With Americans continuing to have the highest obesity and diabetes rates, we are clearly not in balance with our relationship to what we eat,” said Matteo Girard Maxon, co-founder of Ancient Organics.
The increased attention on food and health during the pandemic has revitalized old traditions— including coming together around food purchased from artisans or made at home. Girard Maxon sees the silver lining: “Taking time to slow down and celebrate with a nourishing dish is fundamental to wellbeing, something that is much needed in the current dynamics we face.”
Eduardo Morell, of Morell’s Bread, agrees: “It’s nice to be part of people’s lives that way, to have a community that’s centered around food.”
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Alameda County: 21,746
Contra Costa County: 17,322
Bay Area: 105,462
California: 832,623
U.S.: 7,436,207
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Alameda County: 425
Contra Costa County: 213
Bay Area: 1,565
California: 16,151
U.S.: 209,938
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Mercury News, October 5, 2020
Santa Clara County recently reclaimed an unwanted title from Alameda County, which still accounts for the largest share of the region’s deaths from the virus. On Sunday, Santa Clara County reported 106 new cases of the virus to Alameda County’s 87, which padded its lead on the top spot: 21,840 cumulative cases vs. 21,708 in Alameda County. Santa Clara and Alameda are the lone Bay Area counties among the top 10 in the state in total cases — ninth and 10th, respectively.
Mercury News, October 5, 2020
Alameda and Santa Clara counties showed above-average new coronavirus case and death numbers in new figures Sunday, an alarming local uptick amid a slow-down in infections across California. According to data compiled by this news organization, public health officials in Alameda County reported 113 new cases, well above the 7-day average of 69.29 new cases. Officials also reported six new deaths, also above the rate of 2.86 daily deaths in the past week.
Much of the Bay Area still remains in the “red” tier in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s color-coded reopening system, with San Francisco becoming the first to enter the moderate “orange tier” last Tuesday. Contra Costa and San Mateo Counties are closest in the Bay Area to allowing indoor dining, opening places of worship and movie theaters to reopen at a limited capacity.
Press Release, October 2, 2020
The County of Alameda launched a new Covid-19 testing site with Glad Tidings Church in the City of Hayward for area residents and workers. Patients do not need a doctor’s note or insurance and will not be asked about immigration status. Both drive-through and walk-up testing is provided at the Glad Tidings Church campus located at 1027 W. Tennyson Road, Hayward (South Campus).
Testing is available 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and appointments can be made at https://ac.fulgentgenetics.com/ The testing site opened on September 23, 2020.
“Residents of Hayward are among the hardest hit by Covid-19 in Alameda County,” said Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Richard Valle, who serves District 2. “With the addition of this new testing site at Glad Tidings Church, Hayward residents and workers who are feeling ill, had close contact from someone who tested positive for COVID-19, or are essential health or frontline workers, now have access to three testing sites to meet their needs.”
Hayward’s first community testing site, operated by the Hayward Fire Department and supported by the Eden Health District, remains open. The site has performed more than 35,000 tests over a six-month period, including off-site testing of vulnerable populations. This testing site is currently located at Skywest Golf Course at 1401 Golf Course Road. Testing is available Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments can be made online or by calling (510) 583-5333.
Mercury News, October 5, 2020
California’s poorer cities and communities of color have largely borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Latinx residents make up less than 40% of the population, they account for more than 60% of coronavirus cases and nearly 50% of deaths. Black people and Pacific Islanders have likewise died at higher rates relative to their population size.
The state’s “equity metric” unveiled this week will attempt to hold counties with more than 106,000 people at least partially accountable for high infection rates in poorer areas where many Latinx, Black and Pacific Islander Californians live. Starting Tuesday, counties with big disparities in test positivity rates among neighborhoods may not be allowed to progress within the reopening system — and must promise to direct more resources toward testing and contact tracing in coronavirus hotspots. Smaller counties — which account for less than 3% of the state’s population — are exempt from the metric, but likewise must provide equity plans for their vulnerable populations, the state said.
In San Mateo County, meanwhile, County Health Chief Louise Rogers estimated that the county’s lowest quartile — including parts of San Mateo, Redwood City and East Palo Alto — has a positivity rate nearly double the county as a whole: 7.1% vs. 3.7%. For the county to advance from the red to orange tier, the positivity in its least healthy communities would have to be lowered to at least 5.2%.
Website update, October 4, 2020
Alameda County has created a new website called Age-Friendly Alameda County. The goal of the website is "to provide access to local services, information about current programmatic and policy efforts to support older adults in our County, and resources to learn more about public policy and ways to make your voice heard." The site includes Covid-19 resources of older adults.
What does California’s new “equity” metric mean for the Bay Area?
SF Chronicle, October 4, 2020
A decades-old problem of finding clean public restrooms in the Bay Area has been amplified during the coronavirus pandemic. With concerns about sanitation intensified and many go-to options shuttered or more heavily secured, places for people to relieve themselves are few and far between.
“We’re failing at human dignity,” Fran Heller said. “The system is broken; however, there’s technology that can fix it.” Heller is the chief executive of Good2Go, a San Francisco startup.
With a background in biotech and pharma, Heller developed a solution that combines virtual queuing with keyless access and touchless hardware. Good2Go uses geolocation to find a nearby restroom and allow a customer to join a virtual queue. When it’s the customer’s turn, a phone alert arrives with a digital key to unlock the restroom.
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Lessons in President Trump Catching Covid-19
Kaiser Health News, October 2, 2020
The president has said others are tested before getting close to him, appearing to hold it as an iron shield of safety. He has largely eschewed mask-wearing and social distancing in meetings, travel and public events, while holding rallies for thousands of often maskless supporters.
The Trump administration has increasingly pinned its coronavirus testing strategy for the nation on antigen tests, which do not need a traditional lab for processing and quickly return results to patients. But the results are less accurate than those of the slower PCR tests.
Testing “isn’t a ‘get out of jail free card,’” said Dr. Alan Wells, medical director of clinical labs at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and creator of its test for the novel coronavirus. In general, antigen tests can miss up to half the cases that are detected by polymerase chain reaction tests, depending on the population of patients tested, he said.
The test used by the White House, known as BinaxNOW, received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in August. It produces results in 15 minutes. Yet little is independently known about how effective it is.
Matthew Herper, medical reporter, STAT News, October 5, 2020
No single strategy or technology is going to rescue society from the pandemic: not masks, not better testing, not a drug, not vaccines. For any of these, it’s easy to get caught up in optimism and hope. But the reality is that fighting the coronavirus requires doing many things correctly.
We’re not taking down this enemy with a single shot. Instead, everyone has to become an oddsmaker — or a military commander — trying to minimize the chance that the virus will breach their defenses.
Helen Branswell, health reporter, STAT, October 5, 2020
Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, said there appears to be a belief among prominent politicians that these public health rules do not apply to them. “There’s almost this sense — and I see this with both quarantining and isolation — that, ‘Yeah, it would be nice to have. In the ideal world, sure, if we didn’t have a campaign going on. Sure, if there weren’t more urgent issues,’” he said.
Covid-19 and the Flu
NY Times, October 3, 2020
Most symptoms of the flu and Covid-19 are so similar that, short of a test it won’t be possible to know for sure. But there are some clues. (And it is possible to have both infections at the same time).
It is also not yet clear whether the U.S. will have much of a flu season this year. Flu activity in the Southern Hemisphere, which is often predictive of activity in the United States, was 99 percent below normal during its winter.
Epidemiologists believe that is because Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Chileans and other residents of the southern half of the globe were wearing masks, staying several feet apart and washing their hands to prevent transmission of the coronavirus. Those same precautions also prevent flu transmission.
Nonetheless, experts urge all Americans to get flu shots. Before it ended abruptly during lockdown, last year’s flu season was on track to be one of the worst in recent memory.
Knowing whether you have Covid-19 is much more complicated than knowing if you have the flu because there are so many different symptoms, many of which echo those of the flu. The most common Covid-19 symptoms are high fever, sometimes with chills, a dry cough and fatigue.
The one sign that really distinguishes the two infections is that many Covid-19 victims suddenly lose their sense of smell — not because they have a stuffy nose, but because they don’t register even strong odors like onions or coffee. Not all virus victims get anosmia, the formal name for loss of smell, but one study found that 87 percent did.
Less common symptoms include a sore throat, congestion, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain and feeling somewhat out of breath when exerting yourself. Some victims have red or itchy eyes, and some get redness or blisters on their fingers or toes — so-called Covid toes.
More dangerous symptoms — which mean you should get immediate medical attention — include serious breathing difficulty; pain or pressure in the chest; blue lips or blue face; confusion or incoherent answers to simple questions; and collapsing or losing consciousness.
CDC Website Update
Both the flu and Covid-19 can spread before symptoms appear. Common symptoms that Covid-19 and flu share include:
- Fever or feeling feverish/chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue (tiredness)
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Muscle pain or body aches
- Headache
- Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults
Other signs and symptoms of COVID-19, different from flu, may include change in or loss of taste or smell.
Societal Health Impact of Pandemic
Live Science, October 5, 2020
New research suggests that alcohol consumption in the United States rose 14% during pandemic shutdowns.
The most dramatic increase was in heavy drinking episodes in women, defined as four or more drinks within two hours. Women reported a 41% increase in episodes of heavy drinking in the spring of 2020 compared with their drinking level in the spring of 2019.
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Mercury News, October 5, 2020
In a tragic nationwide trend, as Filipino and Filipino American nurses die from coronavirus at rates far higher than their counterparts in other groups. Nationally, over 30% of the 205 nurses who have died are Filipino American, though the group makes up just 4% of the nursing workforce. In California, where about 20% of nurses identify as Filipino, they account for 11 of the 16 Covid-19 deaths in the profession, or nearly 70%, according to the California Nurses Association.
Among health care workers as a whole, the outsized impact of the virus on Filipino Americans is likely much greater. In California — where more than 39,000 health care workers have contracted Covid-19 and 191 have died — Filipino Americans comprise about 12% of all health care workers and 11% of health care support jobs, like assistants in nursing homes — putting them in vulnerable essential jobs where coronavirus has run rampant and personal protective equipment has been chronically scarce.
Mercury News, October 4, 2020
The coronavirus altered California’s economy in ways few people can fathom. A peculiar real estate paradox has emerged in this recession. Unemployment has soared, yet home prices in many California markets have hit record highs. The last recession brought housing crashing down. This time, real estate appears bolstered by house hunters seeking larger living spaces and taking advantage of record-low interest rates pushed by federal stimulus.
What we know from real estate data is that inland housing markets, after six months of pandemic life, look to be among the strongest statewide.
California’s inland communities — rarely seen as hot properties — could become beneficiaries of the pandemic’s economic fallout as workers untethered from offices seek housing away from big cities. Fear of population density is one factor driving a change in housing preferences. So is the ability to lower housing costs by relocating to more affordable communities thanks to expanded work-from-home policies.
CapRadio, October 4, 2020
Though Covid-19 forced California leaders to scale back their ambitious health care agenda, they still managed to enact significant new laws intended to lower consumer health care spending and expand access to health coverage.
When Gov. Newsom concluded the chaotic legislative year last week — his deadline to sign or veto bills — what emerged wasn’t the sweeping platform he and state lawmakers had outlined at the beginning of the year. But the dozens of health care measures they approved included first-in-the-nation policies to require more comprehensive coverage of mental health and addiction, and thrusting the state into the generic drug-making business. The governor also signed into law a raft of Covid-related bills intended to address the biggest public health emergency in a century, such as measures to stockpile protective gear for health care workers.
LA Times, October 4, 2020
or the first time in California history, a ballot will make its way in the mail this week to every registered California voter, a decision made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that will reshape the election experience as well as the strategies of campaigns and candidates. More than 21 million ballots will be mailed, more than in any state in the nation. Most will arrive this week, though some counties began the process almost two weeks ago. State law requires absentee ballots to be mailed no later than Monday, 29 days before the Nov. 3 election.
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Reuters, October 5, 2020
Nine U.S. states have reported record increases in Covid-19 cases over the last seven days, mostly in the upper Midwest and West where chilly weather is forcing more activities indoors. On Saturday alone, four states — Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin — saw record increases in new cases and nationally nearly 49,000 new infections were reported, the highest for a Saturday in seven weeks, according to a Reuters analysis. Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming also set new records for cases last week.
Health experts have long warned that colder temperatures driving people inside could promote the spread of the virus. Daytime highs in the upper Midwest are now in the 50s Fahrenheit (10 Celsius).
CNN, October 5, 20020
At least 13 people in President Donald Trump's family and inner circle have tested positive for Covid-19. The group now includes White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and two aides.
USA Today, October 5, 2020
There were more than 54,000 positive cases of the coronavirus reported on Friday, the highest single-day case count since Aug. 14, when the country recorded just over 64,000 cases. The country's daily cases peaked on July 16, when 77,362 positive tests were reported.
Reuters, October 5, 2020
The renewed effort in the U.S. Congress to reach a fresh deal to pump coronavirus relief funds into the pandemic-hit economy has been further complicated by the news that President Trump and three Senate Republicans have tested positive. Congress and the White House approved more than $3 trillion worth of coronavirus relief measures earlier this year, but no new relief has been passed since March.
Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2020
Cineworld is rolling the credits on hundreds of Regal cinemas across the United States. The theater company announced Monday that, beginning Thursday, it will suspend operations at all 536 of its domestic Regal theaters locations amid the coronavirus pandemic. The temporary closures will impact approximately 40,000 jobs in the country.
Vox, October 5, 2020
Millions of business owners who applied to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) — a federal effort to boost small businesses established by the CARES Act — and were denied support with little explanation why.
According to August survey results that the advocacy group Small Business Majority provided to Vox, the program appeared to reach a lower proportion of Black-owned businesses in particular. In that poll, 23 percent of Black business owners who did not receive PPP or Economic Injury Disaster Loans said their PPP applications were denied, compared to 9 percent of white business owners, 13 percent of Latino business owners, and 9 percent of Asian American business owners.
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Dr. Michael McLaughlin, Superintendent, San Leandro Unified School District, October 2, 2020
With the reduced spread of Covid-19 in Alameda County, our public health department issued a new health order last night with a timeframe for the limited, phased reopening of elementary schools, without the need for the waiver process required previously. This is encouraging news for our community’s health, but likely brings up questions for you and your family.
Do these dates mean that our elementary schools are required to open? No. There is no immediate effect on SLUSD schools.
The Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) made clear in their statement from yesterday that all of the stringent safety protocols required for elementary school waivers are still in place. This means contracting with a private testing provider to provide frequent, rapid Covid-19 employee testing. As I said in my update last week, this is the largest barrier we face, and the primary reason we did not apply for a waiver. However, the State and ACOE have both pledged support for this, with details still pending.
LA Times, October 5, 2020
As schools in San Diego County begin welcoming students back to campus, they’re also looking at when children may need to be sent home with coughs, fevers or other symptoms that could indicate a case of Covid-19. To make those calls, school health officials are turning to a “decision tree” of Covid-19 symptoms that guides when students should be sent home and how long they must wait before returning. The step-by-step flow chart provides direction for handling Covid-19 cases on campus and summarizes guidance from national, state and local public health authorities.
LA Times, October 5, 2020
Cozbi Mazariegos stays in shape these days by running room to room inside her apartment to answer questions from her kids, ages 7, 10 and 12. They’re all working at home on laptops issued by their school, Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, in Marin City.
Meanwhile, Shannon Bynum’s son, Kamari, 10, and daughter, Keyari, 8, who live nearby, are back on the Bayside MLK campus. Bynum had warned them, however, that if he heard they weren’t wearing masks, they’d have to learn remotely, too. The two households, less than three miles apart, have found different answers to one of the most perplexing questions this fall: Should parents send their children back to school for classes during an ongoing pandemic or keep them at home?
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Chalkbeat, October 4, 2020
Most New York City schools haven’t even been open a full week, and already Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plans have hit a major setback: He wants to shut down campuses as of Wednesday in nine ZIP codes where coronavirus positivity rates had surpassed 3% over at least the past seven days.
The closures, which de Blasio announced Sunday, would affect about 100 public schools. Some 200 private schools in those areas are also slated to close, including many yeshivas in Orthodox Jewish communities that have been particularly hard hit in the recent uptick of Covid-19 cases.
NY Times, October 5, 2020
Young people have generally been at lower risk of developing severe cases of Covid-19, and there have been only a few student deaths linked to the virus. But 19-year-old Chad Dorrill’s death has shaken the rural Appalachian State campus in the Blue Ridge Mountains, sparking questions about whether the college is doing enough to keep its students and faculty safe.
As if to underscore that point, cases at Appalachian State, part of North Carolina’s state university system, spiked sharply last week. On Thursday, the school canceled an upcoming football game and announced outbreaks in four residence halls, two fraternity houses, the volleyball team and the football program. The school’s dashboard shows more than 700 confirmed Covid-19 cases at the 20,000-student campus since early June.
Washington Post, October 5, 2020
There are signs that younger Americans, who have historically turned out at the polls at lower rates than older voters, are more energized about voting this November than they have been in decades. Yet the pandemic has created thorny challenges for college students trying to cast their ballots this year — and their predicaments are growing more dire as state voter registration deadlines loom.
Some schools that initially reopened this fall have already sent students home after struggling to contain soaring infection rates, creating complications for those who were planning to vote at or near campus. Other schools may follow suit at any given point this fall, leaving students unsure about the best address to use to register to vote. Many colleges and universities that are still open canceled their fall breaks in an effort to send students home by Thanksgiving, which means some students who had planned on voting early at home in October no longer will have time off to do so.
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She got her coronavirus miracle, surviving 3 weeks in a coma. Then came the hard part. |
When Karla Taylor-Bauman went home after 54 days in hospitals, including 21 days on a ventilator in an induced coma, she called her survival from coronavirus a miracle. But miracles don’t come easy.
Four months later, the Lake Villa resident (a community north of Chicago) isn’t fully back to normal. Taylor-Bauman tires easily, can’t climb more than a handful of stairs and, still needing continued care, hasn’t been able to go back to her job as a financial adviser.
Having been so sick — after Taylor-Bauman got out, her doctor described her condition as having been “as close to brain dead as you get without being brain dead” — she knew recovery would take time.
What surprised her were the medical bills. They began to arrive about a month after Taylor-Bauman, 50, was released from the Chicago area hospital at the end of May. She and her husband, Jevon Bauman, say they amounted to about $240,000, mostly from the hospital despite having health insurance. After a reporter asked the hospital about the tab for her care, Taylor-Bauman got a call from the hospital with some surprising and happy news: she was told her balance owed was zero.
I just started crying because I really was not expecting that,” she says.
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Taylor-Bauman found out from a hospital representative and her insurance company that some of the bills were sent to her in error or already had been covered by her insurance. The same was true for her stay at a rehabilitation facility. It would be nice if that were the happy ending to Taylor-Bauman’s COVID-19 saga. But it’s not. Her battle to regain her health after her miracle isn’t over. Nor are her financial problems.
She and her husband try to keep it all in perspective. After all, the coronavirus nearly killed her, quickly overwhelming her body—but she pulled through. News cameras captured the moment when an ambulance brought her home to her family and friends. Her husband rushed over to hug his “best friend.”
For now, Taylor-Bauman is with her parents because she requires daily care that her husband, who needs to keep working, can’t provide. Because she tires easily, she rarely strays far from the adjustable hospital bed that takes up a large part of the first-floor living room — close enough to take in the aroma that drifts in from her mother’s Jamaican beef stew bubbling on the kitchen stove.
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Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2020
Fresh coronavirus restrictions last month hurt activity in the service sector across much of Europe and parts of Asia, as consumers spent less on everything from eating out to haircuts, a fall that bodes ill for the global economic recovery.
Recent global surveys of companies found that factories were bouncing back in September and had largely closed the gap that opened by the draconian lockdowns many countries employed in the spring to contain the coronavirus pandemic. However, service providers—travel, hospitality, entertainment and many others—were coming back more slowly, as many consumers, wary of fresh infections and concerned about their jobs and finances, remain at home and cut their spending.
Axios, October 4, 2020
Auckland will join the rest of New Zealand this week in enjoying no domestic coronavirus restrictions after the city's outbreak was deemed "under control," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday.
Driving the news: The second Covid-19 outbreak that began in August in New Zealand's most populous city grew to 179 cases, Ardern said at a briefing. "Only five people from the cluster are yet to recover," she said. Research from Te Pūnaha Matatini, a research center advising the government, shows there's a 95% chance that Covid-19 has been eliminated in the community.
Te Pūnaha Matatini director Shaun Hendy said in an interview with Axios Friday that the cluster had been contained to Auckland because of the city's short, sharp lockdown and rigorous coronavirus testing rates.
Associated Press, October 5, 2020
French authorities placed the Paris region on maximum virus alert on Monday, banning festive gatherings and requiring all bars to close but allowing restaurants to remain open, as numbers of infections increased rapidly. Paris police prefect Didier Lallement announced the new restrictions would apply at least for the next two weeks.
Starting on Tuesday, bars will be closed in Paris and its suburbs. Student parties and all other festive and family events in establishments open to the public will be banned. Restaurants will remain open under strict conditions. They include a minimum one-meter (three-foot) distance between each table, groups limited to six people instead of 10 previously, and a request to register customers’ names and phone numbers to help alert those who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus.
Bloomberg, October 5, 2020
Russia’s Federal Statistics Service said 45,663 people have died with Covid-19 in April through August, more than double the death toll released by the government’s virus-response staff.
The latest figures from the statistics agency, known as Rosstat, include deaths both directly attributed to the novel coronavirus and cases where it was listed as an “important condition” leading to the lethal outcome.
The government’s virus-response staff puts the total deaths at 21,475 from the start of the epidemic through Oct. 4. According to those figures, the accuracy of which has been questioned by the World Health Organization and outside experts, Russia has one of the lowest death rates in the world. But the Rosstat figures put Russia’s performance more in line with other countries with large outbreaks. Russia has reported the fourth-largest number of cases in the world.
LA Times, October 4, 2020
Amid the escalating Covid-19 crisis, Indian journalists reporting on government mismanagement of the pandemic are facing prosecution or intimidation from authorities while at the same time being hindered by restrictions on accessing information.
Since March, at least 55 journalists have been arrested, investigated or questioned by police across India in connection with their Covid-19 reporting or for alleged lockdown violations, according to a report by the Rights and Risks Analysis Group, a New Delhi-based think tank.
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Eric Morath, Theo Francis, and Justin Baer, Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2020
A two-track recovery is emerging from the country’s pandemic-driven economic contraction. Some workers, companies and regions show signs of coming out fine or even stronger. The rest are mired in a deep decline with an uncertain path ahead.
Just months ago, economists were predicting a V-shaped recovery, a rapid rebound from a steep fall, or a U-shaped path, a prolonged downturn before healing began.
What has developed is more like a K. On the upper arm of the K are well-educated and well-off people, businesses tied to the digital economy or supplying domestic necessities, and regions such as tech-forward Western cities. By and large, they are prospering.
On the bottom arm are lower-wage workers with fewer credentials, old-line businesses and regions tied to tourism and public gatherings. They can expect to bear years-long scars from the crisis.
The divergence helps explain the striking disconnect of a stock market and household wealth near record highs, while lines stretch at food banks and applications for jobless benefits continue to grow.
Olga Khazan and Russell Berman, The Atlantic, October 5, 2020
An alarming number of senators, presidential advisers, and Republican grandees who attended the now-infamous White House celebration of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee have since tested positive for Covid-19, including the president and his wife. At first blush, the day, which featured a Rose Garden ceremony and a smaller, indoor gathering, looked like a super-spreader event. It might have been. But ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether the receptions honoring Amy Coney Barrett were the precise moment that the upper echelon of the GOP became infected. The day was only the latest example of the president and his allies flouting basic safety practices. And in the absence of preventive measures, the coronavirus spreads easily.
This is what happens when a president is in denial about a global pandemic, and acts accordingly. Trump has repeatedly mocked mask wearing, engaged in wishful thinking, and otherwise minimized the threat of the virus. Many of his supporters, from state leaders to rank-and-file citizens, have followed his example. Now Trump’s recklessness is upending his own world—and the government itself—just weeks before the election. In the hours before and after his Covid-19 diagnosis was revealed on Friday, additional infections and exposures likely stemming from the White House were reported in at least three states and the District of Columbia.
Gabrielle Glaser, STAT, October 2, 2020
When the tumultuous history of 2020 is written, no one will argue that Joseph Gallien didn’t have a front-row seat. In March, Gallien was finishing his residency in emergency medicine in Manhattan just as the novel coronavirus was overwhelming New York City. At 31, he was making life-or-death decisions while confronting a disease for which there was no treatment, no cure, and little knowledge.
All summer, Gallien treated hundreds of Covid patients as the virus overtook his state, hyperaware of the enormous gap between where he works now and the state-of-the-art hospitals where he trained. In Lake Charles, he has far fewer resources, from PPE to the equipment he needs to help severely ill Covid patients breathe. In New York, he used small, portable laryngoscopes that were easy to maneuver. But they are too costly for his current hospitals, so Gallien uses an older, bulkier device.
Aimee Ortiz, NY Times, October 4, 2020
Over the years, Halloween has grown from a night of spooky fun for children on Oct. 31 into a billion-dollar industry with weeks of celebrations, parties and parades enjoyed by people of all ages. Canceling it altogether might cause major economic disruption in a year that has had more than enough trauma from Covid-19.
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Substantial (Red)
- 4.1 Adjusted case rate of new Covid-19 positive cases per day per 100,000 residents
- 2.3% Positivity rate
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Substantial (Red)
- 6.3 Adjusted case rate of new Covid-19 positive cases per day per 100,000 residents
- 3.7% Positivity rate
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All California counties are assigned to a tier based on its test positivity and adjusted case rate. To move forward, a county must meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks. If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier. The state updates the tier data every Tuesday. |
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Over the last seven days, Alameda County officials have confirmed 519 new cases, which amounts to 32 cases per 100,000 residents.
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Over the last seven days, Contra Costa County officials have confirmed 623 new cases, which amounts to 55 cases per 100,000 residents. |
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Top 8 Locations of Cases in Alameda County, as of 10/4/20. Alameda County does not publish cases per 100,000 in the last 14 days by city.
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Oakland: 8,585
Hayward: 3,135
Fremont: 1,446
Eden MAC: 1,370
San Leandro: 1,176
Livermore: 917
Union City: 784
Castro Valley: 559
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Top 8 Locations of Cases in Contra Costa County plus (in parentheses) cases per 100,000 in last 14 days, as of 10/5/20
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Richmond: 3,356 (235)
Antioch: 2,310 (140)
Concord: 2,316 (124)
Pittsburgh: 1,919 (157)
San Pablo: 1,497 (305)
Bay Point: 926 (335)
Brentwood: 646 (95)
Walnut Creek: 611 (40)
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We are proud to partner with the East Bay Community Foundation in publishing this bulletin. Through donations to its Covid-19 Response Fund, the EBCF provides grants to East Bay nonprofit organizations delivering essential services to those most impacted by the economic fallout from the pandemic.
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Working in collaboration with the Alameda County Public Health Department, the Cities of Hayward and San Leandro, and the Castro Valley and Eden Area Municipal Advisory Councils, the District has printed “Mask On” posters for each city and community in the Eden Health District area. The posters are free and intended for businesses, health clinics, schools, churches, public agencies and nonprofit organizations to display in their entrances.
“Wearing masks in public or any gatherings, including events with friends and extended families, is essential for slowing the spread of the virus,” stated Eden Health District Director Pam Russo. “While we are seeing signs of progress in California, Alameda County remains a Covid-19 'hot spot' in the Bay Area. Please wear a mask to protect yourself while protecting others.”
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The public is welcome to download and print or share “Mask On” posters from the District’s website. Posters are available in English, Spanish and Chinese languages.
Posters may also be retrieved during business hours from the lobby of the Eden Health District office building located at 20400 Lake Chabot Road, Castro Valley. Posters for the City of Hayward are also available from the Hayward Chamber of Commerce located at 22561 Main Street, Hayward.
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Public Education Covid-19 Flyers |
Contra Costa County Health Services has recently published highly informative flyers addressing the risks of becoming infected in certain settings and activities. |
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We have posted information on food pantries and food services in the cities of Hayward and San Leandro and unincorporated Alameda County including Castro Valley and San Lorenzo. You can access the information here on our website. Alameda County has also released an interactive map listing food distributions and other social services.
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Your feedback is welcome. Please share the Bulletin. |
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The Eden Health District is committed to ensuring that policy makers and community members receive accurate and timely information to help make the best policy and personal choices to meet and overcome the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Each bulletin includes a summary of the top health, Bay Area, California, national, education and international news on the pandemic plus links to a diverse range of commentary and analysis. We publish the Bulletin on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, unless the day fall on a public holiday.
We welcome your feedback on our bulletin. Please contact editor Stephen Cassidy.
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