On a briefing call with our City of Berkeley Health Officer on Fri., Dec. 4, I learned that ICU capacity is running dangerously low. Overall, California ICU capacity was at 21% as of Friday. Current projections show that without additional intervention to slow the spread of Covid-19, the number of available ICU beds in the state will be at capacity by mid-December. Further, the ability to add additional ICU capacity is limited by the lack of available ICU nurses and physicians as a result of the nationwide surge. The regional stay-at-home order going into effect at midnight is critical to avoid further overwhelming hospitals and to prevent the need to ration care, according to the State Health Officer's order.   

Alameda County Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss had this to say on Friday: "Rising hospitalization rates across the region threaten not only our community members with severe Covid-19, but anyone who may need care because of a heart attack, stroke, accident, or other critical health need. By acting together now we will have the greatest impact on the surge and save more lives."

After nine months of dealing with this pandemic, strict restrictions are particularly hard to swallow—with no additional federal relief for our small businesses or enhanced unemployment for those facing a job loss or cut hours. But if we can get through this difficult winter, we are bound to see an improving situation next year. As I write this, East Bay hospitals are preparing to receive their first doses of vaccine later this month. I ask you to please stay home as much as possible to keep yourself and our community safe, including during the winter holidays. If you choose to leave home, please choose low-risk activities with your household only. Let's all do our part to make it to the other side. 

These orders, which go into effect in Berkeley early Mon., Dec. 7, also require every household to take steps: stay home as much as possible, choose low-risk activities when you do go out and limit how many of those you do. Face coverings and physical distancing remain crucial. You should not meet in person with anyone you don't live with—even a small group, even outdoors with precautions.

Anyone who travels out of the region—or who gathers with a traveler from outside the region—is strongly urged to quarantine for 14 days.

Both of the above exceptions have specific restrictions, which people should examine in the City of Berkeley Health Order.

We will continue to explore avenues to escalate our inquiries with the above-listed entities. If you have a theory about what might be causing the odor, then please feel free to e-mail it to me: rkesarwani@cityofberkeley.info. We will follow up on any plausible leads.    

What you can do: Continue to call the BAAQMD complaint line 1-800-334-ODOR (6367) whenever you smell the odor to report it. This will help to establish a record of where and when the odor is detected and will help to ensure that the agency gives this issue their full attention. 

To me, the inability to safely reopen schools is one of the greatest tragedies of this pandemic, and we know it’s widening educational achievement gaps and exacerbating food insecurity, child abuse, social isolation, and mental health issues among our most vulnerable children. I empathize greatly with parents in our community calling on our schools to reopen for in-person instruction.

Listening to an October California Assembly hearing on the safe reopening of schools, I gained a greater appreciation for the complexity involved in school reopening. The superintendent of the San Diego County Office of Education described the work that had gone into reopening 33 of their 42 school districts in some capacity, including small cohorts for vulnerable students and hybrid learning models (combining remote and in-person instruction):

All of these issues are real, and are difficult for each individual school district to address on their own. The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) Elementary School Reopening dashboard shows that the school district is working to address these issues. According to the dashboard, the outstanding elements include development of: an accommodation process for employees who can’t work in person; the hybrid learning model, including schedule, logistics, and a labor agreement; substitute staffing for employees who need accommodations, and a student enrollment survey, among a couple other elements.

With all reopening decisions left to a local school district, it’s not hard to see that this is a recipe for better-resourced private schools and better-funded school districts to reopen (in some capacity) sooner while others remain in remote instruction—compounding inequities. I’m a strong believer in the importance of data; we can’t change what we don’t track, so it says something about our values that the State of California does not have a requirement for school districts to report on their reopening decisions.  

When we look to countries that have reopened schools successfully, we tend to see that it was a value expressed by the leader of a national government—and this leadership set the tone and established the priority for school reopening.¹ Sadly, our country has never had that kind of leadership during the pandemic—for a safe reopening of schools or for simply controlling exponential spread of the virus. Despite all of these challenges, I do want to commend the work that BUSD has done to prepare for a safe reopening. It’s my understanding that BUSD is one of only two school districts in Alameda County that has been able to reopen for small cohorts of high-needs students at elementary schools—a major accomplishment! Our teachers are continuing to do the best they can to serve our students under these unprecedented and challenging circumstances.

As we know, the virus doesn’t respect state borders, and it was only a matter of time before the Midwestern surge in case counts during the fall spread nationwide. We are now at a point in Alameda County where California Department of Public Health guidance does not allow schools to reopen that have not already done so—because the virus is considered to be widespread (purple tier of the state’s four tiers for measuring Covid-19 spread). I know that BUSD is continuing to prepare for a wider reopening when it is deemed safe—after 14 days in the red tier (when spread is considered “substantial,” but not “widespread”).²

¹It's important to note that most European countries do not provide a remote learning model or a hybrid model alongside in-person education, which simplifies the reopening process but provides families with little choice.

²Elementary schools can apply for a waiver to reopen in the purple "widespread" tier.

This virtual Town Hall will be available to view on Senator Skinner's website from 4-5 p.m., Tues., Dec. 8. If you would like to submit a question on a topic listed above, please do so HERE by 11 a.m., Tues., Dec. 8.

Please SAVE THE DATE for Mon., Dec. 14 from 6-9 p.m. for Meeting #4 of the BART Community Advisory Group. More information will be posted HERE.

General Resources. The Mayor’s Office has created a resource guide, with information about parking enforcement, senior hours at local grocery stores and other information.

The state COVID-19 website is where you can get up to speed on what’s happening statewide, learn how you can safely help, and find out what resources and assistance may be available.

A Berkeley Mutual Aid website has been created for neighbors to offer and receive assistance, such as with grocery shopping or phone calls to neighbors.

Supporting Businesses. You can donate to the Berkeley Relief Fund to support low-income tenants, small businesses and non-profits, and non-profit arts organizations or donate directly to a local business. The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce has created a resource guide for businesses.

Eviction Protections. If you have any questions about our local residential and commercial eviction moratorium or housing retention grants for low-income tenants, more information is available HERE. The Council has also passed an urgency ordinance to prevent commercial landlords from increasing rent by more than 10% (see Item #8 HERE).

Price Gouging. Anyone who has been the victim of price gouging, or has information about potential price gouging, can file a complaint with the District Attorney's Office by emailing pricegouging@acgov.org or calling (510) 383-8600.

Donate Blood. You can donate blood at the Oakland Blood Donation Center (6230 Claremont Ave. in Oakland) where they are using physical distancing protocols, disinfecting between donors, and taking temperatures of donors and staff. Please visit the Red Cross website to make an appointment before visiting. 

Donate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) through the City or through my office.

Resources for Mental Health and Wellness.

If you have specific questions or concerns, please always feel free to reach out to me: rkesarwani@cityofberkeley.info or 510-981-7110.

For updates on community issues and links to City information resources, please visit my website: www.rashikesarwani.com.

This site is also where you can find an archive of all of my newsletters to date.

To sign up to receive future newsletters, please click HERE.