Eden Health District COVID-19 Bulletin
|
|
"We’ve been strongly encouraging everyone to take things outdoors. It’s just so much safer. And now [with the wildfires] we can’t. It’s essentially like winter coming early.”
Dr. Jeanne A. Noble, director of the Covid-19 response at UCSF, 8/21/20
|
|
Student music group turns to PPE |
|
|
Volunteers from Music4America, a local nonprofit group formed by middle- and high-school students, have been making and donating protective equipment to Bay Area hospitals to support the fight against COVID-19.
In normal times, M4A would have been giving performances at senior centers and hospitals. But with live events put on hold due to the pandemic, members of the group looked for other ways to give back to the community.
Led by former M4A president Jason He, the group decided to make face masks and face shields.
According to current president Yinuo Tang, more than 40 members of the group pitched in to produce nearly 3,000 pieces of personal protective equipment. The equipment was donated to 16 hospitals and senior centers, including Pleasanton Hospice, Alameda Health Consortium, and Doctors Medical Center of Modesto.
|
|
Jason Wei, leader of the M4A Jazz Band, had experience with the 3D printing of face shields and gathered a group of fellow students to help. Although the process took up to seven hours each, M4A produced 761 3-D-printed face shields. Reyna Li, a fourth grader, and her brother, Mingtao, printed more than 550 in just two months.
|
|
|
Alameda County: 16,184
Contra Costa County: 12,362
California: 653,469
U.S.: 5,600,107
|
|
Alameda County: 231
Contra Costa County: 164
California: 11,834
U.S.: 174,196
|
|
The California Department of Public Health has resolved the issue with the state’s electronic laboratory reporting system. All cases attributed to the backlog, however, have not yet been added to data at the county level.
|
|
 |
Erin Allday, health reporter, SF Chronicle, August 21, 2020
This is the disaster scenario the Bay Area has been dreading since March. Wildfires, awful air quality and the coronavirus pandemic are combining to strain public health resources stretched impossibly thin. The potential for respiratory catastrophe looms large on two fronts. Fires are ringing the nine counties and thick smoke blankets the region. The coronavirus still is circulating widely, with more than 1,000 new cases reported most days. The added air pollution could make matters worse, experts said. Meanwhile fire-related evacuations in nearly every Bay Area county are creating additional public health difficulties, from how to keep people socially distant in shelters to finding hotel rooms and other safe spaces to house those who need them.
There is evidence that air pollution is tied to increased risk of coronavirus infection and more serious illness, but those studies are preliminary and more research is needed, infectious disease experts said. Other studies have found that exposure to wildfire smoke can lead to excess cases of influenza and other respiratory infections weeks later.
SF Chronicle, August 20, 2020
The disappointing news represented dashed hopes for some businesses and private schools, which might have seen a faster path to reopening if Newsom’s forecast had held true. San Francisco’s coronavirus case rate is 122.9 per 100,000 during a 14-day span, while the state’s threshold is 100, according to government data. San Francisco also has only 17.2% of its intensive-care unit beds available, compared with the state threshold of 20%.
KPIX CBS, August 20, 2020
A coalition of Bay Area transit agencies released a joint plan Wednesday to assuage rider fears of contracting Covid-19 and suggesting ways for them to keep healthy as they return to public transit.
The “Riding Together” plan outlines the steps that more than two dozen transit agencies in nine Bay Area counties plan to take to safely welcome riders back, using guidance from the California Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.
Under the state’s mandate, riders must wear face coverings when using public transit. Some transit operators will have the capacity to provide face coverings as needed, but they will also have the right to refuse service to someone whose face is uncovered. Riders will also be encouraged to maintain at least 3 feet of distance from each other, minimize talking and singing while taking public transit and use touchless fare payment methods like Clipper.
|
SF Chronicle, August 19, 2020
The Bay Area passed 1,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 on Wednesday, a grim benchmark of the unrelenting pandemic that illustrates both the relative success of the region and the staggering depth of loss.
The first death was on Feb. 6 in San Jose, but went unreported for several months. The latest — but certainly not the last — were recorded Wednesday, 11 victims in five counties. As of Wednesday evening, and just over six months into the pandemic that had killed 784,000 people worldwide, 1,006 people had died in the nine Bay Area counties.
|
|
|
|
NY Times, August 21, 2020
Covid-19 and smoke is a dangerous combination, as both affect the respiratory system, making those exposed to the virus more vulnerable. Polluted air can also weaken the immune systems of healthy people, making them more susceptible to illnesses like Covid-19, according to experts from the Washington State Department of Health. And studies have shown that in areas with poor air quality, people are more likely to die if they contract the virus.
“We know that people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are at higher risk for both acquiring Covid-19 and having more severe symptoms if they do become infected,” said Dr. Jeanne A. Noble, director of the Covid-19 response at UCSF's emergency department. “Adding smoke inhalation into the mix will further increase the vulnerability of everyone to Covid-19, but particularly for those with respiratory problems.”
Editor's Note: Check the air quality data for where you live at AirNow.gov
Lisa Krieger, health and science reporter, Mercury News, August 20, 2020
Q: How are symptoms from wildfire smoke exposure different from symptoms of Covid-19?
A: They share many symptoms. But Covid-19, unlike smoke exposure, can cause fever or chills, muscle or body aches and diarrhea. If you have these symptoms, contact a healthcare provider. If your symptoms worsen, such as difficulty breathing or chest pain, seek prompt medical attention by calling 911 or going to the nearest emergency facility.
Q: What’s in smoke that triggers disease, in general, and Covid-19 in particular?
A: Air pollution is a mixture of solid particles and gas particles. Our first line of defense when we breathe are cilia, little hair-like structures that line our respiratory tract and keep the airways clear of mucus and dirt. Smoke and gas can damage the cilia, perhaps even kill them. In addition, it has been linked to higher rates of diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and asthma. All of these conditions also increase the risk of death for Covid-19 patients. Air pollution can also dysregulate the immune system, which is needed to fend off the viral pathogen.
CapRadio, August 20, 2020
If you don’t need to be outside this week, don’t be. But for people who work outside or lack access to housing or transportation, the virus and the hazardous air raise questions about what protection to use, and when. Here’s what the California Department of Public Health advises:
- Wear a cloth face covering if you’re going to be within six feet of others to limit the spread of Covid-19. Cloth masks and surgical masks do not protect the wearer from fine particulate matter in wildfire smoke.
- Wear an N95 respirator if you need to be outdoors in smoky air for an extended period of time.
Editor's Note: Because N95 respirator masks remain in short supply, public health officials advise that they should be reserved to health care workers and first responders.
Washington Post, August 20, 2020
A study published Thursday found that some children have high levels of virus in their airways during the first three days of infection despite having mild symptoms or none at all, suggesting their role in community spread may be larger than previously believed. One of the study's authors, Alessio Fasano, a physician at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, said that because children tend to exhibit few if any symptoms, they were largely ignored in the early part of the outbreak and not tested. But they may have been acting as silent spreaders all along. “Some people thought that children might be protected,” Fasano said. “This is incorrect. They may be as susceptible as adults — but just not visible.”
|
|
|
|
|
NY Times, August 21, 2020
More than 60,000 people have been forced to evacuate from rural areas of Northern California, and many have struggled to find a place to go, especially with the pandemic still limiting indoor gatherings. In Santa Cruz, about 40 people were sheltering inside the Civic Auditorium, more than twice that many could have been admitted if spreading the virus was not a concern. Inside, evacuees were dealing with the realities of being forced together during a pandemic: masks at all times and temperature checks at the front door.
Evacuees further up the coast near Pescadero slept in trailers in parking lots or on the beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Others made desperate pleas to family members and friends to take them in, and local authorities said they preferred that people assimilate into so-called quarantine pods rather than brave the virus risks of an indoor shelter. Experts have said the risk of catching the coronavirus is much higher indoors, where still air and enclosed spaces can cause viral particles to concentrate and be inhaled.
The Guardian, August 21, 2020
California’s raging wildfires have created a crisis at multiple state prisons, where there are reports of heavy smoke and ash making it hard to breathe, unanswered pleas for evacuation, and concerns that the fire response could lead to further Covid-19 spread. Despite mass evacuation orders in certain areas authorities have resisted calls to evacuate the two prisons – California Medical Facility (CMF) and Solano state prison. To increase social distancing and limit the spread of Covid, CMF had moved 80 people to sleep in outdoor tents instead of indoor cells, but with the fire approaching and air pollution rising, the prison moved them back indoors.
LA Times, August 20, 2020
Despite disturbing numbers of young people dying of Covid-19, Los Angeles County’s chief medical officer said Thursday that new coronavirus cases may soon drop enough to allow officials to apply for waivers to reopen elementary schools. During an online news conference, Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser noted that waivers can be sought to reopen schools when cases are below 200 for every 100,000 people for two weeks. “We do believe we could get down to under 200 in the near future,” he said. The reaction from education officials was cautious but hopeful.
Kaiser Health News, August 21, 2020
The failure of California’s infectious disease monitoring system for a stretch of at least 20 days in July and August triggered potentially deadly fallout that continues to reverberate across the state. The fallout has been most severe in heavily populated counties, which rely primarily on a statewide electronic information system to guide their pandemic response. Local health departments couldn’t clearly see where the coronavirus was spreading, dramatically slowing their efforts to trace and track new infections — leading to more death and disease, public health officials said.
Gov. Newsom’s administration is still struggling to fix the problems and prevent future breakdowns, even as school districts are weighing difficult decisions about sending kids back into classrooms, businesses are contending with repeated openings and closures, and the state is working to tamp down rising infections — all life-or-death scenarios that rely on accurate Covid-19 data. “The whole key to lab testing is the speed with which it’s done,” said Bruce Pomer, a public health expert and chief lobbyist for the California Association of Public Health Laboratory Directors. “The system is slower than it should be, and it means more people are going to get sick and die. The lifeblood of public health is data.”
LA Daily News, August 20, 2020
A new study by the Southern California Association of Governments, documented a massive drop in vehicle miles traveled that since mid-May has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels. Making matters worse, the matching plunge in bus and train ridership during the last two weeks of March and throughout April is reversing at a much slower pace than vehicle travel, foreshadowing a post-pandemic traffic-and-smog apocalypse. With the single-passenger car being used as a social distancing tool to prevent exposure to the coronavirus, it has become the movement mode of choice, no matter the destination.
Sacramento Bee, August 21, 2020
Visits to California Department of Motor Vehicles offices will include temperature checks and Covid-19 screening questions. The new screenings come in addition to a list of other precautions the department has put in place including customers are offered a text message that allows them to wait outside the building until notified it is their turn to be served.
|
|
|
|
Associated Press, August 21, 2020
As many as 215,000 more people than usual died in the U.S. during the first seven months of 2020, suggesting that the number of lives lost to the coronavirus is significantly higher than the official toll. And half the dead were people of color — Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and, to a marked degree unrecognized until now, Asian Americans.
The new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight a stark disparity: Deaths among minorities during the crisis have risen far more than they have among whites. As of the end of July, the official death toll in the U.S. from COVID-19 was about 150,000. It has since grown to over 170,000. People of color make up just under 40% of the U.S. population but accounted for approximately 52% of all the “excess deaths” above normal through July.
Kaiser Health News, August 21, 2020
The evidence that bars are a particular problem has continued to grow, said Dr. Ogechika Alozie, an infectious disease specialist in El Paso, Texas. “If you were to create a petri dish and say, How can we spread this the most? It would be cruise ships, jails and prisons, factories, and it would be bars,” said Alozie. He was a member of the Texas Medical Association committee that created a Covid-19 risk scale for common activities, such as shopping at the grocery store.
Bars top the list as the riskiest.
Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2020
The nation’s nursing homes need an aggressive and comprehensive federal approach to the Covid-19 crisis according to recommendations from a commission convened by the Trump administration. The commission is suggesting that the federal government should ensure that all nursing homes get three months’ worth of protective gear, and that it create a national strategy to guarantee access to rapid-results testing for all nursing homes, according to the people with knowledge of the matter.
Politico, August 21, 2020
When the state reported three cases of Covid-19 in March, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a public health emergency, canceling state-run events and urging for other large gatherings to be shut down. Within a few days, the state had a drive-thru testing site setup. Now, New Mexico has kept its positive test rate down to around 3%, figures far lower than in neighboring Arizona and Texas, where the virus is popping up at more than 15% and 16%, respectively.
Lujan Grisham served as the state’s health secretary for years before running for Congress and governor. She said the experience of dealing with public health campaigns, working with laboratories and other health facilities and handling infectious diseases helped prepared her to contend with Covid.
Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2020
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is reversing course on a change to the way hospitals report critical information on the coronavirus pandemic to the government, returning the responsibility for data collection to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus coordinator, told hospital executives and government officials in Arkansas this week that the current system under which hospitals report new cases is “solely an interim system” and that the reporting would soon go back to the CDC.
Washington Post, August 20, 2020
The Trump administration this week blocked the FDA from regulating a broad swath of laboratory tests, including for the coronavirus, in a move strongly opposed by the agency. The new policy stunned many health experts and laboratories because of its timing, several months into a pandemic. Some public health experts warned the shift could result in unreliable coronavirus tests on the market, potentially worsening the testing crisis that has dogged the United States if more people get erroneous results.
The Guardian, August 20, 2020
The scale of the jobless crisis in America is immense. For 20 straight weeks, new unemployment claims in the US were above 1m. About 30 million Americans claiming jobless benefits are being left to rely on state unemployment benefits while waiting on Trump’s reduced federal benefits of $400 a week to begin if they are eligible to receive them. Trump’s executive order has been criticized for the obstacles it places for recipients and state unemployment systems that have already been struggling with backlogs of claims and amending claims for recipients to receive back pay for weeks they missed while waiting to be processed.
|
|
|
|
|
County Website, August 21, 2020
Contra Costa Health Services has posted on its website data for the two primary indicators as to whether local elementary schools may reopen: number of days since the county was removed from the state watch list and whether the case rate per 100,000 population over past 14 days is less than 200.
Elementary schools in counties on the monitoring list within the prior 14 days may not open for in-person instruction, unless they have received approval of a waiver submitted to the County Health Officer. Once the county is off the monitoring list for 14 consecutive days both elementary and secondary schools may open for in-person instruction and no waiver is required. Contra Costa County remains on the state watchlist.
LA Times, August 20, 2020
This week in the nation’s second-largest school district, parents and students powered up computers for some 1,400 Zoom assemblies. They met their teachers in online introductions Wednesday. On Thursday at 9 a.m. sharp, hundreds of thousands of children were expected to log on for class, as these early days of the new academic year reveal an imperfect, and at times poignant, picture of the distance-learning challenges confronting educators and families.
Across the massive Los Angeles Unified School District, a handful of recurring themes echoed throughout the week. Educators understand that many students, after campuses closed in March, stopped turning in work and were absent from hastily organized online classes. During assemblies this week, principals felt it was vital to repeatedly emphasize attendance and participation. Many parents said they were already having technology problems and asked about where they could get help. Others just wanted to know when children will be allowed to return to school, or at least to socialize with other children.
CalMatters, August 20, 2020
The California State University is better poised to handle the brave new world of online learning this fall than it did in the spring, system Chancellor Timothy P. White said during a virtual town hall hosted by CalMatters. He said his May decision to shift most of CSU’s classes online because of Covid-19 come fall bought the CSU valuable time to improve instruction, train faculty, and provide students needed laptops and Wi-Fi access.
USA Today, August 21, 2020
In California, 10% of all households don't have internet access. More than a quarter lack broadband subscriptions. Some students and professors say the Cal-State university system can only go so far in providing support. For example, Sacramento State has converted a parking garage into a classroom where as many as 100 students each weekday park, pull out their laptops and attend class virtually or do homework from their vehicles. They access the internet through Eduroam, the school's Wi-Fi service, in a distraction-free environment.
|
|
|
|
NY Times, August 21, 2020
As college students return to U.S. campuses, some schools are already hastily rewriting their plans for the fall. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Michigan State and Drexel University will now hold most fall classes online, and Notre Dame and the University of Pittsburgh are among several that have abruptly suspended in-person classes for the coming weeks.
|
At Notre Dame, large outbreaks blamed on student gatherings drove the school to suspend in-person classes and restrict student gatherings. But a newspaper, run by students at Notre Dame, St. Mary’s and Holy Cross, criticized the three institutions in a front-page editorial under the stark headline “Don’t make us write obituaries.”
NY Times, August 20, 2020
School nurses are in short supply, with less than 40% of schools employing one full time before the pandemic. Now those overburdened health care specialists are finding themselves on the front lines of a risky, high-stakes experiment in protecting public health as districts reopen their doors amid spiking caseloads in many parts of the country. This year, nurses will be charged with evaluating children for coronavirus symptoms and determining whether they should report to an isolation room away from other students and staff members, and communicating with parents already anxious about dropping their children off at school.
Kaiser Health News, August 21, 2020
As with the uncoordinated and chaotic national response to the Covid-19 pandemic, higher education has no clear guidance or set of standards to adhere to from the federal government or anywhere else. Policies for reentry onto campuses that were abruptly shut in March are all over the map.
According to the College Crisis Initiative, there is nothing resembling a common approach. Of 2,958 institutions it follows, 151 were planning to open fully online, 729 were mostly online and 433 were taking a hybrid approach. Just 75 schools were insisting on students attending fully in person, and 614 were aiming to be primarily in-person. Some 800 others were still deciding, just weeks before instruction was to start. The decisions often have little correlation with the public health advisories in a region.
Associated Press, August 20, 2020
The federal government has largely left it to state and local governments to decide when it’s safe to bring students back to the classroom. The result is a patchwork of policies that vary widely by state and county. Minnesota, for example, suggests fully in-person classes if a county’s two-week case rate is no higher than 10 per 10,000 people. In Pennsylvania, it’s considered safe if a county’s positive virus tests average lower than 5% for a week.
|
|
|
|
2 Doctors, 3 Kids Under 8. Here's What Happened When the Whole Family Got Covid-19 |
It started, as many things do, with a mother’s instinct. Michelle Dasgupta’s youngest, Sadie, was a little warmer than usual—and a little fussier, too. A 9-month-old can’t say why, but Michelle knew something was wrong.
She had three baby thermometers scattered around the house—one for the underarm, one for the bum, and one for the mouth. All three were used, all three gave different readings. None said “fever,” i.e. a temperature of 100.3°F or above. Still, Sadie wasn’t Sadie.
Two days later, just as Sadie’s symptoms—fatigue, fussiness, and a runny nose—were self-resolving, Michelle’s older kids, Mina, 7, and Aiden, 5, started acting weird. Like their baby sister, they felt warm to the touch. Plus, their dad Rajkumar (Raj) says, they weren’t “bouncing off the walls” like usual.
By the next Monday, July 20, Michelle felt it too. Her symptoms were “milder than a sinus infection” and easily dismissible. But, just to be safe, she decided she and Mina would go to a nearby urgent care center to get tested for Covid-19.
Raj and Michelle are both doctors. Raj is a pulmonary and critical care specialist at the University of Southern California, and Michelle is a rheumatologist. Despite their high-risk professions, Michelle's coronavirus results took four days to come back. When Michelle and Mina both tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Michelle and Raj had to assume their entire household had it.
|
|
Raj says Americans are one or the other: People who already got Covid and people who will. “No one is safe at this point, and unfortunately we have to stay vigilant because the Covid club is growing,” he says.
Today, all the Dasguptas are healthy.
Luckily, no one's symptoms went beyond a sore throat, slight fever, and fatigue, the last of which cleared up for Raj and Michelle on August 8, preceding a 10-day quarantine for added caution. Mina and Aiden are back to bouncing off the walls, “happy and playing as if nothing has happened,” says Michelle.
“Even if the symptoms are really mild, you should go get tested,” says Michelle. “It would be really helpful if everybody had the type of testing where it comes back in two hours.”
While we wait on that, the Dasguptas say they’re grateful that their experience with the coronavirus was mild, “because for a lot of people, it’s completely opposite,” says Michelle.
|
|
|
|
NY Times, August 21, 2020
For all of the challenges in controlling the spread of the coronavirus, Europe's initial strategy was relatively straightforward: nearly universal, strictly enforced lockdowns. It eventually worked. And in the two months since most countries have opened up, improved testing and tracing have largely kept new outbreaks in check. With basic rules on wearing masks and social distancing, life has been able to resume with some semblance of normality.
But in recent days France, Germany and Italy have experienced their highest daily case counts since the spring, and Spain finds itself in the midst of a major outbreak. Government authorities and public health officials are warning that the continent is entering a new phase in the pandemic.
There isn’t the widespread chaos and general sense of crisis seen in March and April. And newly detected infections per 100,000 people across Europe are still only about one-fifth the number in the United States over the last week. But there are growing concerns that with the summer travel season drawing to a close, the virus could find a new foothold as people move their lives indoors and the fall flu season begins.
Folha de S.Paulo, August 20, 2020
For the first time in almost four months, Brazil recorded a decelerated Coronavirus transmission rate, according to calculations by the epidemic control center at Imperial College. For the week that started on Sunday (16), the contagion rate - which shows how many people on average, each infected person transmits the pathogen - was calculated at 0.98. Every 100 people infected with the new coronavirus infect another 98, who, in turn, pass the pathogen to 96, who transmits it to 94, slowing the contagion.
BBC, August 20, 2020
Average daily cases of coronavirus in Africa fell last week, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The continent-wide daily average was 10,300 last week, down from 11,000 the week before.
The director of Africa CDC, Dr John Nkengasong, said it was a "sign of hope." But the trend must be noted with a lot of caution. Testing has increased steadily in the past few months to more than 10 million tests conducted so far, according to the Africa CDC. That's nearly 1% of the continent's population. It's a mixed bag, South Africa leads in both the number of tests conducted and positive cases. The WHO attributes the overall drop in newly confirmed cases in Africa to the decreasing number of positive cases observed in the country in recent days. But lower testing rates in much of the continent means we are still not getting the true picture of the pandemic.
Al-Jazeera, August 21, 2020
Nearly one-third of New Delhi's 20 million population have likely been infected by the novel coronavirus, according to a survey of 15,000 people conducted by the local government, a figure that indicates infection numbers are much higher than those recorded.
The survey, which tested a sample of the population for the presence of antibodies, was done in India's capital in the first week of August, its health minister Satyendra Jain told a news conference on Thursday.
|
|
|
|
Dr. William Petri, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Virginia, The Conversation, August 20, 2020
In as many as 99% of all COVID-19 cases, the patient recovers from the infection, and the virus is cleared from the body. Some of those who have had Covid-19 may have low levels of virus in the body for up to three months after infection. But in most cases these individuals can no longer transmit the virus to other people 10 days after first becoming sick. It should therefore be much easier to make a vaccine for the new coronavirus than for infections such as HIV where the immune system fails to cure it naturally. SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t mutate the way that HIV does, making it a much easier target for the immune system to subdue or for a vaccine to control.
Barbara Feder Ostrov, CalMatters, August 20, 2020
Life for California’s children in the midst of a pandemic – not to mention fast-spreading wildfires and a record-breaking heat wave – is beyond stressful right now, and many parents and caregivers are asking: How can we do better by our kids?
Three prominent child health experts offered helpful suggestions and context Thursday in an online discussion hosted by CalMatters that touched on the potential long-term effects of Covid-19 on mental health, what behaviors to watch for in your child and how to help them better cope.
Harmeet Kaur, CNN, August 20, 2020
As the US continues to grapple with the dual crises of coronavirus and racism, two things have become clear: People of color are being hit hardest by the virus, and systemic inequities are largely to blame. The numbers are stark, confirming what experts and minority communities have long suspected. Black, Latino and Native American people are nearly three times as likely to be infected with Covid-19 than their White counterparts. Those three groups are about five times as likely to be hospitalized. And people of color across the board are more likely to die of the virus.
Michael Ollove, USA Today, August 20, 2020
Although the United States represents only 4% of the world’s population, it accounts for a quarter of all Covid-19 cases and 22% of all deaths. The country whose military and economic might powered a victory in the Second World War, and whose confidence and technological wizardry planted the first human being on the moon, now finds itself as a reverse role model during the worst public health crisis in a century.
“The U.S. response — I exaggerate not — is a textbook example of how to do it wrong,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Relatively successful countries such as Denmark, Germany, Senegal and Thailand have put out messaging that is clear, consistent and transparent. They have implemented nationwide policies guided by science rather than politics. And above all, they have exerted strong national leadership. “The first thing I would say is that they have had a national policy,” Schaffner said. “That is also the second, third and fourth thing. They had a national policy. That national policy was decided on very quickly and it was communicated clearly and consistently and based on public health principles.”
|
|
|
|
Over the last two weeks, Alameda County officials have confirmed 3,399 new cases, which amounts to 207 cases per 100,000 residents. |
|
Over the last two weeks, Contra Costa County officials have confirmed 3,514 new cases, which amounts to 310 cases per 100,000 residents. |
|
|
Top 8 Locations of Cases in Alameda County, cases as of 8/20/20
|
Oakland: 6,514
Hayward: 2,292
Fremont: 1,071
Eden MAC: 964
San Leandro: 858
Livermore: 699
Union City: 526
Castro Valley: 425
|
|
Top 8 Locations of Cases in Contra Costa County, cases as of 8/21/20
|
Richmond: 2,497
Antioch: 1,605
Concord: 1,597
Pittsburgh: 1,339
San Pablo: 1,096
Bay Point: 620
Walnut Creek: 467
Brentwood: 463
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
From left to right, Hayward City Council member Mark Salinas, Eden Health District Directors Roxann Lewis and Pam Russo, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley and Hayward City Council member Elisa Marquez. |
|
Eden Health District Directors Pam Russo and Roxann Lewis, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley and City of Hayward Council members Elisa Marquez and Mark Salinas came together recently in Castro Valley to encourage the public’s use of masks and face coverings to counter the spread of the coronavirus.
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 Director Russo. “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.”
The public is also 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 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.
|
|
Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley |
"Our public safety and health are the top priorities as we continue to adapt to the effects of Covid-19 on our community,” stated Supervisor Miley. “If everyone continues to follow protocols, we have the chance to lead more public lives during the pandemic. If not, we go back to square one. I commend the Eden Health District for stepping up and launching an excellent local campaign to raise awareness about the vital importance of wearing a mask in public, and I am hopeful that residents and neighbors will take their important message to heart." |
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Your feedback is welcome. Please share the Bulletin. |
|
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.
We welcome your feedback on our bulletin. Please contact editor Stephen Cassidy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
