COVID-19
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Winter COVID-19 Surge Arrives: What Bay Area Residents Should Do
A winter COVID-19 surge has arrived as cases and hospitalizations are on the rise, but the Bay Area is faring better than other regions. Coronavirus cases in the Bay Area have risen 37% over the past week, and hospitalizations are up 9% since Thanksgiving, according to an analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle. Health officials say the uptick is another reminder for people to get vaccinated, or if already vaccinated to get a booster shot, which is now available to 16-17-year-olds who received the Pfizer vaccine at least 6 months ago. People also should continue to wear masks when inside public settings and avoid large crowds, even if they're vaccinated. The delta variant is still the dominant strain, not the highly contagious omicron variant. NBC Bay Area Read more
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"Just A Cold"? During COVID, How To Know If It’s OK To Go To Holiday Gatherings When You Have The Sniffles - What Local Health Officials Say
The holidays are here, and social gatherings are back on the calendar for many after being largely canceled by COVID-19 last year. But, say, the day before a holiday party, you have a scratchy throat. Or a few days leading up to a big family gathering, you get the sniffles. Before the pandemic, you might have shrugged off such symptoms if they were mild. But now, those same symptoms could mean you have COVID-19, and you could put others — particularly those who are vulnerable to severe disease — at risk. And even if it isn’t COVID, you could inconvenience your family or friends by giving them a cold with symptoms that mirror coronavirus infection. SF Chronicle Read more
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All AC Transit Employees Required To Be Vaccinated Under New Mandate
All AC Transit employees will be required to be vaccinated by a still to-be-determined deadline under a proposal approved by the agency’s board of directors Wednesday night. The mandate, which will not include a testing option for its 2,150 employees, comes after months of efforts by AC Transit officials to encourage its workforce to get inoculated. The East Bay transit agency joins the region’s two largest transit operators, Muni and BART, in requiring its workers to get vaccinated or risk being fired.
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Where To Find A COVID Test Near You In The Bay Area
Almost 70% of Californians are fully vaccinated, and over 30% of residents have now received their COVID booster shot. But the arrival of the Omicron variant in the Bay Area and the ongoing transmission of the delta variant — including breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people — continue to remind us that COVID testing remains crucial to ending this pandemic. Health experts stress that getting tested for COVID, even after you’re fully vaccinated, is an effective way to stop the spread of the coronavirus faster. But what if you're struggling to find a timely COVID test in the Bay Area — especially when you need the results as soon as possible? KQED Read more
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Bay Area Nonprofit Wants To Hear From COVID "Long Haulers" To Provide Resources To Them
The Omicron variant has been top of mind for many as we continue to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. But many are still suffering effects of COVID from before new variants began to emerge. A Bay Area organization is trying to shed light on their struggle and get more resources to them. ABC7 News Read more
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Due To Parish Worries, S.F. Church Delays Archbishop Cordileone’s Visit After He Reveals He’s Unvaccinated
A Catholic church in San Francisco pushed back a visit from Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone scheduled for a Dec. 19 Mass after he recently revealed that he’s unvaccinated. Pastor and Jesuit father George Williams informed the parish of St. Agnes Catholic Church in the Haight of the decision in a church bulletin last weekend. He wrote that he had called the archbishop and asked him to reschedule his visit for a later time “because many people in the parish had expressed concern about this.” Williams did not specify a later date for a visit. SF Chronicle Read more
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Marin County Businesses Threatened With Arson Over COVID Rules
A pair of businesses in Marin County has been facing backlash over COVID-19 restrictions. Notes have been left behind by someone threatening to burn the businesses down over their health rules. The threats have come as Marin County is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases. The owner of one of the threatened businesses says he understands the frustrations some people might have over COVID-19 restrictions but threatening arson is going way too far. Marin County overall has seen an uptick in cases post-Thanksgiving. As of Thursday, it’s the only Bay Area county under the CDC’s high transmission category. KRON4 Read more
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Should The Definition Of "Fully Vaccinated" Be Changed To Include A Booster Shot?
For many Americans who scrambled to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as their turn came up, the relief of gaining immunity was just one reward. Achieving “fully vaccinated” status conferred a faint halo of virtue as well. Now, both the shots’ biological protection and the satisfaction of contributing to the herd’s immunity are proving short-lived. And with a worrisome new coronavirus variant threatening to erode vaccine-induced immunity further, health officials are debating whether the definition of “fully vaccinated” should be amended to include a booster shot. LA Times Read more
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With Nearly 5 Million Children Getting COVID Vaccines, No Safety Problems Have Been Seen, CDC Director Says
With nearly 5 million children ages 5 to 11 now vaccinated against COVID-19, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says real-world monitoring finds vaccines are safe for young children. Crucially, the CDC hasn't identified any concerns with the temporary heart inflammation known as myocarditis, a potential side effect of mRNA vaccines seen in rare circumstances in teenagers and young adults. ABC News Read more
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UCLA Research Points The Way Towards A Longer-Lasting COVID Vaccine
Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have identified rare, naturally occurring T cells that are capable of targeting a protein found in SARS-CoV-2 and a range of other coronaviruses. The findings suggest that a component of this protein, called viral polymerase, could potentially be added to COVID-19 vaccines to create a longer-lasting immune response and increase protection against new variants of the virus. News Medical Read more
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The One-Dose Problem Is Real
There’s a public health challenge that has been lurking and largely ignored in the U.S., and that could become a major issue if the Omicron variant of COVID-19 becomes dominant: the one-dose problem. There appear to be millions of Americans walking around who have received a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, who may think they are protected against whatever the virus can throw at them — and who could be sorely wrong. VOX Read more
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Beverly Hills Firefighters Sue Over Vaccine Mandate They Call "Experimental Gene Modification"
Two Beverly Hills firefighters are suing over Los Angeles County’s mandate that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19. It’s the latest salvo in the heated battle between some public sector employees and governments over public health requirements, which have seen workers stage protests and mount legal actions. LA Times Read more
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Health Experts Worry CDC’s COVID Vaccination Rates Appear Inflated
For nearly a month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s online vaccine tracker has shown that virtually everyone 65 and older in the United States — 99.9% — has received at least one covid vaccine dose. That would be remarkable — if true. But health experts and state officials say it’s certainly not. Getting an accurate figure on the proportion of residents vaccinated is difficult for several reasons.
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State/National/International News |
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As U.S. Nears 800,000 Virus Deaths, 1 of Every 100 Older Americans Has Perished
As the coronavirus pandemic approaches the end of a second year, the United States stands on the cusp of surpassing 800,000 deaths from the virus, and no group has suffered more than older Americans. All along, older people have been known to be more vulnerable, but the scale of loss is only now coming into full view. Seventy-five percent of people who have died of the virus in the United States — or about 600,000 of the nearly 800,000 who have perished so far — have been 65 or older. One in 100 older Americans has died from the virus. For people younger than 65, that ratio is closer to 1 in 1,400. NY Times Read more
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What Omicron's Fast Spread Could Mean For The U.S. – And The World
The first country to really get hit by omicron is South Africa. Before the new variant took off last month, coronavirus cases there were low – only several hundred per day in mid November. But by early December, the tally of daily infections had shot up to more than 4,500 — and genomic sequencing shows that omicron is to blame. What's more, the variant quickly swept through all regions of South Africa – and has now shown up in about 60 additional countries. Omicron hasn't yet triggered a global wave, but many scientists who are tracking its rapid spread believe it's only a matter of time. NPR
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Across The World, COVID Anxiety And Depression Take Hold
A recent cartoon in the French daily Le Monde featured a bedraggled man arriving at a doctor’s office for a Covid-19 vaccine. “I am here for the fifth shot because of the third wave,” he says. “Or vice versa. His bewilderment as France suffers its fifth wave of the pandemic, with cases of the Delta variant rising sharply along with Omicron anxiety, captured a mood of exhaustion and simmering anger across the world two years after the deadly virus began to spread in China. NY Times Read more
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As California’s COVID Cases Rise, Antibody Treatments Go Unused
The number of Californians hospitalized for COVID-19 is once again climbing — even as a powerful treatment goes unused. Deployment of the free, life-saving monoclonal antibody therapy, which reduces the risk of hospitalization by 80%, has been slowed due to poor communication and administrative coordination, as well as a shortage of facilities equipped to provide the infusion. In some cases, patients may not be aware of the treatment or may be hesitant to use it. “It’s not getting to people,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, professor of medicine and an infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco. “We have this tool that we’re not using.” Mercury News Read more
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The Documents You Need To Travel Abroad Now
While international travel is not impossible this holiday season, particularly if you’re vaccinated, the rise of the Omicron variant promises to make it much more complicated.
Assuming you are traveling to a country open to nonessential travel, the vaccine and testing documentation required for entry could range from nothing (Mexico) to detailed and numerous (Norway, and many others). Before booking, you can research online what you’ll need — on a running list from The New York Times here, or the websites of various airlines, the C.D.C., the U.S. State Department or that of your destination’s government — but be prepared to recheck requirements in the days leading up to your departure, in case rules have changed. NY Times Read more
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The Coronavirus Attacks Fat Tissue, Scientists Find
From the start of the pandemic, the coronavirus seemed to target people carrying extra pounds. Patients who were overweight or obese were more likely to develop severe COVID-19 and more likely to die. Though these patients often have health conditions like diabetes that compound their risk, scientists have become increasingly convinced that their vulnerability has something to do with obesity itself. Now researchers have found that the coronavirus infects both fat cells and certain immune cells within body fat, prompting a damaging defensive response in the body. The study’s senior authors suggested the evidence could point to new COVID treatments that target body fat.
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Omicron Could Become Dominant In Some European Countries By Next Week, Officials Predict
European leaders and scientists warned Friday that the Omicron variant could become dominant in some countries startlingly soon, overtaking the Delta variant, which has remained the most common version of the virus globally for months. “We expect it to overtake delta within days, not weeks,” Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, said Friday about the spread of Omicron there. That echoes the latest update from the U.K. Health Security Agency, which has high confidence that Omicron has a growth advantage over Delta and estimates that, spreading at its current rate, it will become dominant in Britain by mid-December. Washington Post Read more
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 625,811
California: 5,156,692
U.S.: 49,926,839
Alameda County
Total Vaccines Administered: 2,956,631
Total Cases: 124,000
Total Deaths: 1,518
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 1.5%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 12/13): 89
ICU Beds Available (as of 12/13): 85
As of December 13, cases have increased recently and are high. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Alameda County area have remained at about the same level. The test positivity rate in Alameda County is relatively low, suggesting that testing capacity is adequate for evaluating COVID-19 spread in the area. NY Times
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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 6,884
California: 75,275
U.S.: 797,350
Contra Costa County
Total Vaccines Administered: 2,083,655
Total Cases: 103,373
Total Deaths: 1,065
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 2.1%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 12/13): 47
ICU Beds Available (as of 12/13): 40
As of December 13, cases have increased recently and are high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has also risen in the Contra Costa area. Deaths have remained at about the same level. The test positivity rate in Contra Costa County is relatively low, suggesting that testing capacity is adequate for evaluating COVID-19 spread in the area. NY Times
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How Has COVID-19 Impacted Our Sleep?
You probably know from personal experience that the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on sleep for many people. If your own sleep hasn’t been affected, chances are you know someone who has experienced sleep problems in the past year and a half.
It’s not surprising that the combination of schedule changes, increased screen time, and elevated levels of stress and anxiety - all caused by the global pandemic - would disrupt our sleep. A new systematic review quantifies the sleep effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychology Today Read more
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- COVID-19 testing is a good idea, but keep in mind, people who test negative can still harbor the virus if they are early in their infection.
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A viral test tells you if you have a current infection.
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An antibody test might tell you if you had a past infection.
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Over the past week, Alameda County has averaged 156 new cases and 0.4 new deaths per day.
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Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 116 new cases and 0.7 new death per day.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 12/13/21
Oakland: 38,697
Hayward: 17,711
Fremont: 11,215
Eden MAC: 7,679
San Leandro: 7,621
Livermore: 6,802
Berkeley: 5,433
Union City: 5,294
Castro Valley: 3,919
Newark: 3,678
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 12/13/21
Richmond: 15,397
Antioch: 14,934
Concord: 11,575
Pittsburg: 9,744
San Pablo: 6,721
Brentwood: 6,598
Oakley: 5,528
Walnut Creek: 4,597
Bay Point: 3,897
San Ramon: 3,450
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About Eden Health District |
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The Eden Health District Board of Directors are Chair Mariellen Faria, Vice Chair Pam Russo, Secretary/Treasurer Roxann Lewis, Gordon Galvan and Varsha Chauhan. The Chief Executive Officer is Mark Friedman.
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.
We welcome your feedback on our bulletin. Please contact editor Lisa Mahoney.
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