COVID-19
breaking news & updates
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Order Your Free COVID Test
Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order four at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests are completely free. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days. Order your tests now so you have them when you need them.
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Vacancy On The Eden Health District Board of Directors
Due to the resignation of Varsha Chauhan, there is a vacancy on the Board of Directors of Eden Health District. Eligibility requirements to be appointed to the Eden Health District Board stipulate a person must be a resident of, and registered to vote in, the District. The term for the person appointed to the Eden Health District board due to this vacancy runs until the November, 2022 election. Persons interested in being considered for appointment to the District Board of Directors should contact Barbara Adranly, District Clerk, Eden Health District, by email or at (510) 538-2031 ext. 201, for details on submitting an application and statement of interest/qualifications. Applications must be received no later than Friday, January 28, 2022. Get more details
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COVID Test Resources
Food Pantries
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East Bay Teachers, Parents React To COVID Concerns
School was back in session Tuesday in Hayward after the Omicron surge forced the school district to switch to virtual learning last week. Parents, students and even the crossing guard were excited to see families on their way to Strobridge Elementary. NBC Bay Area spoke to parents who say virtual learning can't replicate one important thing - socializing. "She's very happy to be back and so are we because we want them to be able to learn to their fullest," said Hayward parent Marcella Kuehn. In Oakland, a group of teachers and students continues to take part in a sickout, forcing the district to shut down three schools because not enough teachers showed up. NBC Bay Area
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COVID-19 Testing In Contra Costa County Nearly Doubles Pandemic Peak Amid Omicron Surge
Contra Costa County is testing almost twice as many people for COVID-19 than any other time during the pandemic, county health services director Anna Roth told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The county is administering about 15,000 tests per day. Before the latest surge, the high was 8,400. "Depending on how you're counting, this is either the fifth wave or the sixth wave, but we are clearly in a surge now," Roth said. Active daily cases, which have been rising since November with the arrival of the Omicron variant, are currently at a seven-day average of 2,320 a day, Roth said. County officials are just starting to see those numbers stabilize. KTVU Read more
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Kaiser Gave 3,900 Patients In Walnut Creek Low COVID-19 Vaccine Doses
Kaiser Permanente has notified 3,900 patients vaccinated at its Walnut Creek Medical Center last fall they may have received less than a full dose of the Pfizer shot. Kaiser is sending notices this month offering those who received the light shots appointments for a “repeat” dose if they want one. But the HMO said that after consulting with experts and reviewing guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dosing error should not significantly reduce immunity. “The health and safety of our members and patients is our highest priority,” Kaiser Permanente said in a statement. “As a trusted health care provider, we are committed to informing patients of circumstances that could affect them, even if any potential impact is not considered significant, as in this matter.” Mercury News Read more
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COVID Outbreak Rages At San Quentin State Prison
The latest surge tied to the Omicron variant is fueling an exploding COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin State Prison, prompting concern among health officials and inmate advocates. As of Tuesday, San Quentin logged 240 prisoner and 128 staff cases in the last 14 days, up from six inmate and 73 staff infections a week earlier. The institution houses 3,140 prisoners, a little more than half of whom have been tested, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The prison, along with all corrections facilities in the state, has been locked down since Jan. 10 in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. Marin Independent Journal Read more
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Hundreds Of Students, Staff Petition To Repeal Stanford's Booster Mandate
As health leaders continue to urge people to get a COVID-19 booster shot, hundreds of students and staff at Stanford University are pushing back against the institution's mandate. As of Wednesday morning, more than 1,700 in the Stanford community have signed a petition to repeal the university's impending booster mandate for all students. The university set a Jan. 31 deadline for when students must show proof they have received a booster. NBC Bay Area
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Check Hospital Capacity In Castro Valley Area
The pressure on hospital systems continues to grow as the rate of COVID-19 infections increases across most of the country. State health officials in California reported to the federal government Jan. 18 that approximately 80 percent of inpatient beds and 82 percent of intensive care unit beds in hospitals across the state were occupied. You can check the latest hospitalization numbers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Alameda County. Castro Valley Patch Read more
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Fourth Vaccine Dose Boosts Antibodies, Researchers Say, But Likely Not Enough To Prevent Omicron Breakthrough Infections
Early data out of Israel suggests that a fourth dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna coronavirus vaccine can bring an increase in antibodies - more than what's been seen after a third dose - but it still might not be enough to protect against breakthrough infections caused by the Omicron variant. "These are very preliminary results. This is before any publication, but we're giving it out since we understand the urgency of the public to get any information possible about the fourth dose," Dr. Gili Regev-Yochay, director of the Infection Prevention and Control Unit at Sheba Medical Center, told reporters during a virtual news conference Monday about the data. CNN Read more
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U.S. Would Seek Global Approach To Updating COVID-19 Vaccines, Official Says
If the Food and Drug Administration decides to update COVID-19 vaccines to take better aim at Omicron or other variants, it is unlikely to go it alone. Instead, a senior FDA official told STAT, the agency expects to take part in an internationally coordinated program aimed at deciding if, when, and how to update COVID-19 vaccines. The approach would ensure decisions are not left solely to individual vaccine manufacturers. “We can’t have our manufacturers going willy-nilly [saying], ‘Oh well, the EMA decided they wanted this composition, but FDA wanted that composition,’” the official said, referring to the European Medicines Agency. “So we are very much of the mind that we would like to be part of a more global process in helping to come to what vaccine composition there should be now.” STAT Read more
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Could A Universal COVID-19 Vaccine Defeat Every Variant?
The COVID-19 vaccines available today are amazing feats of science. Researchers achieved in less than a year what can sometimes take decades: They targeted a new virus with multiple highly effective vaccines that have reached billions of people. They deployed new approaches like using messenger RNA and adenovirus vectors at large scales for the first time, making some of the biggest leaps in vaccine technology in hundreds of years. But the limitations of these vaccines are becoming apparent, which is why some scientists are calling for an even bigger leap forward in vaccine technology.
They envision a universal coronavirus vaccine that could counter every known variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, and even variants that haven’t emerged yet. It’s possible such a vaccine could protect against the whole family of coronaviruses, bolstering long-term immunity and slashing the risks of similar pandemics in the future. VOX Read more
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Starbucks Nixes Vaccine Mandate After Supreme Court Ruling
Starbucks is no longer requiring its U.S. workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, reversing a policy it announced earlier this month. In a memo sent Tuesday to employees, the Seattle coffee giant said it was responding to last week’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 6-3 vote, the court rejected the Biden administration’s plan to require vaccines or regular COVID testing at companies with more than 100 workers. “We respect the court’s ruling and will comply,” Starbucks Chief Operating Officer John Culver wrote in the memo. NBC News Read more
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Over 60% of Adverse Reactions to COVID-19 Vaccines May Just Be The Nocebo Effect
The human mind, it seems, is a very powerful thing. According to a new study involving over 45,000 patients, most of the adverse reactions people experienced after having a COVID-19 vaccination could be due to the nocebo effect. The nocebo effect is a bit like the 'evil twin' of the placebo effect, occurring when a patient experiences negative side effects to a treatment because they're expecting to. In a meta-analysis of 12 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials, a team of researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston found that up to 64 percent of adverse effects may be attributable to this kind of worry. ScienceAlert Read more
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Combined Flu And COVID Vaccine Available In 2023, Says Moderna Chief
The chief executive of Moderna said a combined booster shot for COVID-19 and flu could be available towards the end of 2023, as the pharmaceutical company edged closer to an Omicron specific vaccine. “Our goal is to be able to have a single annual booster so that we don’t have compliance issues where people don’t want to get two to three shots a winter,” said Stéphane Bancel during a streamed panel at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. Bancel said in the “best-case scenario” a combined vaccine could be available in the “fall of ’23”, but he does not “think it will happen in every country”. Financial Times Read more
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State/National/International News
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Free COVID-19 Test Website Gets More Than 1 Million Visitors On First Day
The Biden administration’s new website allowing people to order up to four free at-home coronavirus tests quietly went live on Tuesday — a day in advance of its formal launch — and demand already appeared to be significant. A combined total of more than one million visitors were on the home page and the ordering page of covidtests.gov at one point Tuesday evening — more than 40 times as many as were on the government site with the next highest traffic, the U.S. Postal Service’s package-tracking page, according to analytics.usa.gov, which monitors traffic on participating federal websites. NY Times Read more
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The Biden Administration Will Give Away Masks In The "Largest Deployment" of Such Equipment In U.S. History
The Biden administration, facing calls from public health experts to distribute high-quality masks to the American public, will announce on Wednesday that it is making 400 million nonsurgical N95 masks available, free of charge, at community health centers and retail pharmacies across the United States. The move, which officials are calling the “largest deployment of personal protective equipment in U.S. history,” comes just days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its mask guidance to acknowledge that cloth masks do not offer as much protection as surgical masks or respirators.
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Officials Struggle to Regulate Pop-Up COVID Testing Sites — And Warn Patients To Beware
In recent months, mobile COVID-19 testing tents and vans have sprouted on urban sidewalks and street curbs as demand has skyrocketed in response to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Some of the sites run by private companies offer legitimate, timely and reliable results, but others are more like weeds. High demand and scarce supply opened the door to bad actors, and officials in some states are having a hard time keeping up their oversight amid the proliferation. And they are sounding the alarm that by visiting the pop-up industry’s sometimes makeshift tents, desperate patients could be putting their health, wallets and personal data at risk. Kaiser Health News Read more
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Omicron Surge Worsens Teacher Shortage, Closing More California Schools To COVID
Last week at Simi Valley Unified School District, northwest of Los Angeles, there were only enough substitutes to cover about half the teachers who stayed at home after testing positive for COVID-19. “It’s untenable,” Superintendent Jason Peplinski said last week. “It is so bad.” The good news is that public health experts across California expect the omicron surge to be over by March. But the consequences of the highly transmissible variant and the acute school staffing crisis it has caused could long outlast the spike in case numbers. The teacher shortages and unprecedented absenteeism are disrupting learning, extending the long-term academic fallout of COVID-19. CalMatters Read more
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COVID-19 Health Emergency Could Be Over This Year, WHO Says
The worst of the coronavirus pandemic — deaths, hospitalizations and lockdowns — could be over this year if huge inequities in vaccinations and medicines are addressed quickly, the head of emergencies at the World Health Organization said Tuesday. Dr. Michael Ryan, speaking during a panel discussion on vaccine inequity hosted by the World Economic Forum, said “we may never end the virus” because such pandemic viruses “end up becoming part of the ecosystem.” But “we have a chance to end the public health emergency this year if we do the things that we’ve been talking about,” he said. ABC News Read more
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Why People Are Keeping Unvaccinated COVID Deaths Secret
After Andreea’s mom died of COVID-19 in April, the harassment started. Noxious messages started coming in after she wrote a Facebook post letting friends and family know about her loss. One person messaged her to say they couldn’t believe her mother hadn’t protected herself. Andreea has since deleted most of the other messages, but she remembers people saying things like “I can’t believe your mom was an anti-vaxxer” and “I can’t believe she didn’t understand that COVID could kill you.” “Instead of people saying that they were sorry for my loss, they would question my mom’s medical choices. It became all about her vaccine status. It was incredibly hurtful,” Andreea, a language instructor, who asked to be identified by only her first name in order to prevent further harassment, told me. The Atlantic Read more
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Families Complain As States Require COVID Testing For Nursing Home Visits
As COVID-19 cases rise again in nursing homes, a few states have begun requiring visitors to present proof that they’re not infected before entering facilities, stoking frustration and dismay among family members. Officials in California, New York, and Rhode Island say new covid testing requirements are necessary to protect residents — an enormously vulnerable population — from exposure to the highly contagious Omicron variant. But many family members say they can’t secure tests amid enormous demand and scarce supplies, leaving them unable to see loved ones. And being shut out of facilities feels unbearable, like a nightmare recurring without end. California Healthline
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Hawaii To Require Travelers Have COVID Booster Shot To Be "Fully Vaccinated"
Hawaii will likely require visitors to the state to have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster if they want to skip quarantine. Currently, under the rules of the state's "Safe Travels" program, travelers who don't want to quarantine for five days must either be fully vaccinated - meaning two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine - or have a negative COVID-19 test within one day of travel. ABC News Read more
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CDC Moves Whopping 22 New Destinations Into Highest-Risk Level
The surge of Omicron variant cases has now reached tsunami-like proportions in the travel world. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved a whopping 22 nations into its highest-risk travel category for COVID-19 on Tuesday. By contrast, it moved only two nations to Level 4, or “very high” risk, last week. Adding to the impact: The CDC also moved 22 additional nations to its Level 3 category, which is considered “high” risk for COVID-19. Mercury News Read more
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 979,675
California: 7,292,055
U.S.: 68,221,992
Alameda County
Total Vaccines Administered: 3,319,831
Total Cases: 195,728
Total Deaths: 1,566
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 18.2%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 1/19): 439
ICU Beds Available (as of 1/19): 81
As of January 19, cases have increased recently and are extremely high. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Alameda County area have also risen. The test positivity rate in Alameda County is very high, suggesting that cases are being significantly undercounted. NY Times
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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 7,086
California: 78,028
U.S.: 856,628
Contra Costa County
Total Vaccines Administered: 2,316,081
Total Cases: 152,934
Total Deaths: 1,091
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 21.8%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 1/19): 278
ICU Beds Available (as of 1/19): 31
As of January 19, cases have increased recently and are extremely high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has also risen in the Contra Costa County area. Deaths have remained at about the same level. The test positivity rate in Contra Costa County is very high, suggesting that cases are being significantly undercounted.
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Which Mask Protects Best Against The Omicron Variant?
As the highly infectious COVID-19 Omicron variant surges, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its mask recommendations. The agency notes that people “can choose” N95 or KN95 masks and adds that N95 masks offer “the highest level of protection.” But the CDC also makes it clear that whatever the type, the most important thing is to wear a well-fitting mask consistently. UC Davis Health 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 3,792 new cases and 1 new death per day.
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Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 2,434 new cases and 1.3 new deaths per day.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 1/10/2022*
Oakland: 43,884
Hayward: 19,297
Fremont: 12,748
San Leandro: 8,621
Eden MAC: 8,328
Berkeley: 7,674
Livermore: 7,610
Union City: 5,928
Castro Valley: 4,638
Newark: 4,047
*Alameda County is still in the process of updating its dashboard with case counts
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 1/19/2022
Richmond: 22,710
Antioch: 20,814
Concord: 16,404
Pittsburg: 13,466
San Pablo: 9,589
Brentwood: 9,423
Oakley: 7,702
Walnut Creek: 7,382
San Ramon: 6,331
Bay Point: 5,178
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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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