Eden Health District COVID-19 Bulletin
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"Lots of people are feeling unproductive. But if you successfully infect zero people with the virus, seriously you’ve been extremely productive."
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Sonoma County food bank provides for those who can’t travel because of Covid quarantine
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Thirty years ago,
Food for Thought
was organized to help HIV patients. Now, that model is being used to feed Covid-19 patients.
It’s an unusual food bank, providing food for folks too ill or in isolation from coronavirus who can’t get food on their own. “Someone will get infected and then the whole family will be infected and then they’ll be quarantined in their homes,” said Food For Thought Executive Director Ron Carp.
Healing with food and love is the motto of Food for Thought. You call a counselor and discuss what food you want and a custom order is prepared. All clients are welcome to receive weekly groceries, vitamins and dietary supplements, and nutritional counseling.
The food comes from a variety of sources, including local farms and individual donations, but mostly it is surplus purchased from wholesalers.
Operations Manager Dave Hall has his own organic garden which also provides for the food bank.
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“We get all kinds of stuff. We have asparagus, bell peppers and we have some beautiful flowers,” said Hall.
Sonoma County resident Edwin Ruano tested positive last April. He’s negative now, but back then he and his family were quarantined for 48 days in a two-room apartment. “I am really, really grateful with them. They have been helping me more than two months,” said Ruano.
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Alameda County:
8,858
Contra Costa County:
5,233
California:
365,125
U.S.:
3,606,927
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Alameda County:
161
Contra Costa County:
93
California:
7,491
U.S.:
138,784
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Mercury News, July 17, 2020
For the first time, the entire Bay Area could soon be on California’s coronavirus watch list, an ominous trend that can trigger new restrictions and business closures. According to a Bay Area News Group data analysis, every county in the region has now crossed the state threshold for elevated disease transmission, meaning they are reporting 10 coronavirus cases for every 10,000 residents. Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco counties all recently crossed the closely watched benchmark for new cases. Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sonoma and Solano had already topped it.
City News, July 16, 2020
Hayward will continue its program of Saturday afternoon and evening street closures to support downtown shopping and outdoor dining, the City’s Economic Development Manager announced today. Under Hayward’s program to support safe downtown shopping and outdoor dining and take-out service, the City will close B and Main streets to vehicle traffic from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. each Saturday through the end of August.
County website, July 16, 2020
What's open and what remains closed in Contra Costa County.
KQED, July 15, 2020
KQED provides an update on the status of what businesses and activities are permitted in Bay Area counties.
Berkeleyside, July 16, 2020
Another 25 UC Berkeley students have tested positive for the coronavirus, the university reported this week. That brings the total number of positive tests associated with Cal from 70 to 95. UC Berkeley is reporting a 2.1% positivity rate.
East Bay Times, July 17, 2020
The iconic Children’s Fairyland in Oakland faces a “perilous” future if it can’t reopen next month because of the coronavirus pandemic, its executive director says. The amusement park, which has been closed since March 13 when Bay Area counties began issuing shelter-in-place orders, was set to reopen this month, but those plans are now on indefinite hold.
SF Chronicle, July 16, 2020
Tesla told employees in an email Wednesday that some workers had been infected with the coronavirus while on the job, although the company did not say if any of those cases occurred at the Fremont factory. Tesla managers had previously kept information on infections across the company relatively secret, telling employees only when people they had worked with closely had been infected.
KRON TV, July 16, 2020
Since the coronavirus hit, Mr. Plastics has been providing Plexiglass to businesses to help slow the spread of the virus. The company is now working with schools that are preparing for the fall says Mr. Plastics President Mike Adelson.
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Differing Views on Likelihood and Effectiveness of a Coronavirus Vaccine
Bloomberg, July 16, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci told
Facebook
‘s Mark Zuckerberg that he expects results for a clinical trial on monoclonal antibodies by late summer or early fall, underscoring the speed at which the government has been working to quickly approve and roll out treatment for the novel coronavirus. A
monoclonal antibody
is a laboratory-produced protein that can potentially be used to treat sick patients as well as for prophylaxis. Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, described them as “precise bullets” that can be developed from antibodies from other people who’ve been infected and used as a treatment to fight the virus at multiple stages.
Peter Fimrite, science writer, SF Chronicle, July 17, 2020
Disturbing new revelations that permanent immunity to the coronavirus may not be possible have jeopardized vaccine development and reinforced a decision by scientists at UCSF and affiliated laboratories to focus exclusively on treatments. Several recent studies conducted around the world indicate that the human body does not retain the antibodies that build up during infections, meaning there may be no lasting immunity to Covid-19 after people recover. Strong antibodies are also crucial in the development of vaccines. So molecular biologists fear the only way left to control the disease may be to treat the symptoms after people are infected to prevent the most debilitating effects.
Kaiser Health News, July 16, 2020
In ordinary circumstances, developing a new safe and effective vaccine take years to complete. But for the coronavirus, the timeline is being shortened. This has spurred more public-private partnerships and significantly increased funding. The three vaccine candidates that are furthest are summarized in this report.
USA Today, July 17, 2020
Any hopes that summer’s high temperatures might slow the spread of the coronavirus were smashed in June and July by
skyrocketing cases
across the country, especially in some of the
warmest states
.
The Guardian, July 16, 2020
The majority of patients admitted to St. Vincent's hospital in Sydney, Australia, with Covid-19 in March and April are still experiencing symptoms more than three months after being discharged.
Dr. James Hamblin, The Atlantic, July 15, 2020
A plane involves many people in an enclosed space for prolonged periods. Mucus membranes in your nasal passages dry out on a plane, making them more prone to being colonized by a virus. But the air on a flight should be as safe as or safer than other enclosed spaces where people are spending prolonged periods together. Unlike many homes or offices, the air in a plane is constantly turning over, with outside air sucked into the cabin and old air pushed out. Any air that is recirculated is supposed to be run through a
HEPA filter
that can catch almost any virus.
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Mercury News, July 17, 2020
California on Thursday added another 119 to its COVID-19 death count, its third straight day with at least 100 fatalities, just the second time that has happened since the pandemic began, both in the last two weeks. The total number of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients requiring ICUs across the state crossed 2,000 for the first time last week; it has since climbed to 2,120. There were nine fewer patients hospitalized than the previous day, but still 10.6% more than there were a week ago.
LA Times, July 17, 2020
Over the last week, Orange County as well as two other suburban counties to the east of L.A., Riverside and San Bernardino, are reporting worse coronavirus case rates per capita than L.A. County. The shift is all the more dramatic because Los Angeles County, long the epicenter of the coronavirus in California, continues to see huge spikes in cases. On Thursday, it reported more than 4,000 new cases, shattering a one-day record.
CalMatters, July 16, 2020
Facing a five-fold increase in infections, Merced County officials have abandoned their contact tracing efforts: they have not attempted to conduct contact tracing for several weeks. Kristyn Sullivan, Merced County’s supervising epidemiologist, said the county is now only doing case investigations, reaching out to infected people to tell them to quarantine but not asking about their close contacts or the places they’ve been recently. She said that interviewing people about their contacts has become ineffective because there are too many cases.
Mercury News, July 17, 2020
On Monday, Gov. Newsom signed an order that closed indoor services across a number of industries, including salon and barbershop services, in 30 hard-hit counties on the governor’s watch list, affecting 80% of Californians and seven out of the nine Bay Area counties. The order specified that indoor services for these businesses had to close, leaving the door open for outdoor services to continue. But hairstylists and barbers are subject to Section 7317 of the Business and Professions Code, which requires “all barbering, cosmetology and electology services be performed in a licensed establishment.” Now, hairstylists and barbers are calling on Newsom to change Section 7317 of the code.
SF Chronicle, July 16, 2020
Coronavirus cases among farmworkers have been rising, with outbreaks tied to low-income, multifamily housing, rather than fields. The Bay Area's crushing costs mean farmworkers have few housing options that they can afford, and closer quarters make them more vulnerable to the virus.
EdSource, July 17, 2020
California child care facilities are reporting five times as many coronavirus cases as of this week than they were a little more than a month ago. It is unclear how alarming this statistic should be for parents and preschool teachers in the state.
“I think the jump in child care facilities probably reflects the jump in cases in our community in general,” said Naomi Bardach, a doctor and associate professor of pediatrics and health policy at UC San Francisco. However, “it’s hard to interpret what is going on. Is that because they’re getting it at home or is that because they’re getting it at day cares?”
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Washington Post, July 17, 2020
There was a time in the United States when
40,000 coronavirus cases in a day
seemed like an alarming milestone. That was less than three weeks ago. Now, the number of new infections reported each day is reaching dizzying new heights. On Thursday, the daily U.S. caseload topped 70,000 for the first time.
NY Times, July 17, 2020
The number of cases in late June surged higher than during the outbreak’s first peak. At this same time, daily Covid-19 fatalities decreased slightly, leading President Trump to proclaim that deaths were “way down.” But that divergence may have come to an end last week, when the average number of new deaths per day began steadily rising again. Data suggest that the recent increase in deaths may continue. Most of the states seeing the sharpest increase in deaths also have some of the country’s highest positive test rates, as well as soaring hospitalization rates, an indicator that many more residents may be gravely ill.
CNN, July 17, 2020
An unpublished document prepared for the White House coronavirus task force recommends that 18 states, including California, in the coronavirus "red zone" for cases should roll back reopening measures amid surging cases. The
report
outlines measures counties in the red zone should take. It encourages residents to "wear a mask at all times outside the home and maintain physical distance." And it recommends that public officials "close bars and gyms" and "limit social gatherings to 10 people or fewer," which would mean rolling back reopening provisions in these places. The report comes despite President Trump's insistence that states reopen and a push to send the nation's children back to school, even as cases increase.
USA Today, July 17, 2020
Experts estimate tens of millions of Americans contracted coronavirus but are not included in official tallies because of testing errors, misdiagnoses, a sluggish public health response, and ignorance about the disease during its early days in the United States. The CDC reported Thursday that there have been about 3.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 nationwide and at least 136,000 deaths. The actual number of infections is likely 10 times the number of reported cases
Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2020
The U.S. labor-market recovery is losing momentum as a surge in coronavirus cases triggers heightened employer uncertainty and consumer caution. Job openings in July are down from last month across the U.S., and Google searches for “file for unemployment” are creeping up. Growth in worker hours is waning at small businesses after several weeks of gains.
Bloomberg, July 17, 2020
The same week Gov. Kemp ordered his state to reopen in April, his administration began presenting data in a way that made the state appear healthier than it was. Even now, according to a daily comparison by the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, the difference is striking. A chart based on new reported cases had numbers soaring through July 16. The state’s symptom-onset version showed them plummeting after July 2. The newspaper’s chart counted 3,441 new cases Thursday. The “preliminary” number on the state chart: 20.
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USA Today, July 17, 2020
A compilation of studies and articles published in
JAMA Pediatrics
found most patients under the age of 18 with Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, tend to have mild symptoms and fully recover within one to two weeks, quicker than most adults. While this may alleviate some concerns, medical experts say parents shouldn’t let their guard down. Children can still be carriers of the virus and facilitate spread in their communities.
Dr. Megan Culler Freeman, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, said nose swab studies have shown children have the same amount of viral load in their noses as adults.
However, children are more likely to have only mild symptoms, which may not be noticeable to child or parent. Shekerdemian says by being healthier, children can actually be more dangerous as they're less likely to stay at home sick and more likely to go out into the world unknowingly spreading the virus.
Bloomberg, July 16, 2020
As the school year draws near, children and teens represent a ballooning percentage of Covid-19 cases in the U.S. as the youngest Americans increasingly venture outside their homes and are able to get tested.
While the CDC has long maintained on
its website
that those younger than 18 make up only
2% of cases
, state data paints a much less rosy picture. California and Mississippi, for instance, are recording rates nearing 10% of overall cases. Florida has found that about
a third of all children tested there
are infected.
Editor's Note
:
In California, persons under age 18 represented 2.3% of positive Covid-19 cases in April. The
number rose
to 6.8% in mid-June and stands today at 8.4%.
As of July 16, 2020, 880 or 9.9% out of a total of 8,858 reported coronavirus cases in Alameda County were from persons under age 18. In Contra Costa County, for persons age 18 and under, as of July 15, 2020, 611 or 11.6% out of a total of 5,233 reported coronavirus cases.
American Academy of Pediatrics, July 16, 2020
Roughly 342 U.S. children have contracted a rare but serious inflammatory condition linked to COVID-19, and six have died, health officials said Thursday. The majority of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) cases have been among Hispanic/Latino (38%) and Black (33%) children,
new data from the CDC show.
About 15% of the children were White.
Sharon Ostfeld-Johns, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, STAT, July 16, 2020
A physician treating Covid-19 patients argues that there is no mystery to the childhood inflammatory disorder MIS-C because it is actually Covid-19, not a separate disease.
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EdSource, July 17, 2020
Under guidance Gov. Newsom is expected to issue Friday, children in kindergarten through 2d grade who are being taught in classrooms would be encouraged, but not required, to wear masks. That’s according to several participants in discussions with administration officials. However, students in grades 3-12, along with st
aff, would be required to wear them. Those who refuse could be sent home to be taught exclusively via distance learning.
In order for schools to reopen, the counties where they are located would have to have 14 days of a declining number of Covid-19 cases, as well
as meet other criteria
that the California Department of Public Health are currently using to regulate businesses and other activities, including shopping malls, bars and nail salons. At the same time, getting off the state’s county monitoring list would not mean that a district would automatically resume in-classroom instruction. That decision would still be left up to local officials.
East Bay Times, July 16, 2020
Liberty Union High School District has canceled all conditioning activities after two students participating in campus workouts tested positive for Covid-19. Another has also shown symptoms and is believed to have contracted the virus, according to administrators. Faced with a surge of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, the California Interscholastic Federation said its decision about the fall schedule would be made by July 20.
LA Times, July 16, 2020
More than 50,000 Black and Latino middle and high school students in Los Angeles did not regularly participate in the school system’s main platform for virtual classrooms after campuses closed in March, a reflection of the deep disparities faced by students of color amid the Covid-19 pandemic and of the difficulties ahead as L.A. Unified prepares for continued online learning.
Bloomberg, July 16, 2020
Parents, fearing their kids won't see the inside of a classroom this fall, are ginning up an alternative familiar to the Home Depot crowd: Do-it-yourself. Amid the pandemic, enterprising families, especially those with means, are hiring tutors on their own or in groups or joining the already growing movement of home schooling. Their efforts include preschoolers, as well as elementary and beyond.
David A. Graham, staff writer, The Atlantic, July 17, 2020
After months of mishandling the coronavirus, from initial indifference to hasty declarations of victory, Trump has now tried to bully schools into reopening. He has denounced guidelines established by his own Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as overly strict, and sought to take funding away from districts. But it isn’t working.
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A survivor’s message
Mardavia Williamson, a licensed cosmetologist who owns her own salon and lash business and is also a caregiver, never thought she’d be part of the Covid-19 statistics.
On June 23, Williamson, from Tennessee, started to notice something was off about her health. “It was a regular work day for me,” said Williamson. “I started to get a little bit more tired than usual. So around like 2 o’clock, I was exhausted. That’s typically not me, I work all day.”
Within days she found herself in the hospital, making two trips in June and July. She was Covid-19 positive.
Williamson said one of the first symptoms she noticed was lack of smell and taste, along with other common symptoms such as fever and coughing, which eventually turned into Covid-19 related pneumonia.
“I couldn’t do anything for myself,” said Williamson. “I was extremely fatigued, so I couldn’t barely make it from my room to the bathroom.”
Williamson said other pre-existing health conditions, such as asthma, made it harder on her. Her symptoms are still lingering.
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With cases rising at a record rate every day across the nation, Williamson says people shouldn’t be scared of checking on their health. She wants to remind people that protecting yourself from the virus must be taken seriously.
“If you feel sick, please go to the doctor, please go get tested, [testing is] not as bad as people make it seem,” said Williamson. “Let’s just always be mindful that our lives are not the only one that matters, it’s other people that we’ll come into contact with every day. Just be careful.”
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Associated Press, July 16, 2020
The U.S., Canada and Mexico have agreed to keep their shared borders closed to nonessential traffic until at least late August because of Covid-19.
The partial closure restricts crossing to commercial traffic, people returning to their home country and other travel deemed essential. It prohibits people from traveling between the countries for tourism or shopping, which is economically important to border communities.
CNN, July 17, 2020
As the coronavirus pandemic tears through Brazil, researchers and pharmaceutical companies are turning to the South American giant in search of a vaccine. Brazil, where the number of cases has now surpassed 2 million, is one of a small handful of sites for testing experimental coronavirus vaccines. It offers an unusual and appealing mix for research: a skyrocketing rate of transmission, as well as internationally respected research centers and a public health system experienced in creating and distributing vaccines.
NY Times, July 17, 2020
Despite an influx of foreign visitors early in the year from countries badly hit by the coronavirus, Thailand has recorded fewer than 3,240 cases and 58 deaths. As of Thursday, there had been no cases of local transmission for about seven weeks. Thailand’s low rate of infection appears to be shared by other countries in the Mekong River basin. Vietnam has not recorded a single death and has logged about three months without a case of community transmission. Myanmar has confirmed 336 cases of the virus, Cambodia 166 and Laos just 19.
Irish Times, July 16, 2020
The government has delayed the next reopening phase from the Covid-19 lockdown. Plans to allow pubs that do not serve food and nightclubs to recommence business from July 20 has been postponed until August 10 after health officials raised concerns about an increase in Covid-19 infections as restrictions have been relaxed.
The Guardian, July 17, 2020
The economic impact of coronavirus is a “tinderbox” that will drive civil unrest and instability in developing countries in the second half of 2020, according to
new analysis. Thirty-seven countries, mainly in Africa and Latin America, could face unparalleled street protests for up to three years.
Axios, July 15, 2020
Eight world leaders called on the international community in a
Washington Post op-ed
Wednesday to ensure that people across the globe have equal access to a future vaccine for the coronavirus.
Why it matters: Global demand for a successful vaccine is expected to skyrocket, which could send nations
racing to obtain a supply
while international organizations scramble to secure equitable access for all countries.
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NPR, July 16, 2020
When the meatpacking industry in the U.S. started seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, local officials in New Bedford, Mass., worried that their city was next. But the city took action, issuing emergency orders that safety experts say should be a model for workplaces across the U.S., if those orders can be properly enforced. The first measure requires companies to report workers who have, or may have, the coronavirus to the local health department. The second requires industrial facilities such as fish houses to provide personal protective equipment, disinfect work areas and abide by social distancing rules. Every facility is mandated to have a health and safety officer who takes workers' temperatures at the start of every shift.
Vox, July 17, 2020
Experts say rapid reopening, mixed with public complacency that the virus had been defeated and lackluster action in the previous months, led Florida to its current crisis. The effects of the state’s quick reopening will likely linger for weeks as Covid-19 takes time to show symptoms and spread to others.
CapRadio, July 16, 2020
White residents in the Sacramento region are more likely to report lower levels of stress and depression during the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to higher levels of employment and financial stability than any other racial or ethnic group. Experts say this racial division is a result of both more white people being employed at higher-paying and more stable jobs, and also a certain amount of white privilege as a result of lived experience.
The findings indicate nearly a third of white respondents reported never being concerned about their physical safety, or that of other family members, during Gov. Newsom’s stay-at-home order, which began in March. That data point is nearly double that of the next closest racial group, Asian-Americans, at 18%, and was three times more than Black respondents, where just 7% reported never being concerned about their physical well-being.
Charles Piller, investigative reporter, Science, July 16, 2020
Aggregated Covid-19 case and death data by county, and often by age and race, is publicly available in much of the country. No U.S. state or territory publicly provides a complete set of even such basic Covid-19 measures as total and pending tests; deaths and recovered patients; and current and cumulative hospitalizations, patients in intensive care units, and those using ventilators.
Bloomberg, July 16, 2020
Wearing a mask in cities like New York, London or Paris has gone from being a marker of the paranoid or vulnerable to the badge of the conscientious in the era of Covid-19. Still, not everyone’s wearing them.
Glamour, July 17, 2020
To quote Annie, “You're never fully dressed without a smile,” and you already know what the 2020 remix is—no outfit is complete without its mask counterpart.
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Alameda County Data
: 2,243 n
ew cases have been recorded over the last 14 days. The number of confirmed infections is currently doubling every 28.9 days.
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Contra Costa County Data
: 1,907 new cases have been recorded over last 14 days. The number of confirmed infections is currently doubling every 25.1 days.
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Top 8 Locations of Cases in Alameda County
, data as of 7/16/20
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Oakland:
3,470
Hayward:
1,340
Eden MAC: 528
Fremont: 451
San Leandro: 446
Livermore:
345
Union City: 273
Castro Valley:
260
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Top 8 Locations of Cases in Contra Costa County
, data as of 7/15/20
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Richmond: 1,161
Antioch: 626
Concord: 593
San Pablo: 485
Pittsburgh:
442
Bay Point: 240
Walnut Creek: 221
Brentwood: 190
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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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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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Your feedback is welcome. Please share the Bulletin.
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The
Eden Health District Board of Directors
are Gordon Galvan, Chair, Mariellen Faria, Vice Chair, Charles Gilcrest, Secretary-Treasurer, Roxann Lewis and Pam Russo. 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.
Each bulletin includes a summary of the top health, Bay Area, California, national 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
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