COVID-19
breaking news & updates
|
|
|
Share This Bulletin
Do you have family and friends seeking the latest information about COVID-19? Forward this Bulletin issue to them and they can use their smartphone to scan the QR code at right. They'll be directed to a page where they can subscribe to the Eden Health District COVID-19 Bulletin and immediately begin receiving the latest local, state, national and international news, as well as important vaccination updates and the most current coronavirus statistics. Remember - being informed is essential to staying healthy.
|
|
|
Delta Surge Is "Clearly Plateauing" In The Bay Area, UCSF Doctors Say
Two of the state's top doctors predict the Bay Area will be the first major metropolitan area to peak from our fast-growing Delta surge. "So the light is at the end of the proverbial tunnel," said UCSF's Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease physician. "We've already had some silver linings." State data shows California's COVID-19 case rates are trending down, especially in the Bay Area. "The Bay Area is sort of leading the way in terms of an early peak and starting to come down," said UCSF's Dept. of Medicine Chair, Dr. Bob Wachter. "I think we've clearly plateaued." ABC7 Read more
|
|
|
East Bay Leaders Encourage Other Cities To Require Employee Vaccinate Mandates
Antioch in Contra Costa County is the latest city to announce it plans on putting a vaccine mandate in place for city employees. Walnut Creek enacted their vaccination mandate on Monday and say they've already seen an increase in the vaccination rate. Now Antioch's mayor is saying he's following suit and asking others to join him. When it comes to vaccinations, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe says his community is lagging, and creating a potential hotspot for COVID. KTVU Read more
|
|
|
COVID-19 Outbreaks Close Two Oakland Classes
COVID-19 outbreaks have closed two Oakland classrooms since kids returned to school a week ago for the fall term, raising concerns among some parents about whether the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus can be kept in check on campuses as cases rise across the country and more Bay Area schools start this week. Oakland Unified School District, which welcomed students back for the fall term Aug. 9, reported on Monday 16 student and staff cases at Oakland High and five at Montclair Elementary, resulting in one classroom at each school in full at-home quarantine. The district reported cases among a total of 58 students and 10 staff members districtwide.
|
|
|
Delta Surge May Have Already Peaked, But City Reopens Mass-Testing Site In SoMa
Months after the city closed several mass-testing locations in favor of neighborhood-based sites, the Delta variant surge of COVID has prompted SF's Department of Public Health to reopen one of its former drive-through/walk-up sites in SoMa. "We are responding to this fourth surge in COVID-19 by doing what we know works best - and that is vaccinations, indoor masking, and expanding our testing capacity once again with this new high-volume testing site," said Dr. Grant Colfax on Monday. SFist Read more
|
|
|
COVID "Roulette Wheel" Keeps Bay Area Theater Troupes Scrambling
Throughout the long COVID-19 pandemic, performing arts venues and companies have had to continually revise their plans or expectations for reopening, particularly with indoor spaces. This spring, with vaccinations up and cases down, many theaters started announcing their fall seasons, and a few companies such as San Francisco Playhouse got up and running as soon as possible this summer. Between all the financial and psychological stresses of such a long closure, a lot of artists were understandably itchy to get back to doing what they do. Mercury News Read More
|
|
This SF Woman Convinced 1,270 People To Get Vaccinated
One thousand two hundred and seventy. It’s a number Felisia Thibodeaux can list off the top of her head. That’s because it's the number of people she has gotten vaccinated by direct referral so far and the number keeps growing. Thibodeaux is the executive director of the Southwest Community Corporation, which operates out of the I.T. Bookman Community Center in San Francisco’s Ingleside Heights. Before the pandemic, Thibodeaux’s job entailed running the day-to-day operations of the primarily senior-serving organization. SFGate Read more
|
|
|
Why COVID-19 Vaccine Holdouts Finally Got Their Shots
Ashley A. had not planned on getting vaccinated against COVID-19. She said she was terrified of needles, and concerned about the pace at which the vaccines had been developed and authorized for emergency use. Her friends and family shared conspiracy theories about the vaccines and were vocal about their distrust in the science behind the shots. She’d wanted to wait and see how others reacted to their shots before deciding whether to get it. And then, in July, an earth-shattering event changed her mind: A close friend who Ashley A. considered a sister was hospitalized with COVID-19 and died. BuzzFeed Read more
|
|
|
America’s Failure To Pay Workers Time Off Undermines Vaccine Campaign, According To Surveys, Policy Experts
As federal policymakers search for ways to boost America’s vaccination rates, a lack of paid sick leave is playing a role in deterring low-wage workers from taking time off to get vaccinated, according to surveys and policy experts. The shortcomings are playing an underreported role in vaccine hesitancy in the country, particularly among lower-income populations. Workers who do not get paid time off to get the shot or deal with potential side effects are less likely to get the vaccine, research by a Kaiser Family Foundation study shows. Washington Post Read more
|
|
|
Have Vaccines, Will Travel: On The Road With A COVID Entrepreneur
While many businesses in this southwestern Montana “ghost town” reel in tourists with its mining and Wild West vigilante past, one businessman arrived offering a modern product: COVID-19 vaccines. Kyle Austin, a traveling pharmacist, set up his mobile clinic in Virginia City on a recent Saturday, the latest stop on his circuit of Montana’s vaccine deserts. “In any business, going to the people is better than waiting for the people to come to you,” the 38-year-old pharmacist said. Kaiser Health News Read more
|
|
|
Scientists Unlock Clues To Determining How Safe Vaccinated People Are From COVID-19
Imagine peering into people’s blood and being able to pick up a simple marker of exactly how well protected they are from COVID-19. It’s a pressing goal for scientists who are still trying to understand what immunity to the coronavirus looks like, how robustly vaccines protect us over time, and how protected people are who’ve had and recovered from COVID-19. Now, a year and a half into the pandemic, researchers are starting to flesh out exactly what these “correlates of protection” look like, a step that could help track the durability of immunity and speed the development of additional vaccines. STAT Read more
|
|
|
A Pill For COVID-19? UCSD Scientists Say They’re Able To Deliver Remdesivir In A Capsule
Scientists at University of California, San Diego, have developed a way to put remdesivir and other intravenous COVID-19 treatments into a capsule that patients could safely take orally at home, according to a paper in an online issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
|
|
From Mild Side Effects To Long-Term Protection: How COVID-19 Vaccines Trigger An Immune Response
It's normal to feel a bit lousy in the day or two after your COVID-19 jab - in fact, it can be helpful to think of it as a positive sign. Experts say mild side effects like tiredness, fevers, muscle aches, and arm pain are "normal signs your body is building protection." ABC Read more
|
|
|
State/National/International News |
|
California Implements Nation-Leading Vaccine Verification Measure For Large Events
The California Department of Public of Health says attendees at large events will soon be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event in order to attend. Previously, this was only required for indoor events with 5,000 or more people, but now it will be required for indoor events with 1,000 or more people. Self-attestation of vaccination will also no longer be accepted. This goes into effect on Sept. 20, and the changes will be in place until Nov. 1, 2021.
California Department of Public Health Read more
|
|
|
Poor Air Quality From Wildfire Smoke Worsens COVID-19 Cases, Deaths, Study Finds
The two natural disasters - the coronavirus and record-setting Western wildfires spewing air toxins - converged to exacerbate the pandemic’s health toll last year in California, Oregon and Washington, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances. In California alone, between mid-March and mid-December 2020, exposure to high levels of PM 2.5 contributed to about 1,000 COVID-19 deaths and 26,600 cases in counties where the smoke was found to amplify coronavirus cases or mortality. Alameda County faced one of the biggest spikes in COVID-19 deaths linked to wildfire smoke pollution out of the 92 counties the researchers analyzed. KQED Read more
|
|
|
Delta Surge Drives Home Painful Truth: COVID Isn’t Going Away
With more than twice as many new virus cases being reported nationally compared with last August, baseball games, music festivals and state fairs have forged ahead, and restaurants, gyms and movie theaters have stayed open. In many places, people have been largely left to decide for themselves whether to start wearing masks again or change the ways they work, socialize and vacation. Americans have entered a new, disheartening phase of the pandemic: when they realize that COVID-19 is not disappearing anytime soon. A country that had been waiting for the virus to be over has been forced to recalibrate. NY Times Read more
|
|
|
As A Doctor In A COVID Unit, I’m Running Out Of Compassion For The Unvaccinated - Get The Shot
The burden of this pandemic now rests on the shoulders of the unvaccinated. On those who are eligible to get vaccinated, but choose not to, a decision they defend by declaring, “vaccination is a deeply personal choice.” But perhaps never in history has anyone’s personal choice impacted the world as a whole as it does right now. When hundreds and thousands of people continue to die, when the most vulnerable members of society, our children, cannot be vaccinated - the luxury of choice ceases to exist.
|
|
|
OpenTable Adds Tool to Help Restaurants Verify Customers' Vaccination Status
Reservation-booking platform OpenTable says it is rolling out a new feature for restaurants by the end of the month that will allow them to flag repeat customers as "Verified for Entry" once they have shown their vaccination proof once. The feature, available only on the restaurant side of the app, won't store any vaccine information. But once a diner who has booked through the system has shown their vaccination card at a restaurant, the restaurant can flag them as "Verified for Entry" to save having to check the card again. This doesn't really solve the problem for a whole table, but perhaps it will be valuable to some. SFist Read more
|
|
|
COVID-19 Hospitalizations Among People In Their 30s Hit Record High
People born in the 1980s and 1990s are filling hospitals across the U.S. as the COVID-19 Delta variant surges. According to CDC data, between August 2020 and August 11, 2021, a total of 170,852 people in their 30s were admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. The number of daily admissions among this age group jumped 22.6% just this year between the weeks starting with July 29 to August 5, rising from 908 to 1,113. iHeart Radio Read more
|
|
TSA Extending Its Mask Rule For Airline Passengers Through January 2022
Federal officials are extending into January a requirement that people on airline flights and public transportation wear face masks to limit the spread of COVID-19. The Transportation Security Administration's current order was scheduled to expire on Sept. 13. An agency spokesman said Tuesday that the mandate will be extended until Jan. 18, 2022. ABC7 Read more
|
|
|
Pope Francis Urges People To Get Vaccinated, Calling It "An Act Of Love"
Pope Francis delivered a call to action for the world: Get vaccinated. "Being vaccinated is an act of love," he said in a public service announcement released Wednesday. "To ensure the majority of people are vaccinated is an act of love." The pontiff and six other church officials from North, Central and South America called getting inoculated a moral obligation. NBC News Read more
|
|
"Tainted" Blood: COVID Skeptics Request Blood Transfusions From Unvaccinated Donors
The nation’s roiling tensions over vaccination against COVID-19 have spilled into an unexpected arena: lifesaving blood transfusions. With nearly 60% of the eligible U.S. population fully vaccinated, most of the nation’s blood supply is now coming from donors who have been inoculated, experts said. That’s led some patients who are skeptical of the shots to demand transfusions only from the unvaccinated. Kaiser Health News Read more
|
|
|
New Zealand Is Locking Down The Entire Nation After Finding A Single Coronavirus Case
New Zealand's government took drastic action Tuesday by putting the entire nation into a strict lockdown for at least three days after finding a single case of coronavirus infection in the community. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern invoked some of the stirring rhetoric she used early in the pandemic by urging the "team of 5 million" - New Zealand's population - to go hard and early in trying to eliminate the latest outbreak. NPR Read more
|
|
CDC Adds 4 Destinations To "Very High" COVID-19 Travel Risk List
Turkey and Montenegro are now among the highest-risk destinations for travelers, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's regularly revised travel advisories list. Travel should be avoided to locations carrying the "Level 4: COVID-19 very high" notice, according to CDC guidance. The others added are Dominica and Jersey. Anyone who must travel should be fully vaccinated first, the agency advises. CNN Read more
|
|
|
Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 505,613
California: 4,163,848
U.S.: 37,071,591
Alameda County
Vaccines Administered: 2,205,777
Cases: 102,751
Deaths: 1,305
Test Positivity: 4.5%
Hospitalized Patients: 249
ICU Beds Available: 88
Cases have stayed about the same recently and are still very high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has risen in the Alameda County area. Deaths have decreased. The test positivity rate in Alameda County is high, suggesting that cases may be undercounted. NY Times
|
|
Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 5,925
California: 64,744
U.S.: 63,847
Contra Costa County
Vaccines Administered: 1,542,329
Cases: 82,850
Deaths: 846
Test Positivity: 6.9%
Hospitalized Patients: 239
ICU Beds Available: 28
Cases have stayed about the same recently and are still very high. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Contra Costa County area have risen. The test positivity rate in Contra Costa County is high, suggesting that cases may be undercounted. NY Times
|
|
|
What’s Safe To Do During Summer’s COVID Surge?
With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations spiking around the country, dreams of a summer like those many us had in mind just a short time ago have faded. The fully vaccinated have been told to resume wearing masks indoors. Companies and institutions are leveling vaccine mandates. And some municipalities are requiring people to show proof of vaccination to get into restaurants, bars, and gyms. Confusion abounds about what is safe to do. STAT Read more
|
|
|
- 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.
|
|
-
A viral test tells you if you have a current infection.
-
An antibody test might tell you if you had a past infection.
|
|
|
COVID Test Resources
Food Pantries
|
|
|
Over the last seven days, Alameda County officials have reported 2,564 new coronavirus cases, which amounts to 156 cases per 100,000 residents. |
|
Over the last seven days, Contra Costa County officials have reported 2,482 new coronavirus cases, which amounts to 219 cases per 100,000 residents. |
|
|
Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, as of 8/18/21
Oakland: 32,763
Hayward: 15,260
Fremont: 9,010
Eden MAC: 6,649
San Leandro: 6,439
Livermore: 5,215
Union City: 4,504
Berkeley: 4,238
Castro Valley: 3,093
Newark: 3,058
|
|
Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, as of 8/18/21
Richmond: 13,239
Antioch: 12,039
Concord: 9,495
Pittsburg: 8,112
San Pablo: 5,850
Brentwood: 4,881
Oakley: 4,061
Walnut Creek: 3,517
Bay Point: 3,264
San Ramon: 2,580
|
|
|
About Eden Health District |
|
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.
|
|
|
Follow Us on Social Media |
|
|
|
|
|
|
