COVID-19
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Bay Area Hospitalizations Of Virus Patients Top 600, 1st Time In Months
There were 613 patients with confirmed COVID-19 in hospitals across the Bay Area as of Tuesday, marking the first time since August that the figure topped 600, according to state data analyzed by The Chronicle. California reported a similar jump statewide with 3,532 hospitalizations — a 125% increase from a month ago. Los Angeles County accounted for about a third of those hospitalizations with 1,040 patients. Among Bay Area counties, San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties are reporting the steepest rises in hospitalizations. SF Chronicle Read more
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Pharmacy Closures Leave East Bay Customers Frustrated
Closures and reduced pharmacy hours at drug stores in the Bay Area have left customers scrambling to find places to get their prescriptions filled. CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid have all announced cutbacks in hours and closures as the industry refocuses on online delivery. This has left many pharmacists and staff in Berkeley, Oakland and Emeryville overwhelmed and under-scheduled, and their customers waiting in long lines at the remaining pharmacies. A customer in the Adeline Walgreens in Berkeley who requested to remain anonymous said that one weekend he went without his daily medication. Berkeleyside Read more
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UCSF Doctor Urges Everyone To Get The Flu Shot As Cases Are "Raging"
Hospitals across the country and the Bay Area are reporting an increase in flu cases.
As COVID, RSV and flu cases are surging throughout the country. UCSF's infectious disease specialist Dr. Monica Gandhi says influenza cases have reached a concerning point. "I'm talking to the chest radiologist working at the hospital. Very little severe COVID, but flu is coming up and it's raging unfortunately," said Gandh. Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Gandhi tracked data from Europe to get a head start of what the U.S could see in the coming weeks. She is doing the same with this surge. ABC7 News Read more
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San Francisco's DoorDash Cuts 1,250 Jobs As Deliveries Ebb After Pandemic
DoorDash is eliminating more than 1,200 corporate jobs, saying it hired too many people when delivery demand surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. CEO Tony Xu said in a message to employees Wednesday that DoorDash was undersized before the pandemic and sped up hiring to catch up with its growth. It is cutting approximately 1,250 people. “Most of our investments are paying off, and while we’ve always been disciplined in how we have managed our business and operational metrics, we were not as rigorous as we should have been in managing our team growth. That’s on me. As a result, operating expenses grew quickly," he said. ABC News Read more
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COVID Vaccine/Treatment News |
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Physicians Urged To Remain Vigilant In Recommending COVID-19 And Flu Vaccines For Kids
The California Medical Association recently partnered with the American Academy Pediatrics, the California Academy of Family Physicians and the California Immunization Coalition in urging all providers of pediatric services to remain vigilant in making a strong recommendation for COVID-19 and influenza vaccination to protect children and those around them – especially now as families gather for the holidays. Recent authorizations of bivalent COVID-19 vaccines for children 5 years and up will help protect young patients from the ever-evolving SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. While most cases among children are mild, COVID-19 can be serious—attributed to over 122,000 hospitalizations and 1500 deaths among children in the U.S. CMA Read more
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Lost Your Vaccine Card And Your Digital Record Is Wrong? Here's How To Stay Up To Date
Many Californians have received three or four COVID boosters, but it can be hard to keep track - especially if you've misplaced or lost your vaccine card or your digital record is not up-to-date or difficult to retrieve. It can be frustrating if you can't find your card and you can't retrieve the correct information, but pharmacists say this won't prevent you from getting your next shot. ABC7 Read more
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State/National/International News |
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Two-Thirds Of States Reporting "Very High" Or "High" Levels Of Flu-Like Activity
Two-thirds of states across the country are reporting either "very high" or "high" levels of influenza-like activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly report. As of the week ending Nov. 19, the latest date for which data is available, 16 states as well as New York City and Washington, D.C. are reporting "very high" levels while 17 states are reporting "high" levels. By comparison, during this time last year, all states were reporting "low" or "moderate" levels of activity with only New Mexico and Rhode Island reporting "high" levels. The data comes as experts have warned that the flu season has begun earlier than usual, with cases on par with those seen typically seen in winter and causing hospital beds to fill up quickly. ABC News Read more
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CDC Awards Over $3 Billion To Strengthen U.S. Public Health Infrastructure
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday it is awarding more than $3 billion to help strengthen public health workforce and infrastructure across the United States after the COVID-19 pandemic put severe stress on them. The public health agency's funding includes $3 billion from the American Rescue Plan announced by President Joe Biden's administration last year, and would cover all state, local and territorial health departments across the country. It also includes $140 million from a new appropriation to those jurisdictions and an award of $65 million to three public health entities to help provide training and technical assistance. "The pandemic severely stressed (the health) agencies, which were already weakened by neglect and underinvestment," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. "This grant gives these agencies critical funding and flexibility to build and reinforce the nation's public health workforce and infrastructure." Reuters Read more
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COVID Hospitalization Rates In Babies As Bad As For Seniors Amid Omicron Wave, Study Shows
Infants younger than 6 months had the same rate of hospitalization as seniors age 65 to 74 during this summer’s Omicron wave, according to a new report. The findings, published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show that COVID-19 can still cause severe and fatal outcomes in children too young to be vaccinated. “These findings underscore the continued risk for COVID-19–associated hospitalization among infants (younger than) six months who are ineligible for vaccination,” the report said. LA Times Read more
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Nearly 9 Out Of 10 COVID Deaths Are Now In People 65 Or Older, The Highest Rate Since The Pandemic Began
President Biden may have declared the coronavirus pandemic “over,” but from John Felton’s view as the Yellowstone County health officer in Billings, Mont., it’s not over, just different. Now, more than ever, it is a plague of the elderly. In October, Felton’s team logged six deaths due to the virus, many of them among vaccinated people. Their ages: 80s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 90s.They included Betty Witzel, 88, described by her family as a tomboy who carried snakes in her pocket as a child and grew up to be a teacher, mother of four, grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of five. And there was Nadine Alice Stark, 85, a ranch owner who planted sugar beets and corn. Washington Post
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COVID-19 Death Rates In Young People Rose In 2021
Researchers say that compared to 2020, mortality rates due to COVID-19 infections among young adults increased significantly in 2021, suggesting younger people had lower vaccine uptake and adhered to fewer COVID precautions than older adults in the United States To understand the age shift that occurred among COVID-19 deaths in the United States, researchers used Years of Life Lost (YLL) rather than mortality during March to December of 2020 and March to December of 2021. The study was based on data from the CDC WONDER (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research), with life expectancies based on the World Health Organization global health estimate from 2017. CIDRAP Read more
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Twitter Is No Longer Enforcing Its COVID Misinformation Policy
Twitter said it will no longer enforce its longstanding COVID misinformation policy, yet another sign of how Elon Musk plans to transform the social media company he bought a month ago. In 2020, Twitter developed an extensive set of rules that sought to prohibit “harmful misinformation” about the virus and its vaccines. Between January 2020 and September 2022, Twitter suspended more than 11,000 accounts for breaking Covid misinformation rules and removed almost 100,000 pieces of content that violated those rules, according to statistics published by Twitter. The policy received acclaim from medical professionals: In an advisory to technology platforms, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy cited Twitter’s rules as an example of what companies should do to combat misinformation. CNN Read more
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China Eases COVID Rules After Wide Protests Of Lockdowns
Chinese authorities eased some anti-virus rules but affirmed their severe “zero COVID” strategy Monday after protesters demanded President Xi Jinping resign in the biggest show of opposition to the ruling Communist Party in decades. The government made no comment on the protests or the criticism of Xi, but the decision to ease at least some of the restrictions appeared to be aimed at quelling anger. Still, analysts don’t expect the government to back down on its COVID strategy and note authorities are adept at stifling dissent. STAT Read more
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How China's Zero-COVID Policy Threatens The U.S. Economy
Historic protests across China over its zero-COVID policy battered U.S. stocks on Monday, highlighting a close link between the contentious Chinese measures and domestic economic conditions that could help determine whether the U.S. enters a recession. COVID lockdowns in China have clogged supply chains in the manufacturing stalwart, extending pandemic-era bottlenecks that have contributed to inflation, analysts told ABC News. ABC7 News Read more
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Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) |
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RSV Straining Children’s Hospitals Across California
RSV and other respiratory viral illnesses are continuing to stress children’s hospitals across California. Nationally, hospitalization rates related to RSV — or respiratory syncytial virus — are exceptionally high, according to Dr. Theodore Ruel, chief of UC San Francisco’s pediatric infectious diseases and global health division. The per capita RSV hospitalization rate this month was the highest since the 2018-19 cold and flu season, Ruel said at a recent campus town hall. And while scientists are monitoring signs that RSV hospitalization rates may have peaked, it will take more time to be certain. LA Times Read more
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Mayor Says NYC Will Treat Mentally Ill, Even If They Refuse
New York City’s mayor on Tuesday said he was directing police and city medics to be more aggressive about getting severely mentally ill people off the streets and subways and into treatment, even if it means involuntarily hospitalizing some people who refuse care. “These New Yorkers and hundreds of others like them are in urgent need of treatment, yet often refuse it when offered,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference, noting the pervasive problem of mental illness has long been out in the open. “No more walking by or looking away,” the mayor said, calling it “a moral obligation to act." ABC News Read more
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Study: More Law Enforcement Agencies Turning To "Non-Police Responders" In Mental-Health Crises
A new report found that a growing number of the country’s largest law enforcement agencies — including those in San Diego — are turning to non-police responders to handle behavioral health emergencies, and limiting when officers can make traffic and pedestrian stops. The changes come amid continued scrutiny over situations involving mental health crises that end in police violence as well as persistent racial disparities in police stops — the circumstances that occur when one racial group is pulled over at rates higher than their share of the population. The San Diego Union-Tribune
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Stars With Anxiety: Celebs Open Up About Their Struggles And The Methods That Help
Not alone. Anne Hathaway, Kendall Jenner, Stephen Colbert and more stars have opened up about their struggles with anxiety and how they cope. The Devil Wears Prada actress, for her part, opened up about how she used to get nervous when attending public events but now feels calmer and more confident. "I don't know, I'm just living life a little differently now and I'm enjoying it," Hathaway said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight in October 2022. "I'm so focused and connected to my gratitude, to be in a place this wonderful." Yahoo! Read more
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 1,808,461
California: 11,500,689
U.S.: 98,735,093
Alameda County
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the Latest Figures
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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 9,398
California: 97,521
U.S.: 1,080,251
Contra Costa County
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the Latest Figures
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One Step Closer To A Universal Flu Vaccine?
Imagine a single dose of vaccine that prepares your body to fight every known strain of influenza — a so-called universal flu vaccine that scientists have been trying to create for decades. A new study describes successful animal tests of just such a vaccine, offering hope that the country can be protected against future flu pandemics. Like the COVID vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the experimental flu vaccine relies on mRNA. It is in early stages — tested only in mice and ferrets — but the vaccine provides important proof that a single shot could be used against an entire family of viruses. NY Times 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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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 Ed Hernandez. 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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