COVID-19
breaking news & updates
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Bay Area Lands on CDC's Emerging COVID Hot Spot List as Cases Surge Among Unvaccinated
The Delta variant is driving up COVID cases across the country and in California. The growing surge has now put parts of the East Bay on the CDC's emerging hot spot list. "Our case rates have more than doubled in recent weeks and I'm concerned for further increases," said Dr. Nicholas Moss, the health officer in Alameda County, where cases have been increasing along the 880 corridor through San Leandro and Oakland. "If you look at the map in the neighborhoods where we're seeing the highest rates, those are also the places where vaccine rates are lower," explained Moss. ABC7 Read more
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Get Vaccinated at the Oakland Zoo on July 24, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Receive a Free One-Day Family Pass
Receive your COVID-19 vaccine at Oakland Zoo's pop-up clinic on July 24, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 pm., and get a free one-day Oakland Zoo family pass, good for admission for 2 adults and 2 children, plus free parking for one vehicle (a $98 value) to use on the same day or for a future visit. You can drop in or pre-register. *Second dose clinic will be at the same location on August 14
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Santa Clara County COVID Data Reveals More Than 250 Workplace Outbreaks
Santa Clara County recorded more than 250 workplace coronavirus outbreaks in 2020 and 2021, new data shows, giving the most comprehensive picture to date of how the virus spread through essential businesses during the peak months of the pandemic. The outbreaks impacted almost every sector, including retailers and grocery stores, restaurants, construction sites, manufacturing and food processing plants, warehouses, and public agencies like the California Highway Patrol, Cal Fire, the city of San Jose, the San Jose Police Department and the Valley Transportation Authority. Mercury News Read more
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New "Hybrid" Working Models Could Mean Worse Bay Area Traffic
Google this month will start reopening Bay Area offices. Adobe, too. Salesforce, Facebook and Uber have already started. Most of these major technology firms have announced a post-COVID “hybrid” workplace that will let employees work from home a couple of days a week. But they have also have made it clear that their path out of the pandemic and beyond involves large numbers of employees back at the office. Long-suffering businesses serving office workers, such as restaurants and coffee shops, will benefit, but there’s a potential downside. “No one wants to get back to that traffic,” said Mountain View Mayor Ellen Kamei. Mercury News Read more
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SFO To Offer Free COVID Testing Kits For International Passengers
The San Francisco International Airport will launch a free COVID-19 testing program for international arriving passengers through a pilot program with the California Department of Public Health. The voluntary program will provide free testing kids to arriving passengers, the first to be administered on the day of arrival and the second - a PCR test kit - within three to five days.
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Bay Area Demand For Food Help Remains High
The Oakland Coliseum is no longer mobbed with people waiting for vaccinations, but on the other side of Interstate 880 hundreds of cars still line up three times a week for free food distribution from the Alameda County Food Bank. Even as the pandemic subsides and many return to work, the need for food assistance remains extraordinarily high throughout the Bay Area, according to anti-hunger organizations. SF Chronicle
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Despite New COVID Variants, CDC Says You Don't Need Any Booster Doses Right Now
As new coronavirus variants test the protections of the available vaccines, federal health officials say there's no need for booster doses right now. "Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time," read a joint statement sent Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. The agencies added that people who are fully vaccinated are protected from severe illness and death, including from emerging variants such as the highly contagious Delta variant that's now the dominant strain in the U.S. and in other countries. NPR Read more
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Pfizer to Discuss Vaccine Booster With U.S. Officials Today
Pfizer says it plans to meet with top U.S. health officials today to discuss the drugmaker’s request for federal authorization of a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser acknowledged that “it is entirely conceivable, maybe likely” that booster shots will be needed. Pfizer’s Dr. Mikael Dolsten told The Associated Press last week that early data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels jump five- to 10-fold after a third dose, compared to their second dose months earlier - evidence it believes supports the need for a booster. Mercury News Read more
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It's Not Just About You
Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Everyone Around You
Defeating this pandemic and the highly contagious Delta variant isn't just about protecting yourself through vaccination - it's also about having others in the community vaccinated, doctors say. "Even if you are vaccinated, if you're living in an area with high rates of COVID-19 spread - and with the Delta variant surging - there is a chance that you could become infected," said emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen, visiting professor at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health. CNN Read more
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Vaccines Will Get Full FDA Approval, Fauci Predicts
Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that the FDA giving COVID vaccines full approval is “only a technical issue” and that the hundreds of millions of people across the world who have been vaccinated serve as evidence that “the effectiveness and the safety of the vaccines are very high.” Politico
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Chinese Drugmakers Agree to Supply More Than Half a Billion Vaccines to COVAX
The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) said on Monday it had signed two advance purchase agreements with Chinese drugmakers Sinopharm and Sinovac to provide up to 550 million COVID-19 vaccines to the COVAX programme. Reuters Read more
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State/National/International News |
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Global COVID-19 Deaths Hit 4 Million Amid Rush to Vaccinate
The global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 4 million last Wednesday as the crisis increasingly becomes a race between the vaccine and the highly contagious delta variant. The tally of lives lost over the past year and a half, as compiled from official sources by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the number of people killed in battle in all of the world’s wars since 1982, according to estimates from the Peace Research Institute Oslo. The toll is three times the number of people killed in traffic accidents around the globe every year. It is about equal to the population of Los Angeles or the nation of Georgia. It is equivalent to more than half of Hong Kong or close to 50% of New York City. AP Read more
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Should Fully Vaccinated Californians Get COVID Tests or Quarantine as Delta Variant Spreads?
Pandemic health protocols in California have changed since the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and the state’s June reopening, but coronavirus testing and quarantining are still recommended in some circumstances, even for vaccinated people. An example is the recent outbreak among nine legislative staffers at the California Capitol: Four were fully vaccinated, five were not, and all were following quarantine procedures.
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California Has $5.2 billion in COVID Aid to Help You Pay Rent, Utility Debts - How to Apply
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law to extend the state’s eviction moratorium through September and boost funding for a rent relief program set up to keep tenants and landlords out of debt. To avoid eviction, renters must continue to prove economic hardship caused by the pandemic and pay at least 25% of their total rent by Oct. 1. But the rent relief program now has $5.2 billion in federal funds to help tenants and landlords cover 100% of their debts. Applicants who qualify can get months of help for arrears dating back to April 2020. Sacramento Bee Read more
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Spectators Will Be Barred at Tokyo Olympics Amid New COVID Emergency
Olympic organizers said on Thursday that they would bar spectators from most events at the Games scheduled to open in two weeks, a decision that followed the declaration of a new state of emergency in Tokyo in response to a sudden spike in coronavirus cases. NY Times Read more
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A Breathalyzer to Detect COVID-19?
Scientists have long been interested in creating portable devices that can quickly and painlessly screen a person for disease simply by taking a whiff of their breath. Advances in sensor technology and machine learning, combined with new research and investment spurred by the pandemic, mean that the moment for disease-detecting breathalyzers may have finally arrived. NY Times Read more
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Israel Offers Third Shot of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine to Adults at Risk
Israel said on Sunday it will begin offering a third dose of Pfizer vaccine to adults with weak immune systems but it was still weighing whether to make the booster available to the general public. The rapid spread of the Delta variant has sent vaccination rates in Israel back up as new infections have risen over the past month from single digits to around 450 a day. Reuters Read more
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Arkansas Virus Cases Spike by More Than 1,200 in a Day
Arkansas’ coronavirus cases increased by more than 1,000 for the second day in a row last Thursday as the state saw another spike in its hospitalizations and deaths. Health officials have warned about a third wave of the coronavirus hitting the state, fueled by the delta variant of the virus and lagging vaccination rates. AP Read more
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How Your DNA Might Make You More Susceptible to COVID-19
Scientists who sifted through the genetic data of nearly 50,000 COVID-19 patients have discovered 13 key locations among the human genome’s 3 billion base pairs that may influence a person’s susceptibility to a coronavirus infection or their risk of developing a severe illness. LA Times Read more
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Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 453,501
California: 3,835,469
U.S.: 33,855,918
Alameda County
Vaccines Administered: 2,112,229
Cases: 91,160
Deaths: 1,270
Test Positivity: 2.2%
Hospitalized Patients: 91
ICU Beds Available: 105
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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Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 5,794
California: 63,932
U.S.: 607,160
Contra Costa County
Vaccines Administered: 1,443,905
Cases: 72,109
Deaths: 821
Test Positivity: 2.5%
Hospitalized Patients: 54
ICU Beds Available: 48
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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Why Does COVID-19 Impact People in Different Ways?
It is among the lingering mysteries of COVID-19: Why do some people catch it while others - sometimes even sleeping in the same bed - escape without symptoms? Some of the factors that explain these differences have long been clear: Older adults are more likely to fall seriously ill, particularly if they smoke, are obese or have diabetes. People never exposed to the coronavirus won't get sick, of course, and exposure to a high concentration poses a higher risk for infection. The virus itself matters, too. The Delta variant seems to be more contagious than earlier ones. USA 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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COVID Test Resources
Food Pantries
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Over the last seven days, Alameda County officials have reported 785 new coronavirus cases, which amounts to 48 cases per 100,000 residents. |
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Over the last seven days, Contra Costa County officials have reported 561 new coronavirus cases, which amounts to 50 cases per 100,000 residents. |
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, as of 7/11/21
Oakland: 28,563
Hayward: 14,003
Fremont: 8,252
Eden MAC: 6,100
San Leandro: 5,711
Livermore: 4,420
Union City: 4,118
Berkeley: 3,708
Newark: 2,861
Castro Valley: 2,666
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, as of 7/11/21
Richmond: 11,999
Antioch: 10,197
Concord: 8,347
Pittsburg: 7,191
San Pablo: 5,434
Brentwood: 4,044
Oakley: 3,437
Walnut Creek: 2,984
Bay Point: 2,864
San Ramon: 2,187
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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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