COVID-19
breaking news & updates
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COVID Test Resources
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Alameda County In-Home COVID Vaccinations
In-home vaccination is available in Alameda County for homebound individuals, people with disabilities, and groups of 3+ persons. Translation services are available. To make an appointment call 510-208-4829 (4VAX), text VAX to 855-315-1373, or visit
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Bay Area Vaccine Clinics See New Demand As People Seek 2nd COVID Booster Shots
Demand is growing across the Bay Area for a second COVID-19 vaccine booster shot. Just days after the CDC gave approval for certain age groups to get the shot, vaccine clinics are seeing a lot of interest. Gerlinde Semone wasted no time getting her second COVID booster shot because she's got a lot of living to catch up on with her family. "I have two grandchildren and I see them often, my husband and I have tried to get as many as possible," Semone said. ABC7 News Read more
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Marin School Restores Mask Order Amid COVID Spike
A Marin County elementary school has reinstated its indoor masking rule following a spike in COVID-19 cases. Coleman Elementary School in San Rafael has documented 20 infections since March 22, including 14 students and six employees, the school district reported Thursday. Principal Mike Taylor announced a temporary reinstatement of the indoor mask mandate through April 15. He said extra masks will be available in the school office. Marin Independent Journal Read more
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With Federal COVID Funding Up In The Air, Bay Area’s Uninsured Could Be At Risk
Since 2020, Test the People, a community coronavirus testing program in the Bay Area, has provided free services to anyone who came to its San Francisco and Oakland locations, regardless of whether the patients had symptoms or health insurance. During surges, when many residents couldn’t find appointments at pharmacies or their regular provider, they turned to Test the People. But on March 25, the program, which is run by the San Francisco biotech firm Renegade Bio, had to stop offering testing to one group: uninsured people who don’t have COVID symptoms. That’s because the company had been relying on a federal pool of money to cover the cost of testing the uninsured, and that funding expired March 22. SF Chronicle Read more
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How Berkeley Unified Spent Its $24M In COVID-19 Funds
In the last two years, Berkeley Unified received $24 million in COVID-19 relief funds from the state and federal government broadly intended to mitigate learning loss and address the impact of the pandemic. According to Berkeleyside’s analysis, $10.6 million went toward learning loss mitigation efforts and programs and services for students, like after-school and mental health; $9 million went toward teacher and staff salaries and stipends; $2.2 million went to COVID-19 testing and safety; $877,840 went to technology; and $745,287 went to consultants. Berkeleyside Read more
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Bay Area Tenants $995 Million Behind In Rent
About 127,000 Bay Area households were approximately $995 million behind on rent as of February. Some face rent hikes. At least one parent said she moved her kids to her sister’s home to shield them from eviction. An increasing number of people applied for pandemic rent relief. But the rent assistance out there has been difficult to navigate. Between a messy network of state and local programs, shifting eligibility rules and landlord-tenant disputes, many have found it hard to access help. SF Chronicle
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COVID Vaccine/Treatment News |
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Is It Possible To Overdo It With COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters?
First, it was one or two COVID-19 vaccine shots. Then it was get a booster shot after eight months, until they changed it to six, then five months. Now, federal health authorities have approved yet another shot four months from your last one if you’re at least 50 or in poor health. But is it possible to overdo it on COVID-19 vaccine boosters? Could it end up like the overuse of antibiotics that medical experts now warn is breeding superbugs resistant to them? There’s no evidence of that yet, most experts say. But the boosting-too-much questions are fueling a growing debate among scientists as an expert panel meets April 6 to advise the Food and Drug Administration on vaccine booster doses and updates tailored to emerging variants. Mercury News Read more
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A Mom Of 3 Kids Under 5 Drove Across State Lines To Get Them All Into A COVID Vaccine Trial, And She Says It Was Worth It
In the winter of 2021, as eager adults across the US were elbowing to get their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, mom Linsey Sandeen was furiously Googling and making phone calls from her home in Iowa, desperately trying to figure out the fastest way to vaccinate her three children under the age of 5. "Moderna I think got annoyed with me because I kept calling like every month, 'OK. Are you ready for them? Are you ready for them??'" she remembered. After roughly eight months of waiting and calling regularly, her persistence finally paid off in October 2021, when Sandeen got her three youngsters enrolled into a Nebraska clinical trial of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for children under 6 years old. Her youngest, Lincoln, was 11 months old at the time, daughter Zoey was 3, and eldest Zander was 4. Business Insider Read more
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Myocarditis Risk Higher After COVID Infection Than Pfizer Or Moderna Vaccination, CDC Finds
People infected with COVID-19 face a higher risk of myocarditis and other inflammatory heart conditions than those vaccinated against the disease, according a large study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday. The CDC found the risk of myocarditis, pericarditis and multisystem inflammatory syndrome was higher after COVID infection than after Pfizer or Moderna vaccination in males and females ages 5 and older. However, these cardiac conditions are rare after infection and vaccination alike, according to the CDC. CNBC Read more
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44 Countries Have COVID Vaccination Rates Under 20% Despite Supply Increase
COVID vaccine supply struggles are easing, but in 44 countries — most of them in Africa — less than 20% of the population is fully vaccinated. In 19, the rate is under 10%. Those countries "have doses now, and they know that there are more doses available," says Seth Berkley, CEO of the Gavi vaccine alliance and point person for the global COVAX initiative. After a year of waiting for vaccine doses, the primary concern is now delivery. Axios Read more
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A New Federal Website Aims To Solve A Key COVID Problem: Where To Get Antiviral Pills
The search for COVID vaccines, tests and treatments could get easier Wednesday with the White House launch of COVID.gov, a website meant to be a one-stop shop for everything from free high quality masks to antiviral pills. "We could not have done this six or eight months ago because we didn't have all the tools we have now," said White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients in an interview with NPR. With the website launch, the White House is following through on a promise President Biden made in his State of the Union address. In that speech he announced a test-to-treat program "so people can get tested at a pharmacy, and if they're positive, receive antiviral pills on the spot at no cost." KQED Read more
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State/National/International News |
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As U.S. Nears 1 Million COVID Deaths, One Hard-Hit County Grapples With Unthinkable Loss
The United States is nearing 1 million deaths from COVID — an almost incomprehensible number of lives lost that few thought possible when the pandemic began. Pennsylvania’s Mifflin County offers a snapshot into how one hard-hit community, with over 300 dead, is coping. Kaiser Health News Read more
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End Of The Pandemic Could Bring Tumult To U.S. Health Care
When the end of the COVID-19 pandemic comes, it could create major disruptions for a cumbersome U.S. health care system made more generous, flexible and up-to-date technologically through a raft of temporary emergency measures. Winding down those policies could begin as early as the summer. That could force an estimated 15 million Medicaid recipients to find new sources of coverage, require congressional action to preserve broad telehealth access for Medicare enrollees, and scramble special COVID-19 rules and payment policies for hospitals, doctors and insurers. There are also questions about how emergency use approvals for COVID-19 treatments will be handled. Mercury News Read more
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What's Behind The Disparity In COVID Deaths For Native Americans?
New findings raise questions as to how much of a role underlying health conditions have contributed to the disproportionate rates of severe COVID-19 illness and mortality some racial minorities have experienced during the pandemic. An analysis of more than 18,000 adults hospitalized with COVID-19 in 2020 across more than 100 facilities in Mississippi found American Indian and Alaska Native inpatients died at a higher rate than all other racial groups studied, with nearly 30% dying in the hospital compared with an overall average mortality rate of 14%. U.S. News & World Report Read more
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For People Who Never Got COVID, Could Close Exposure Still Give Any Immunity?
Say someone in your house gets COVID. Maybe it’s your kid, your partner, your roommate. But you never seem to catch it, despite the exposure. Still — does that close encounter with the virus give you any immunity? It’s complicated, experts say. To really generate immunity, experts said, the virus needs to get into your system in some way, which likely means that, if you’re testing regularly after exposure, you’ll test positive for the virus. SF Chronicle Read more
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Lessons From The "Long COVID" Clinic
When the UC Davis Post-COVID-19 Clinic opened in November 2020, Mark Avdalovic, a pulmonologist at UC Davis Medical Center, thought he knew what he would find with his patients. He suspected that the wide range of persistent symptoms was likely driven by an inflammatory response, the body staying revved up months after the acute phase of the viral infection was over. But that wasn’t what he found. UC Davis Health Read more
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Travel In The Time Of COVID: Getting There Is Easy — It’s Getting Home That’s Hard
I’m being held captive in England by the U.S. government. On the day my wife and I were to fly home from London after a brief visit, we took a covid-19 test, as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to travel to the U.S. The United States will not allow anyone to fly into the country who has tested positive for covid, and it is up to the airlines to enforce that. My wife’s test was negative. My test was positive. She flew out. I stayed put. Kaiser Health News Read more
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Pregnant People At Much Higher Risk Of Breakthrough COVID, Study Shows
Pregnant people who are vaccinated against the coronavirus are nearly twice as likely to get COVID-19 as those who are not pregnant, according to a new study that offers the broadest evidence to date of the odds of infections among vaccinated patients with different medical circumstances. The analysis, based on medical records of nearly 14 million U.S. patients since coronavirus immunization became available, found that pregnant people who are vaccinated have the greatest risk of developing COVID among a dozen medical states, including being an organ transplant recipient and having cancer. Washington Post Read more
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COVID-19 Infection Increases Your Risk For Diabetes, A New Study Says
People who suffered from even mild cases of COVID-19 face an increased risk of being diagnosed with diabetes within a year of recovering from the illness, a new study reports. Researchers found that people who had COVID-19 were about 40% more likely to develop diabetes within a year after recovering, compared to participants in a control group. The likelihood of developing diabetes grew if the patient suffered from a serious infection that led to hospitalization or a stay in intensive care. "What's surprising is that it is happening in people with no prior risk factors for diabetes" before becoming infected with COVID-19, said Ziyad Al-Aly, the lead author of the study. NPR Read more
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Parents Say Their Kids Haven’t Been The Same Since COVID. U.S. Education Secretary Listening
One parent spoke of a son who hasn’t been the same since the pandemic. Another talked of her daughter — first having to adjust to being stuck at home, and then to being back in class. A third talked about stress and anger among students. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on Wednesday asked parents at Los Angeles High School of the Arts in Koreatown how the pandemic had affected their children — and also them — and what they needed. And parents spoke up. LA Times
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Pandemic Took A Toll On Teen Mental Health, U.S. Study Says
More than 4 in 10 U.S. high school students said they felt persistently sad or hopeless during the pandemic, according to government findings released Thursday. Several medical groups have warned that pandemic isolation from school closures and lack of social gatherings has taken a toll on young people’s mental health. “This really gives us the evidence to say with certainty that the pandemic was incredibly disruptive for young people and their families,” said Kathleen Ethier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. AP Read more
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Hugs Are Coming Back To Disneyland: "My Inner Child Is So Happy"
Hugs from Mickey, high-fives from Pluto and autographs by Mulan — a part of the Disney experience suspended by the pandemic — are coming back. Walt Disney Co. announced on social media Thursday that its Disneyland and Disney World theme parks will end social-distanced interactions as early as April 18. They were adopted when the parks reopened from COVID-19 closures last year, forcing characters including “Frozen’s” Elsa and Anna to wave to guests from behind roped-off areas or elevated stages. LA Times Read more
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Meta Says Employees No Longer Need COVID Boosters To Come To U.S. Offices
Facebook parent Meta Platforms will stop insisting that employees have COVID booster shots in order to come to its facilities in the U.S., a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC on Friday. Technology companies have begun the process of luring their workers back to their corporate campuses. Meta, as well as Microsoft, held broad U.S. office reopenings on Monday. “We updated our requirements in early March to align with CDC guidance, and now COVID-19 boosters are no longer required for entry, though strongly recommended,” wrote a spokesperson. CNBC Read more
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 1,293,297
California: 9,109,754
U.S.: 80,158,183
Alameda County
Primary Vaccine Series Completed: 85.3%
Total Cases: 257,884
Total Deaths: 1,830
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 1.8%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 4/4): 37
ICU Beds Available (as of 4/4): 94
As of April 4, cases have increased recently and are high. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Alameda County area have fallen. 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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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 8,259
California: 89,012
U.S.: 982,571
Contra Costa County
Primary Vaccine Series Completed: 85.8%
Total Cases: 190,607
Total Deaths: 1,294
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 2.9%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 4/4): 20
ICU Beds Available (as of 4/4): 46
As of April 4, cases have stayed about the same recently but are still high.The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Contra Costa County area have fallen. 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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Looking For Flu And Other Nasty Germs In Our Poop
The COVID-19 virus is not the only troubling microbe that lurks in our poop. Buoyed by the success of wastewater surveillance to monitor for the coronavirus, some Bay Area communities are now applying the same strategy to seek out the flu virus and other germs, ushering in a new era of epidemiology. “There’s an opportunity to use the data as a warning system to say: ‘A peak of illness is coming,’ even if it is not COVID,” said Marlene Wolfe, whose Stanford University-based Sewage Coronavirus Alert Network (SCAN) team is sampling up to eight wastewater treatment plants within California daily, with a 24-hour turnaround time. East Bay 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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Over the past week, Alameda County has averaged 141 new cases and 1.6 new death per day.
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Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 96 new cases and 0.9 new deaths per day.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 4/4/2022
Oakland: 75,449
Hayward: 33,527
Fremont: 26,290
San Leandro: 15,792
Eden MAC: 14,643
Berkeley: 13,356
Livermore: 12,962
Union City: 11,351
Alameda: 8,862
Castro Valley: 8,855
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 4/4/2022
Richmond: 28,066
Antioch: 25,582
Concord: 20,572
Pittsburg: 16,553
San Pablo: 11,981
Brentwood: 11,488
Oakley: 9,590
Walnut Creek: 9,449
San Ramon: 8,195
Martinez: 6,323
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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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