COVID-19
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San Francisco Has Highest COVID Rate In California
San Francisco now has the highest coronavirus infection rate in California, followed closely by several other Bay Area counties where COVID-19 downward trends have stalled as the highly transmissible BA.2 subvariant extends its dominance. The Bay Area is reporting about 700 new cases a day across its nine counties, still reflecting its steep drop since the winter surge that saw a peak of more than 18,000 new daily cases. But the number remains much higher than the 200 reported during last year’s summer lull before the Delta variant of the virus took hold. SF Chronicle Read more
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Technology Helps Peninsula Restaurant's Post-Pandemic Recovery
As many Bay Area restaurants ramp up business in the transition to the endemic stage of COVID-19, some are relying heavily on technology to get back to full speed. Palo Alto diners were just getting a taste of Bevri Georgian Cuisine two years ago when the owners had to adapt to pandemic shelter orders, smaller staff, limited capacity and the rest of what the COVID-19 brought. Now, the restaurant owners are opening a second location thanks in part to technology. They’re keeping QR code menus; they’re using apps for inventory and back office work; and they’re using an artificial intelligence phone system, Goodcall, to answer questions about hours and reservations without taking servers away from tables or cooks off the line. NBC Bay Area Read more
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San Francisco Leads The Nation In No One Wanting To Work In An Office, And It's Costing The City
Bad news for anyone hoping that Bay Area workers return to the office for good: San Francisco leads the nation in how many days employees want to work from home. According to a recent survey co-conducted by Stanford economics professor Nicholas Bloom, workers want to cut how many days they spend in the office by more than 53%, a nation-leading number. That’s 4 percentage points more than New York and 6 percentage points more than Los Angeles. SFGate Read more
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Cruise Ship Let Passengers Off In S.F. After COVID Outbreak, Passengers Say
A large cruise ship anchored in the middle of the San Francisco Bay near the Bay Bridge had some observers wondering if another COVID outbreak had occurred onboard. The Caribbean Princess dropped off all passengers in San Francisco on Sunday, navigated away from the docks, and remained in the Bay overnight into Monday morning. Princess Cruises spokeswoman Negin Kamali explained that the crew decided to stay in the calm waters of the Bay to wait out a “large weather system to the north of San Francisco.” KRON4 Read more
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COVID Vaccine/Treatment News |
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CDC Director Clears Up Confusion On 2nd COVID Boosters
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided more clarity on who should — or perhaps should not — consider getting a second COVID-19 booster vaccine, saying that a recent infection may in fact act as a "natural boost" in immunity. People who have had the two-dose mRNA vaccine series plus one booster don't need a second booster if they recently were infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told NBC News. NBC News
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Another Booster? A Vaccine For Omicron? Here's What Could Be Next For COVID Vaccines
Most vaccinated people will probably require yet another COVID-19 vaccine booster shot in the fall, a top Food and Drug Administration official said Monday. "That's when we'll probably have a fair amount of waning immunity in combination with likely further evolution of the virus, along with people going back inside," where the coronavirus spreads more easily, Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told NPR in an interview. Marks says the U.S. must start planning now for whether everyone needs another shot and, if so, what kind of shot exactly. "We could basically wait until another wave comes along and then try to make another vaccine and try to deal with it, but I think we know that doesn't work, because we can't manufacture and deploy vaccine fast enough," Marks says. NPR Read more
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Protection Against Infection Offered By Fourth COVID-19 Vaccine Dose Wanes Quickly, Israeli Study Finds
A fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine seems to offer short-lived protection against infection overall, but protection against severe illness did not wane for at least several weeks, according to a new study. The study, published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at the health records of more than 1.25 million vaccinated people in Israel who were 60 or older from January through March 2022, a time when the Omicron coronavirus variant was the dominant strain. The rate of severe COVID-19 infection in the fourth week after a fourth dose of vaccine was lower than in people who got only three doses by a factor of 3.5. CNN Read more
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Could Computer Models Be The Key To Better COVID Vaccines?
When Moderna joined the hunt for a coronavirus vaccine in early 2020, the company had only limited clinical experience with its technology. Scientists had tested the company’s messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccines against a few viruses, such as avian influenza and Zika, in humans. They found that the highest dose levels — upwards of 300 micrograms — often triggered undesirable side effects. The lowest doses (around 10 µg) did not always elicit a sufficient immune response. There seemed to be a happy medium: in a two-dose vaccine for another respiratory virus with pandemic potential, a new strain of bird flu, the sweet spot was around 100 µg. So, it made intuitive sense for Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and its collaborators at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland, to try something similar to tackle SARS-CoV-2. Nature Read more
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You Want Your Child Vaccinated, But Your Ex Says No
In late 2021, Adele Grote, a divorced mother of two in Minneapolis, took her children to a vaccination clinic at the Mall of America. But when her 13-year-old daughter called her father to let him know they were getting the shot, Ms. Grote knew they would have to leave without it. Ms. Grote, who wants to vaccinate her children, while her ex-spouse does not, has been divorced since 2019. She and her ex share custody of their daughter and 11-year-old son. As a nurse in an intensive care unit, Ms. Grote has cared for many critically ill COVID-19 patients, but her children remain unvaccinated, a status, she said, that is a result of how her custody proceedings continue to unfold in family court.
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CanSinoBIO's mRNA COVID Vaccine Candidate Cleared For Trials In China
Chinese vaccine developer CanSino Biologics Inc (CanSinoBIO) said on Monday its potential COVID-19 vaccine using the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology has been approved by China's medical products regulator to enter clinical trials. Unlike other major countries, China is yet to approve any foreign-made mRNA vaccines such as that produced by U.S.-German duo Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE. Reuters Read more
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Man Allegedly Got Up To 90 COVID Vaccine Shots So He Could Sell The Vaccination Cards
A 60-year-old man allegedly had himself vaccinated against COVID-19 dozens of times in Germany in order to sell forged vaccination cards with real vaccine batch numbers to people not wanting to get vaccinated themselves. The man is said to have received up to 90 shots against COVID-19 at vaccination centers in the eastern state of Saxony for months until criminal police caught him this month.
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State/National/International News |
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A New Wave Of COVID-19 Is Coming. Here’s How To Prepare
The next wave of COVID-19 is coming, and in some parts of the United States, it’s already here. Are you ready? The culprit this time is BA.2, a subvariant of the highly infectious Omicron variant. Nobody knows for sure how much havoc it will cause, but BA.2 has already led to a surge of cases in Europe and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the United States and around the world. While the virus is unpredictable, there are clear ways to protect yourself. The plans you make now can lower your risk of exposure, minimize the disruption to the lives of your family and friends and help to assure you have access to treatments if you or someone you know becomes seriously ill. NY Times Read more
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CDC Says It Will Revamp Agency Following Pandemic Criticism
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that it will undergo a monthlong review and evaluation of its agency following criticism of its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, in an agency-wide email obtained by The New York Times and The Washington Post , said the CDC has hired an outside senior federal health official to conduct the review of the agency’s “structure, systems, and processes. HuffPost Read more
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Activision Workers Walk Out Over Lifting Of Vaccine Mandate. It "Came As A Shock To Everybody"
More than 100 Activision Blizzard employees participated in a virtual walkout Monday as the Santa Monica video game studio joined a growing wave of companies lifting COVID-19 vaccination requirements while pressing workers to return to the office. Employees at the studio best known for its “World of Warcraft” and “Call of Duty” franchises who participated in the work stoppage took the day as an unpaid walkout day. Some joined a Zoom call that was a virtual protest gathering and spoke out on social media. LA Times Read more
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COVID And Diabetes, Colliding In A Public Health Train Wreck
After an insect bite on his back became infected, David Donner, a retired truck driver in rural Alabama, waited six hours in a packed emergency room with his wife, before coronavirus vaccines were widely available. A few days later, they both began experiencing the telltale symptoms of COVID-19. Debra Donner quickly recovered, but Mr. Donner, 66, landed in the I.C.U. “The virus barely slowed her down, but I ended up surrounded by nurses in hazmat suits,” he said. His halting recovery has left him dependent on a wheelchair. “I walk 20 feet and I’m huffing and puffing like I ran 20 miles.” The Donners see little mystery in why they fared so differently: Mr. Donner has diabetes, a chronic disease that hobbles the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar and inexorably wreaks havoc on circulation, kidney function and other vital organs.
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New Zealand’s COVID Strategy Was One Of The World’s Most Successful – What Can We Learn From It?
Two weeks ago marked the two-year anniversary of New Zealand’s adoption of the elimination strategy and a lockdown that successfully stamped out the first wave of COVID-10. By chance, it was also the week that the government announced a major relaxation of COVID-19 control measures in response to the Omicron variant wave sweeping the country. By most metrics, the New Zealand COVID-19 response – the initial elimination strategy which has now transitioned to a mitigation strategy – has been one of the most successful in the world. The Guardian Read more
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Post-Pandemic, Will Community College Students Keep Choosing Online Instruction?
Unlike almost all other educational institutions in California, where students are now almost all fully back in person, California’s community colleges offer a dramatic – and concerning — contrast. On top of a drop in enrollments, the majority of students in many if not most of the state’s community colleges who have decided to return to school are preferring to study remotely, or at the least in some hybrid format. EdSource Read more
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Losing Sleep Over The Pandemic? Work Flexibility May Be A Boon For Night Owls’ Health
Many so-called night people feel that, when it comes to society’s expectations about when the workday should start, they drew the short straw. Research shows that “night owls” are hard-wired to sleep later, yet 9-to-5 work schedules force them to battle their physiology and wake up early. Research also has shown that conventional timetables leave them vulnerable to physical and mental health issues. East Bay Times
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 1,295,701
California: 9,119,178
U.S.: 80,219,035
Alameda County
Primary Vaccine Series Completed: 85.3%
Total Cases: 258,511
Total Deaths: 1,842
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 1.7%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 4/6): 43
ICU Beds Available (as of 4/6): 90
As of April 6, cases have increased recently and are high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has fallen in the Alameda County area. Deaths have increased. 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: 8,274
California: 89,168
U.S.: 983,229
Contra Costa County
Primary Vaccine Series Completed: 85.8%
Total Cases: 190,820
Total Deaths: 1,294
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 2.3%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 4/6): 17
ICU Beds Available (as of 4/6): 54
As of April 6, cases have stayed about the same recently and are still high.The number of hospitalized COVID patients has fallen in the Contra Costa County 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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Do Home Coronavirus Tests Expire?
Although home coronavirus tests in the U.S. are marked with expiration dates, the actual expiration for a box of tests can be a moving target. So, before throwing away a home test because you think it may have expired, do a little homework first. Depending on which home test you buy, or receive free from the government, you may see a range of expiration windows. One test may expire in six months, another in nine months, 11 months or even 15 months. The tests all use similar technology, so why do the expiration dates stamped on the boxes vary so widely? 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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Over the past week, Alameda County has averaged 136 new cases and 0.9 new death per day.
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Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 78 new cases and 0.9 new deaths per day.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 4/6/2022
Oakland: 75,634
Hayward: 33,601
Fremont: 26,370
San Leandro: 15,824
Eden MAC: 14,647
Berkeley: 13,416
Livermore: 12,983
Union City: 11,370
Alameda: 8,902
Castro Valley: 8,872
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 4/6/2022
Richmond: 28,074
Antioch: 25,595
Concord: 20,602
Pittsburg: 16,563
San Pablo: 11,987
Brentwood: 11,497
Oakley: 9,598
Walnut Creek: 9,474
San Ramon: 8,216
Martinez: 6,331
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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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