COVID-19
breaking news & updates
|
|
|
COVID Test Resources
Food Pantries
|
|
|
If There's Going To Be A Winter Bay Area COVID Surge, There's No Sign Of It Yet
For weeks, health officials at the state and local levels have warned of a new winter wave of COVID-19 as the weather cools, individuals head indoors and families congregate for the holidays. If there's going to be such a winter surge in the San Francisco Bay Area, there's no sign of it in case and hospitalization data - for now, at least. At this time last year, the surge was already in full swing. SFGate Read more
|
|
|
Should You Change Your Holiday Plans Because Of Omicron? Here’s What Five Bay Area Experts Are Doing
Even as families and friends gathered for the long Thanksgiving weekend, global concern was escalating over the new Omicron coronavirus variant - presenting Bay Area residents with a new, potentially serious risk to consider as they plan for the rest of the holiday season and beyond. As Bay Area residents voiced dismay at this latest possible wrinkle in their hopes for a more normal holiday season, local experts contacted Sunday by The Chronicle said it’s good to be aware, but not to panic about the new variant. They said that based on what is known they have not changed their own plans. But they repeatedly stressed the importance of vaccinations, boosters and other COVID health precautions. SF Chronicle Read more
|
|
|
New COVID Variant Omicron Putting Bay Area Businesses On Alert
Bay Area businesses are gearing up for the new COVID variant, Omicron. Golden Gate Restaurant Association Executive Director Laurie Thomas sent out an email Friday morning to her own employees after hearing about this new variant. "I sent a notification out to my staff. We're not requiring the booster shot yet, but we're strongly recommending it. And I said, if you feel sick I'll pay for the next day, no questions asked," Thomas explained. ABC7 News Read more
|
|
|
Meet The Scientist Responsible For Predicting San Francisco’s COVID Future
San Francisco was a few days into sheltering in place in March 2020 when Dr. Maya Petersen got a surprising and urgent request: Health officials wanted to know whether she could put together a model that would help them forecast what was shaping up to be a horrifying pandemic. Petersen, an epidemiologist at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health who had been studying HIV for more than a decade, immediately thought no, surely there must be someone better suited to the job. “I don’t know anything about COVID,” she recalled thinking. And then, of course, she realized: No one knew anything about COVID-19. SF Chronicle Read more
|
|
|
Marin Schools Plan Pandemic "Wellness" Program
Marin school families, staff and students are in for a week of TLC next month to help raise their mental, physical and emotional health after almost two years of pandemic stress. The first “Wellness Week Marin” is scheduled for Dec. 6 to 10. The free online program will feature three, 15-minute video segments daily. Each segment will focus on a different aspect of health. “It’s been two years now of incredibly challenging things for all of us,” Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County’s public health officer, says in the video introduction to the event. “We worked hard to open schools early and to keep them open.” East Bay Times Read more
|
|
First Cancer, Then COVID. How One Single Mom Is Battling For Success With Help From A Redwood City Nonprofit
Before the pandemic hit, Natalia Gutierrez thought beating breast cancer would be her most difficult battle. She was diagnosed in 2018 in her mid-30s, and cancer ravaged Gutierrez’s body, leaving her depressed and exhausted and unable to have more children. But then the coronavirus arrived. As it did for so many others, her 2020 involved a COVID hospitalization that left the immunocompromised 39-year-old in intensive care fighting for her life.
|
|
|
Omicron Concerns Should Spur Millions Of Unvaccinated Americans To Get Their COVID Shots, Experts Say
As the new COVID-19 Omicron variant spurs global travel bans, experts say concerns over its impact should prompt millions of unvaccinated Americans to get their shots - and for those who are eligible, to get their boosters. "I would hope that within the next week or two weeks, so many of those people will take advantage of the vaccine," Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN's Alisyn Camerota Friday. "That will help us in the immediate term. And I would anticipate that, as bad as Omicron might be, our vaccine still will be partially effective." CNN Read more
|
|
|
BioNTech Says It Could Tweak COVID Vaccine In 100 Days If Needed
BioNTech says it could produce and ship an updated version of its vaccine within 100 days if the new COVID variant detected in southern Africa is found to evade existing immunity. The company is already investigating whether the vaccine it developed with Pfizer works well against the variant, named Omicron, which has caused concern due to its high number of mutations and initial suggestions that it could be transmitting more quickly. The company says it will know in two weeks whether its current vaccine is likely to be sufficiently effective against the B.1.1.529 variant, based on lab-based experiments. The Guardian Read more
|
|
|
Protection Offered By Booster Shot Beats "Natural Immunity," Study Suggests
Public health officials have been struggling to persuade eligible Americans to get their COVID-19 booster shots. New research could help them make the case that the extra dose will provide substantially more protection - even if they’ve also recovered from a coronavirus infection. A small study that’s among the first to track people’s protective antibodies over time found that those who were immunized against COVID-19 with two doses of an mRNA vaccine and received a booster shot about eight months later saw their levels of neutralizing antibodies skyrocket. LA Times Read more
|
|
|
Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Recipients Often Shift To Other Boosters
Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine hasn’t been the booster shot of choice. Most people originally vaccinated with J&J’s shot are choosing other vaccines if they get a booster, new government data show, partly reflecting concerns about the lower effectiveness of the drugmaker's vaccine. So far, about 1.7 million people of the 15.7 million who originally got J&J’s single-dose vaccine have received a booster. Of these, 26% stayed with J&J for their second dose through Wednesday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wall Street Journal Read more
|
|
|
A Different Type Of COVID-19 Vaccine Is About To Roll Out Around The World
A new kind of COVID-19 vaccine is about to roll out around the world. It's called a protein subunit vaccine. Early on in the pandemic, many experts thought this was the kind of vaccine that would be most likely to succeed, and so far, it hasn't. NPR's Joe Palca has this story about why it's taken so long for these vaccines to be ready for distribution and why they're still needed. NPR Read more
|
|
COVID Vaccines Of The Future Might Not Be Shots
As vaccine makers pursue the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines, some are working to develop products that wouldn't require a shot. Delivering a vaccine through a pill or a nasal spray could make them much easier to administer, especially in places where distribution is challenging - or even for people who just don't like needles. San Francisco-based biotech Vaxart is working on a COVID vaccine that would be delivered in an oral tablet. Axios Read more
|
|
|
State/National/International News |
|
California Sees Welcome Dip In COVID-19 Heading Into Holidays
After a worrisome upward trend last month, Bay Area counties have seen COVID-19 transmission rates decline and the state overall is seeing hopeful signs of improvement heading into the holidays - even as outbreaks worsen across much of the country. Gov. Gavin Newsom noted the progress as he visited a vaccine clinic last week in San Francisco to urge more people to get the shots. But he also sounded a wary tone as infections continued a sharp upward trend nationally in the upper Midwest and Northeast as well as in Europe, suggesting a coming winter surge. “We saw a few weeks ago some troubling signs with case rates going up, positivity rates going up, hospitalizations and ICUs going up,” Newsom said. “That said, in the last 10 or 11 days, we’ve seen some stability. Some good signs. That is good news.” Mercury News Read more
|
|
|
U.S. Imposes Travel Ban From Eight African Countries Over Omicron Variant
The United States will bar entry to most travelers from eight southern African countries starting today, after a potentially more-contagious new coronavirus variant was identified in South Africa, President Joe Biden said on Friday. The new variant, dubbed Omicron, poses a new challenge for Biden, who has had a mixed success getting Americans vaccinated after a politically motivated pushback by 10 states. Biden also faces criticism from international health experts and foreign leaders for failing to send vaccines to poorer countries. Reuters Read more
|
|
|
Biden Administration Seeks To Reinstate Workplace COVID Vaccine Rule
The Biden administration asked a federal appeals court last Tuesday to lift a court-ordered stay on a sweeping workplace COVID-19 vaccine rule to avoid serious harm to public health, or alternatively to allow a masking-and-testing requirement. Delaying the rule by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that requires employees to be vaccinated or tested weekly would lead to thousands of hospitalizations and deaths, the administration said in a filing with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The White House asked for the rule to be reinstated immediately, but the court set a briefing schedule that runs through Dec. 10. Reuters Read more
|
|
|
The Mirage Of Herd Immunity
One year ago, with the amazingly rapid development of a number of surprisingly effective vaccines to counter the COVID-19 coronavirus, it looked like the world was finally about to deploy the long hoped for “magic bullet” against this most serious pandemic to strike humanity in the past century. Now a year later, even though the vaccines have been every bit as effective at preventing death or hospitalization as the early trials suggested, the second half of their promise regarding a reliable path forward toward true “herd immunity” and a return to something approaching normality in the Before Times has proven increasingly illusory - even with widespread usage of booster shots now. Daily Kos Read more
|
|
|
Racial Minorities, Psychiatric Patients More Likely To Die Of COVID-19
Two U.S. studies in JAMA Network Open today detail disparities in COVID-19 deaths in 2020, one showing higher mortality rates among racial minorities, and the other finding fewer infections but more deaths among patients with schizophrenia and other mood disorders. CIDRAP Read more
|
|
|
Philadelphia 76ers Star Joel Embiid On Bout With COVID-19: "I Really Thought I Wasn't Going To Make It"
Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid returned to the court on Saturday night after being forced to miss nine games due to a positive COVID-19 result. Embiid told reporters after the game he thought he wasn't going to make it. "I really thought I wasn't going to make it. It was that bad. So, I'm just thankful to be sitting here. I struggled with it, but I'm just glad I got over it and I'm just here." Embiid said he had trouble breathing and had "headaches worse than migraines." CNN Read more
|
|
|
Where Will The Next Pandemic Begin? The Amazon Rainforest Offers Troubling Clues
From palm oil cultivation in Malaysia to mining in Africa or cattle ranching in Brazil, as people demolish forest, they not only accelerate global warming but also dramatically increase their risk of exposure to disease. Lurking in mammals and birds are about 1.6 million viruses, some of which will be deadly when they leap to humans. The stakes turn catastrophic if a virus proves transmissible between people.
That’s what happened with COVID-19, which originated from close contact between humans and wild animals - whether it sprung from a natural setting or a laboratory. LA Times Read more
|
|
The EU Is Planning A 9-Month Expiration Date On Its COVID Vaccine Passports
The European Union is considering a nine-month expiration date on its COVID-19 vaccine certificates, which allow tourists certain freedoms to travel while the coronavirus pandemic still rages. The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, proposed Thursday that the EU Digital COVID Certificate should be updated. This document has allowed people to travel more easily amid the pandemic by outlining their vaccination status, whether they have recently recovered from the virus, or whether they have recently tested negative. The idea now is that the document has a life span of nine months after the first set of vaccines are administered. CNBC Read more
|
|
|
Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 613,838
California: 5,061,240
U.S.: 48,235,081
Alameda County
Total Vaccines Administered: 2,777,796
Total Cases: 122,123
Total Deaths: 1,504
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 1.3%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 11/29): 80
ICU Beds Available (as of 11/29): 114
As of November 29, case have stayed about the same recently and are still 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 spread in the area. NY Times
|
|
Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 6,803
California: 74,159
U.S.: 776,651
Contra Costa County
Total Vaccines Administered: 1,970,614
Total Cases: 101,736
Total Deaths: 1,047
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 2.0%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 11/29): 66
ICU Beds Available (as of 11/29): 44
As of November 29, 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 increased. 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
|
|
|
6 Ways To Overcome Social Isolation During Another COVID Winter
Cases of COVID-19 are rising in many areas of the country. In fact, some experts are predicting a forthcoming surge, which could mean another winter without handshakes and hugs - or, at least, significantly fewer of them. “In some ways people are feeling a little safer going out,” especially if they are vaccinated and boosted, says Ruth Benca, M.D., chair of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. “The problem is, though, that we're still in a pandemic,” she adds. And with the threat of breakthrough infections, menacing variants and vaccine resistance, “a lot of people are just not feeling comfortable rushing out and pretending we're back to normal yet.” AARP 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.
|
|
|
Over the past week, Alameda County has averaged 116 new cases and 1.4 new deaths per day.
|
|
Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 92 new cases and 1 new death per day.
|
|
|
Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 11/29/21
Oakland: 38,065
Hayward: 17,454
Fremont: 10,958
Eden MAC: 7,605
San Leandro: 7,522
Livermore: 6,669
Berkeley: 5,251
Union City: 5,164
Castro Valley: 3,847
Newark: 3,617
|
|
Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 11/29/21
Richmond: 15,245
Antioch: 14,780
Concord: 11,417
Pittsburg: 9,642
San Pablo: 6,673
Brentwood: 6,459
Oakley: 5,407
Walnut Creek: 4,461
Bay Point: 3,853
San Ramon: 3,356
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
