COVID-19
breaking news & updates
|
|
|
COVID Test Resources
Food Pantries
|
|
|
Santa Clara County Begins J&J, Moderna Booster Shot Rollout
Less than 24 hours after the CDC officially recommended booster shots for all Johnson & Johnson recipients and many recipients of the Moderna vaccine, Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department started making those boosters available. It was a pretty active day the the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds vaccination site with hundreds of people showing up for appointments or walk ins. “It’s been just two days after the six months and I waited until Moderna was available,” said Jonni Giubbini of San Jose. She couldn’t wait to get her booster shot at the fairgrounds Friday morning. NBC Bay Area
|
|
|
All BART Employees Must Get Vaccinated By Dec. 13 Under New Mandate - AC Transit Holds Off On Mandate
All BART employees will have to get vaccinated by Dec. 13 or risk being fired under a mandate approved by the agency’s Board of Directors. BART’s leadership will have to bargain over the mandate’s details with its labor unions, including what exemptions to include. But the recent decision, passed on a 8-1 vote, was the result of an impasse for the Bay Area’s regional rail agency: Vaccination rates have stagnated since mid-September despite financial incentives and repeated efforts to encourage employees to get the shots. While BART’s employee vaccine mandate passed, a similar proposal for AC Transit failed to gain approval when the East Bay agency’s Board of Directors deadlocked on a 3-3 vote. About 41% of AC Transit’s roughly 2,000 operators have been vaccinated, according to an agency staff report. SF Chronicle Read more
|
|
|
Apple To Require Unvaccinated Workers To Get Daily COVID Tests
Unvaccinated Apple workers will have to get daily COVID-19 tests in order to enter the office, according to Bloomberg. Under the new rules, the Cupertino-based tech giant will require that vaccinated workers get tested weekly. The daily tests will also apply to employees who refuse to disclose their vaccination status. Bloomberg also reported that retail workers at Apple stores will be tested more regularly than is currently the case: twice a week for unvaccinated store workers and once a week for those who are vaccinated. SF Chronicle Read more
|
|
|
Bay Area, California Job Gains Lose Steam As COVID Recovery Wobbles
The Bay Area and California posted their weakest job gains in eight months in September, a warning sign that the economy’s on-again-off-again rebound from mammoth pandemic job losses has begun to wobble. The nine-county Bay Area added 11,800 jobs last month, led by Santa Clara County and the San Francisco-San Mateo region, according to a new report from the state Employment Development Department. But those increases were a sharp drop from the number of jobs added in the region in August. Mercury News Read more
|
|
|
It's The Cheapest, Fastest COVID Test On The Market - Based Right Here In The Bay Area
A quarter of all California's COVID-19 tests are processed out of one small Menlo Park-based lab - that's more than any other company across the state. Summer Bio launched during the pandemic to make testing more accessible in schools and has since grown into the largest volume testing site in California. The company's mission is to drive down the cost of COVID-19 testing. ABC7 Read more
|
|
Bay Area Gears Up For COVID-Safe Halloween Celebrations
With Halloween around the corner, lots of families across the Bay Area are gearing up for celebrations they couldn't have last year because of the pandemic. This year, health leaders hope people stay vigilant as this is the first big test of the holiday season. Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom and state health officials said Halloween gatherings were likely the cause of a surge of infections in the state. Now, health leaders say people should feel safer, but should still be careful. NBC Bay Area Read more
|
|
|
COVID-19 Vaccines For Younger Children Could Be Available In Early November, Fauci Says
The country’s top public-health experts on Sunday predicted a rapid rollout of the coronavirus vaccine for younger children if regulators move quickly to give their approval in the coming weeks. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it was possible that the vaccines would be available for children from ages 5 to 11 by early November. “If you look at the data that’s been made public and announced by the company, the data looked good as to the efficacy and the safety” of the vaccines, Dr. Fauci said Sunday on ABC. Wall Street Journal Read more
|
|
|
It’s OK To Mix And Match COVID-19 Booster Shoots; Which One Should I Get?
Topping up your protection against severe COVID-19 while avoiding the risk of rare vaccine side effects should not be rocket science. But just ask the experts who advised federal regulators to authorize additional shots: There’s no simple formula to guide Americans’ decisions about booster shots. Whether you should get a booster shot and which one you should get depends on who you are, what medical vulnerabilities you have, and what vaccine you got first. The people you live with or the kind of work you do might also influence your choice. And then there’s the deeply personal matter of how much risk - of COVID-19 or of vaccine side effects - you’re willing to accept. LA Times Read more
|
|
|
"Hybrid Immunity": Why COVID Vaccination May Give Extra-Strong Protection After Infection
As COVID-19 vaccination numbers continue to inch up and the Delta wave starts to subside, experts say growing evidence of the strength of “hybrid immunity” reinforces why people should get vaccinated even after infection. But what exactly does that term mean? Hybrid immunity happens when a person has gotten infected with the coronavirus and also gotten vaccinated, producing multiple immune responses.
|
|
|
San Diego Scientists Are Working On A Vaccine Against All Coronaviruses - Yes, All Of Them
Coronaviruses caused all three diseases, and scientists are betting other members of this viral family will cause new outbreaks. But what if a single vaccine worked against all coronaviruses - past, present and future? Researchers from San Diego to Boston are racing to turn that possibility into a reality, and they just got some major help. On Thursday, La Jolla Institute for Immunology announced that Erica Ollmann Saphire, president of the organization, won a three-year, $2.6-million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a so-called pan-coronavirus vaccine.
|
|
|
People Vaccinated Against COVID-19 Less Likely To Die Of Other Causes
People who received COVID-19 vaccines are less likely to die from other causes than those who are not vaccinated, according to a report published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study, led by Stanley Xu from Kaiser Permanente Southern California, took into account people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, finding that those who received multiple doses of any vaccine had lower mortality rates than those who received only one dose. Jerusalem Post Read more
|
|
Africa Tries To End Vaccine Inequity By Replicating Its Own
In a pair of Cape Town warehouses converted into a maze of airlocked sterile rooms, young scientists are assembling and calibrating the equipment needed to reverse engineer a coronavirus vaccine that has yet to reach South Africa and most of the world’s poorest people. The energy in the gleaming labs matches the urgency of their mission to narrow vaccine disparities. By working to replicate Moderna’s COVID-19 shot, the scientists are effectively making an end run around an industry that has vastly prioritized rich countries over poor in both sales and manufacturing. AP Read more
|
|
|
State/National/International News
|
|
How Did California Go From The Epicenter Of The U.S. Pandemic To The Lowest Statewide Transmission Rate?
With the lowest COVID-19 infection rate among all states as of Friday, California, which has some of the strictest mask and vaccination mandates in the country, has managed to flip the script as the former U.S. epicenter of the pandemic. "They've been very much forward-thinking in terms of policies around vaccination requirements and mandates," said epidemiologist Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital. ABC News Read more
|
|
|
Thousands Of Workers Across The U.S. Would Rather Lose Their Jobs Than Be Vaccinated
For 33 years, Karl Bohnak worked at his dream job delivering weather forecasts on TV for what he considers one of the most challenging but beautiful spots in the United States - Michigan's Upper Peninsula. But Bohnak's time as chief meteorologist for news station TV6 came to an abrupt end last month. He was fired after refusing to comply with the vaccine mandate imposed by his station's corporate owner, Gray Television. Across the country, employers are firing workers for refusing to comply with vaccine mandates. Some people are opting to quit their jobs rather than take the shot. These workers represent only a tiny fraction of overall employees, not even 1% in some workplaces. But it can add up to thousands of people in many states. NPR Read more
|
|
|
"This Is It" Is The Consensus Among Some COVID Experts
So How Should You Assess Risk For The Long Term?
Last week, Dr. Bob Wachter - one of the Bay Area’s leading experts on COVID-19, who is known to be cautious - did something potentially surprising: He hosted a 300-person medical conference in downtown San Francisco, with people traveling in from different places, despite the ongoing pandemic. Of course, those who attended the conference all had their vaccine cards checked and wore masks indoors, and there was a virtual option for those not quite ready to attend something in person. But for many, going to the conference was a big step - and one of their first forays back into regular life, said Wachter, the chair of UCSF’s Department of Medicine. SF Chronicle Read more
|
|
|
A Cancer Survivor Had The Longest Documented COVID-19 Infection Here’s What Scientists Learned
The 47-year-old woman couldn’t shake her cough and shortness of breath, baffling Veronique Nussenblatt, an infectious disease specialist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Her patient had been hospitalized at NIH with COVID-19 in spring 2020; as summer turned to fall and fall to winter, the woman should have mostly recovered. But she continued to need supplemental oxygen at home. Repeated COVID-19 tests were positive for the virus, but barely. Nussenblatt and other doctors assumed they were picking up nonviable viral fragments, as has been documented in other people after a bout with COVID-19. In fact, the woman’s medical ordeal, lasting nearly 1 year, turned out to be a unique case study in how long an active infection can endure, and how the virus can evolve inside one person’s body. Science Read more
|
|
|
Screen Time Increased 60% During COVID Shutdowns With “Profoundly Negative Impacts,” According To UCLA-Led Study
News flash: Americans drank more, smoked more, watched more TV and exercised less during the recent pandemic-related business closures and stay-at-home orders, according to a UCLA-led study released today. The study, published in the Switzerland-based journal Nutrients, confirmed that Americans largely settled into sedentary routines during the height of the pandemic. “We found that regulations to restrict non-essential activities and stay-at-home orders during the pandemic have had profoundly negative impacts on multiple lifestyle behaviors in American adults,” according to a statement from Dr. Liwei Chen, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health associate professor of epidemiology and lead author of the study. Deadline Read more
|
|
|
What Happens When Travelers Test Positive For COVID On Vacation?
There's no denying that going on vacation has become a lot more complicated due to COVID-19. Well over a year into the pandemic, border restrictions are still constantly changing as new variants emerge, while PCR and antigen tests have become part and parcel of traveling. Many countries require travelers to produce negative COVID test results on entry, regardless of vaccination status, and in some cases take follow-up tests, while some destinations, including the U.S., require people to produce a negative test result before their return trip. But what happens if you test positive after you've arrived in a new destination? CNN
|
|
European Countries Track Rising COVID-19 Numbers
More European countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, are experiencing new upticks in COVID-19 activity, and in the United Kingdom, where cases have already been on the rise for several weeks, officials designated the AY.4.2 Delta subvariant a variant of interest. Experts in the United States are closely watching activity in the UK and its neighbors, because activity there is often a bellwether for the next phase of the pandemic. Increases in western Europe are coming in the wake of steep rises in Eastern European countries, where fewer people are vaccinated and several locations are reporting record daily highs. CIDRAP
|
|
|
Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 592,525
California: 4,852,216
U.S.: 45,450,123
Alameda County
Vaccines Administered: 2,461,690
Cases: 117,780
Deaths: 1,400
Test Positivity: 1.1%
Hospitalized Patients: 114
ICU Beds Available: 98
Cases have decreased recently but are still high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has also fallen 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 spread in the area. NY Times
|
|
Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 6,600
California: 71,350
U.S.: 735,992
Contra Costa County
Vaccines Administered: 1,755,531
Cases: 98,585
Deaths: 1,016
Test Positivity: 2.0%
Hospitalized Patients: 63
ICU Beds Available: 48
Cases have decreased recently but are high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has also fallen in the Contra Costa County area. Deaths have remained 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
|
|
|
Cute Memes Linked To Less COVID-Related Stress, New Study Says
Viewing COVID-related memes can boost your mood and help cope with pandemic-related stress, according to a recent study. The recently published study shed light on how different kinds of posts can affect a social media user’s emotions, which can influence overall mental health. NBC News 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 past week, Alameda County has averaged 114 new cases and 4.6 new deaths per day.
|
|
Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 109 new cases and 3.7 new death per day.
|
|
|
Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, as of 10/25/21
Oakland: 37,053
Hayward: 17,016
Fremont: 10,398
Eden MAC: 7,408
San Leandro: 7,289
Livermore: 6,379
Union City: 5,013
Berkeley: 4,955
Castro Valley: 3,656
Newark: 3,479
|
|
Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, as of 10/25/21
Richmond: 14,934
Antioch: 14,418
Concord: 11,102
Pittsburg: 9,445
San Pablo: 6,522
Brentwood: 6,148
Oakley: 5,206
Walnut Creek: 4,269
Bay Point: 3,766
San Ramon: 3,194
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
|
|