COVID-19
breaking news & updates
|
|
|
Eden Health District Receives More Than $1.25M in Funding From State’s COVID Relief Fund
The Eden Health District has been awarded $1,250,663 from the California Special District Covid Relief Fund. The District plans to use the funds to continue critical pandemic related services in partnership with community and public agencies. The funds were made available from a $100 million allocation provided by the State Legislature and Governor Newsom in the 2021-2022 State Budget. “We our very grateful for the receipt of this award. It will help us increase our pandemic related services to the most vulnerable in our community. Covid testing, vaccination, distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE), and spreading reliable and vital information have been the pandemic priorities for our District and this award will allow us to sustain and expand our reach,” said Mark Friedman, Chief Executive Officer. Read more
|
|
COVID Test Resources
Food Pantries
|
|
|
Hayward Unified Goes Remote Despite Warnings Not To; Risks Losing $2.5M A Day
The Hayward Unified School District switched to all-remote learning for its 20,000 students on Tuesday, making it the first in the Bay Area to revert to online learning for the next week despite being warned by the county and the state that they should not do that. The Alameda County Office of Education and state education officials urged Hayward Unified not to switch to remote learning. Those authorities as well as the California Teachers Association, strongly support keeping kids in the classroom. KTVU Read more
|
|
|
Oakland Schools: Another "Sickout" Set For Thursday In Solidarity With Students Demanding COVID Safety
Employees at some Oakland Unified School District schools will stage another “sickout” Thursday in solidarity with students, who are threatening to boycott classes unless their COVID demands are met during a surge in cases fueled by the Omicron variant. Twenty-five teachers and support staff at Frick United Academy of Language called out sick Wednesday and are set to call out again on Thursday. Teachers and staff from Montera Middle School, Madison Park Academy Upper 6-12, Skyline High School, Claremont Middle School and Roosevelt Middle School are also participating in the “sickout” on Thursday in order to demand for more COVID safety measures. East Bay Times
|
|
|
Bay Area Cases See Huge Spike After NYE; Poll Finds 9 In 10 Americans Know Someone Who's Had COVID
The numbers of new recorded COVID cases are now reflecting New Year's Eve celebrations, and across the Bay Area, cases took a huge vertical jump on Monday, with significant new totals coming from the East Bay and South Bay. The new case counts and hospitalizations reflect testing done late last week and over the weekend — but not all the at-home testing that is likely occurring. Across the Bay Area, weekend totals brought new cases up a staggering 7%, to 795,130. To put that in perspective, as the nine-county region is poised to cross the 800,000 mark, the Bay Area had just over 600,000 cases as of Thanksgiving — a 33% leap in just six weeks. SFist Read more
|
|
|
Hayward Fire Department Led Way In 2021 Getting Hayward Vaccinated Against COVID-19
The Hayward community mobilized in 2021 to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as vaccines became more widely available and were approved for children age five to 11 years old. By the end of the year, greater than 76 percent of the entire Hayward population of young, old and in between had been fully inoculated with more than 82 percent having received at least a first shot. The Hayward Fire Department, in partnership with Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center and the Alameda County Department of Public Health, got the ball rolling early by establishing on Jan. 21 a COVID-19 vaccination site at the Fire House Clinic on the Grounds of Fire Station 7 in South Hayward across from Tennyson Park. City of Hayward Read more
|
|
|
Sonoma County Restricts Large Gatherings Amid COVID Surge
As COVID cases continue to rise, Sonoma County is sending an urgent request to residents to stay home as much as possible for the next 30 days. Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase issued to appeal which includes limiting interactions with people outside of the household. A health order was also issued to cancel large gatherings of more than 50 people indoors or more than 100 people outdoors. The order was to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 12, and remain in effect until Feb. 11. KRON4 Read more
|
|
|
Local Authorities Crack Down On Price Gouging At-Home COVID Tests
Authorities are on the lookout for people who are taking advantage of the need for COVID-19 tests by selling them at high prices. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said her office will investigate any cases of price gouging in the sale of at-home COVID-19 tests. There has been an increased demand in COVID-19 testing as people return to schools and workplaces after the winter holidays, all while the omicron variant appears to be spreading rapidly. California Gov. Newsom recently signed an executive order that prohibits anyone who sold at-home testing kits as of Dec. 1, 2021 from increasing the price of the kit by more than 10 percent. KRON4 Read more
|
|
|
SF Official Calls To Diversify COVID Testing After System Failure Shut Down Bay Area Sites
Coronavirus cases are surging throughout the state of California. What's making matters worse, is the system outage by Color Health. It's the company 10 California counties have a contract with to provide testing. "Obviously it was extraordinarily concerning. It's had a major impact in the last 24 hours in our ability to provide testing for people," said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Health for the City and County of San Francisco. ABC7 Read more
|
|
New Health Order Makes Changes To Mega-Events In San Francisco
A new health order issued by the San Francisco Department of Public Health is making changes to mega-event requirements that go into effect on Saturday, Jan. 15. Beginning Saturday, the threshold for mega-events will be lowered to 500 attendees indoor and 5,000 attendees outdoor. In addition, a new requirement for up-to-date vaccinations for these events will go into effect on Feb. 1. KRON4 Read more
|
|
|
T-Cells From Common Colds Could Help Scientists Make The "Holy Grail": A Variant-Proof COVID Vaccine
T-cells generated as part of the body's natural immune response to the common cold may help protect against serious illness from COVID-19, according to a study carried out in the U.K. Researchers at Imperial College London told CBS News the findings could help scientists create vaccines that remain more effective against new variants of the coronavirus. The study, which was peer reviewed and published in the journal "Nature Communications," began in September 2020 and looked at 52 household contacts of people who had tested positive for COVID-19. It found that 26 people who were exposed to the coronavirus but did not get sick had significantly higher cross-reactive T-cells, generated by previous common colds, than those who did become ill with COVID.
|
|
|
COVID Vaccines Prevented Nearly A Quarter-Million Deaths Last Spring
The COVID vaccination campaign in the United States cut hospitalizations and deaths by nearly half in the first six months of 2021, new research suggests. The shots saved nearly 241,000 lives and prevented almost 1.2 million hospitalizations, according to a model published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open. But as 2021 progressed, the vaccines were met with a significant hurdle that blunted the shots’ effectiveness: People stopped getting vaccinated. NBC News Read more
|
|
|
Pope Calls On People To Get Vaccinated Against COVID, Calls Health Care "Moral Obligation"
Pope Francis suggested Monday that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus was a “moral obligation” and denounced how people had been swayed by “baseless information” to refuse one of the most effective measures to save lives. Francis used some of his strongest words yet calling for people to get vaccinated in a speech to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, an annual event in which he takes stock of the world and sets out the Vatican’s foreign policy goals for the year. KRON4 Read more
|
|
|
Pushback To COVID-19 Vaccines Remains Stubbornly High Among White Evangelicals
Among white evangelicals, pushback against COVID-19 vaccines has remained stubbornly high, with polls in recent months suggesting between 30% and 40% refused to get vaccinated, the highest proportion among any religious group surveyed. So one group of researchers had an idea. Sociologists from Stanford and Columbia asked 1,765 unvaccinated, self-identified white Christians to watch a short video in which then-NIH Director Francis Collins — a white evangelical himself — answered questions about the safety and effectiveness of COVID vaccines. Participants also read an essay describing support for vaccination within the medical community. STAT Read more
|
|
|
In Quebec, People Who Refuse To Be Vaccinated For COVID Will Face A Financial Penalty
The premier of the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec announced Tuesday that adult residents who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 will be charged a financial penalty. Premier Francois Legault said not getting vaccinated leads to consequences for the health care system and not all Quebecers should pay for that. He said the levy will only apply to people who do not qualify for medical exemptions. It is the first time a government in Canada has announced a financial penalty for people who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19. NPR
|
|
Kids’ Low COVID-19 Vaccination Rates Called A "Gut Punch"
Suspicion, misinformation, complacency and delays because of the holidays and bad weather have combined to produce alarmingly low COVID-19 vaccination rates in U.S. children ages 5 to 11, authorities say. As of Tuesday, just over 17% were fully vaccinated, more than two months after shots for the age group became available. While Vermont is at 48%, California is just shy of 19% and Mississippi is only at 5%. Vaccinations among the elementary school set surged after the shots were introduced in the fall, but the numbers have crept up slowly since then, and Omicron’s explosive spread appears to have had little effect. AP Read more
|
|
|
State/National/International News |
|
California Surpasses Astonishing 6 Million COVID Infections As Omicron Wave Expands
More than 6 million cumulative coronavirus cases have now been reported in California, according to data compiled by The Times — the latest milestone as the Omicron variant continues its record-smashing race across the state. On Monday, the state reported 308,820 new infections, a colossal figure that includes data from both Saturday and Sunday. It was a little less than two months ago that the state recorded its 5 millionth coronavirus case, a threshold that came and went at a time when California was seeing declines in both the daily numbers of newly recorded infections and those hospitalized with COVID-19. LA Times Read more
|
|
|
Omicron Infection Appears To Protect Against COVID Delta Variant And Could Displace It, South Africa Study Finds
People infected with the heavily mutated Omicron variant of COVID-19 may have increased immune protection against Delta, a new study says. As a consequence, Omicron could displace Delta, according to the small study published by South African scientists this week. The findings could have significant implications for nations such as the United States where Omicron infections are rapidly increasing but the Delta variant, which has caused an increase in hospitalizations, is still widespread. CNBC Read more
|
|
|
COVID Hospitalization Numbers Are As Bad As They Look
More Americans are now hospitalized with COVID-19 than at any previous point in the pandemic. The current count — 147,062 — has doubled since Christmas, and is set to rise even more steeply, all while Omicron takes record numbers of health-care workers off the front lines with breakthrough infections. For hospitals, the math of this surge is simple: Fewer staff and more patients mean worse care. Around the United States, people with all kinds of medical emergencies are now waiting hours, if not days, for help. The Atlantic Read more
|
|
|
Omicron Can Make You Contagious Before You Test Positive, Allowing For Rapid Spread
Ahead of Christmas, health experts suggested undergoing a rapid coronavirus test just before any gatherings. But some health experts are now warning that you can test negative even if you’re infected and contagious while still being visibly healthy. In general, tests are able to reveal an Omicron infection, but enough virus needs to have reproduced and appear at sufficiently high levels in the nose or saliva to be detectable, according to Dr. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist and former professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. LA Times Read more
|
|
|
Insurers Will Have To Cover 8 At-Home Virus Tests Per Month
Private insurers will soon have to cover the cost of eight at-home coronavirus tests per member per month, the Biden administration said Monday. People will be able to get the tests at their health plan’s “preferred” pharmacies and other retailers with no out-of-pocket costs, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. They can also buy the tests elsewhere and file claims for reimbursement, just as they often do for medical care. NY Times Read more
|
|
|
United Airlines Says 3,000 Employees Have Tested Positive For The Coronavirus
About 3,000 employees at United Airlines have tested positive for the coronavirus, another example of how quickly the omicron variant has spread through workplaces and upended the plans of even the most data-driven industries. In a memo to employees Tuesday, United CEO Scott Kirby called the past few weeks a “challenging and stressful time.” “The Omicron surge has put a strain on our operation, resulting in customer disruptions during a busy holiday season,” he wrote, also acknowledging the stress the rise in cases has put on employees and operations. Washington Post Read more
|
|
|
Omicron Is Forcing Us To Rethink Mild COVID
When Delta swept across the United States last year, the extremely transmissible and deadlier variant threw us into pandemic limbo. The virus remained a danger mostly to unvaccinated people, but they largely wanted to move on. Vaccinated people also largely wanted to move on. The virus did not want to move on. So we got stuck in a deadly rut, and more Americans died of COVID-19 in 2021 than in 2020. Now Omicron is sweeping across state after state — even highly vaccinated ones — and new cases are shooting up and up. The virus is still deadliest to the unvaccinated, but the sheer number of mostly mild infections in the vaccinated is shocking us out of that post-Delta stasis. To deal with this extremely transmissible but now milder variant, we are in the middle of a COVID reset. The Atlantic Read more
|
|
|
Over Half Of Europe Could Be Infected With Coronavirus Soon, W.H.O. Says
More than half of people in Europe could be infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the next six to eight weeks, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday, amid “a new west-to-east tidal wave sweeping across the region.” “The region saw over seven million cases of COVID-19 in the first week of 2022, more than doubling over a two-week period,” Hans Kluge, the agency’s regional director for Europe, said at a news conference.
|
|
COVID May Be With Us For A Long Time. What Kind Of Testing Do We Need?
Throughout the pandemic, periodic surges in demand for COVID-19 testing — typically during a spike in cases or prior to holiday travel — have put strain on the nation's testing capacity. During these times, it can be difficult for people to quickly learn if they are positive for the virus - and to isolate if they are. This presents a real problem because experts believe a successful COVID-19 testing regime — along with vaccinations — is the key to building a new normal. ABC News Read more
|
|
|
France Reports New COVID Infection Record With Daily Cases Surging To Over 360,000
France saw its COVID-19 infection rate hit a new record on Tuesday as the new highly-contagious Omicron variant sweeps across the European continent. The figure of 368,149 in the last 24 hours trumps a previous record of 332,252 set on Jan. 5. France is about to implement a strict COVID passport system whereby citizens will need to be vaccinated before they can enter restaurant or indoor events, rather than being either vaccinated or registering a negative test. CNBC Read more
|
|
U.S. Issues "Do Not Travel" Warning For Canada Amid COVID Rise
|
|
|
Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 830,903
California: 6,516,129
U.S.: 62,656,634
Alameda County
Total Vaccines Administered: 3,254,186
Total Cases: 141,766 (update in progress)
Total Deaths: 1,580 (update in progress)
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 19.6%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 1/12): 325
ICU Beds Available (as of 1/12): 83
As of January 12, cases have increased recently and are extremely high. The total reported for the past week was the highest of the pandemic. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Alameda County area have also risen. The test positivity rate in Alameda County is very high, suggesting that cases are being significantly undercounted. NY Times
|
|
Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 7,036
California: 77,318
U.S.: 843,426
Contra Costa County
Total Vaccines Administered: 2,274,965
Total Cases: 133,448
Total Deaths: 1,078
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 22.0%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 1/12): 206
ICU Beds Available (as of 1/12): 22
As of January 12, cases have increased recently and are extremely high. The total reported for the past week was the highest of the pandemic. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Contra Costa County area have also risen. The test positivity rate in Contra Costa County is very high, suggesting that cases are being significantly undercounted. NY Times
|
|
|
Which COVID Test Is Most Accurate?
As the Omicron variant has created a new wave of cases around the country, a corresponding appetite for COVID testing has emerged as well. As has been the case with so much of the pandemic, there's a lot to know; in this case, primarily, which test is the most accurate? PCR or RT-PCR or rapid or antigen or NAAT or lateral flow or antibody? NBC Bay Area 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 3,367 new cases and 4.6 new deaths per day.
|
|
Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 2,141 new cases and 1.1 new death per day.
|
|
|
Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 1/10/2022*
Oakland: 43,884
Hayward: 19,297
Fremont: 12,748
San Leandro: 8,621
Eden MAC: 8,328
Berkeley: 7,674
Livermore: 7,610
Union City: 5,928
Castro Valley: 4,638
Newark: 4,047
*Alameda County is in the process of updating its case counts
|
|
Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 1/12/2022
Richmond: 19,537
Antioch: 18,397
Concord: 14,441
Pittsburg: 11.760
Brentwood: 8,390
San Pablo: 8,262
Oakley: 6,800
Walnut Creek: 6,398
San Ramon: 5,333
Bay Point: 4,621
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
