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Oakland School Students, Teachers Must Keep Wearing Masks Indoors At Least Another Month
Although the state is lifting its indoor mask mandate for schools on Monday, Oakland Unified is telling its students, teachers and all campus visitors “Not so fast.” The school district decided this week the masks must stay on at least another month indoors and another two weeks outdoors as an extra precaution against another potential COVID-19 surge. The school board didn’t budge from that position at its meeting Wednesday night despite complaints from some parents who said enough is enough. The district — which includes elementary, middle and high schools — indicated it’ll reassess the indoor mask mandate around April 15 after everyone returns from spring break April 1-8.
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S.F. Scrambles To Close Vaccine Gap Among Kids Of Color Ahead Of State Mandate
In the gym at Bret Harte Elementary School in San Francisco’s Bayview district, families showed up on a Friday afternoon not for sports activities but to get vaccinations, mostly for kids between the ages of 5 and 17. The after-school event on March 4 was one of two community clinics — each lasting eight weeks at different elementary schools — put together by the San Francisco Department of Public Health and San Francisco Unified School District to increase the number of children getting COVID shots and boosters in the city’s communities of color. The free clinics have a relaxed atmosphere, with balloons and treats for the kids, but under the surface is a sense of urgency. By this summer, a statewide vaccine mandate for schoolchildren is set to kick in, yet significant numbers of young people still haven’t had their shots. SF Chronicle Read more
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"YOLO", "WFH", Zoom — Bay Area Marks 2-Year Anniversary Of COVID Forced Exodus From Offices
When the vast majority of San Francisco Bay Area workers were driven from their offices by the COVID outbreak two years ago, few knew Zoom was a messaging platform, work from home was an option for just a select number of tech workers and the phrase "You Only Live Once" was more likely to be a catchy name for a game show. Life has certainly changed since March 12, 2020. But with new cases tumbling and the Delta and Omicron surges at bay, there has been somewhat a return to normal. The once-ever-present masks can be ditched and will slowly be disappearing from classrooms. Weekly test requirements have been eased, air travel has rebounded and BART trains and Muni and VTA buses are crowded again during the commute hour. KPIX5 Read more
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Bay Area, California COVID Jobs Rebound Is Far Stronger Than First Thought
Both the Bay Area and California as a whole are recovering far better from the mammoth job losses unleashed by coronavirus-linked business shutdowns than first thought, state government officials said Friday. The rosier picture arrived as part of a report from the state Employment Development Department (EDD) that revealed robust job gains during January and revised, higher job numbers for the whole of 2021. The nine-county Bay Area added 16,500 jobs in January, the EDD report showed. The region’s gains were led by sturdy increases in employment in Santa Clara County and the San Francisco-San Mateo region. Mercury News Read more
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Pfizer Plans To Submit Data On A 4th COVID Shot To FDA
Pfizer is close to submitting data to the Food and Drug Administration on a fourth dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, according to CEO Albert Bourla. “Clearly there is a need in an environment of Omicron to boost the immune response,” he told CNBC in an interview Friday. Protection from the first two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine waned substantially against the Omicron variant, research found, though a booster shot restored much of that protection. But Bourla said Friday that Pfizer's scientists are now seeing the protection from the initial booster shot begin to wane against Omicron after three or four months, meaning a fourth dose may be needed. NBC News Read more
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The F.D.A. Has Extended The Shelf Life of Johnson & Johnson's COVID Shot By Three Months
The Food and Drug Administration authorized an extension this month to the shelf life of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, shifting it to nine months from six months. Ease of storage is one of the vaccine’s main selling points. It retains its potency when refrigerated at temperatures of 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit, while the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna must be kept in ultracold refrigeration. (A statement on Johnson & Johnson’s website noted that the vaccine could be stored frozen for 24 months.) NY Times Read more
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How COVID Treatments Evolved Over Time From Monoclonal Antibodies To Antiviral Pills
It's hard to imagine a time when treatments weren't available for COVID-19. Yet this was the case when the World Health Organization declared the virus to be a global pandemic in March 2020. There was a need to test both existing medicines and experimental therapies to limit the impact of the disease. Now, two years later, there are many treatments both for patients who are experiencing mild to moderate symptoms and those who end up hospitalized. ABC News Read more
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Many Nursing Homes Struggling To Give Residents And Staff Members COVID Vaccine Booster Shots, Experts Say
Despite being among the first eligible for COVID-10 booster shots, many nursing homes are struggling to boost residents and staff, experts say. Nationally, about 72% of residents are boosted in each nursing home, according to data from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services. But in about one-third of U.S. states, booster rates for residents are less than the national average among nursing homes, and three states have yet to crack an average of 60% of residents boosted in each facility. ABC News Read more
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L.A. County Offering Free Anti-COVID Pills To Newly Infected People At CVS stores
Los Angeles County has launched the “test to treat” COVID-19 program announced by President Biden in his State of the Union address, which offers anti-COVID pills for free to newly infected people who get tested, or show their test results, at select pharmacies with on-site clinics. In L.A. County, 20 CVS health clinics are participating in the program; a list is available on the county’s website or by calling (833) 540-0473. LA Times
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State/National/International News |
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After 2 Years Of Pandemic Life, Turn Toward Normalcy Is A Shake-Up
It was two years ago that the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and after nearly one million deaths across the United States, the virus is far from gone. Rates of new infections, while improving, are still higher now than the beginning of last summer. But after signs of progress and exhaustion, even cities and states with the strictest coronavirus precautions have been rolling them back. For millions of Americans who kept their masks on and socially distanced long after much of the country abandoned safety measures, it is a moment that has stirred relief, but also disappointment, frustration and queasy ambivalence. NY Times Read more
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COVID-19 Will Likely Become a Seasonal Disease, CDC Director Says
The Centers for Disease Control Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said she expects COVID-19 to become a seasonal illness that ebbs and flows with the weather. After all, the other coronaviruses that cause the common cold are known to strike during the winter months and settle down in the warmer months. The same is true with other respiratory infections, like influenza, strep throat, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). These viruses spread year-round but typically spike in the winter. Healthline Read more
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Hybrid "Deltacron" COVID Virus Is A Biological Curiosity. Is it A Cause For Alarm?
A handful of COVID cases caused by an Omicron-Delta hybrid have been identified in the United States — including at least one in California reported by health officials this week — but scientists say the so-called Deltacron variant looks unlikely to supplant either of its parents and fuel another coronavirus surge. The colloquially named Deltacron — the World Health Organization has not deemed it a serious enough threat to assign it a letter from the Greek alphabet — seems to have developed from a process called recombination, in which a new variant arises in a person infected with two variants at once. A team of scientists at Helix, a genomic sequencing company based in San Mateo, has confirmed two cases of delta-omicron recombination, according to a non-peer-reviewed study set to be published in coming days. SF Chronicle Read more
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COVID Pandemic Death Toll May Be 3 Times Higher Than Official Tally, New Study Finds
Two years after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic, new research suggests around 18.2 million people have died worldwide as a result. That toll is more than three times higher than the WHO's tally of nearly 6 million officially reported COVID-19 deaths through the end of 2021. Some 1.13 million Americans have died due to the pandemic, the researchers estimate. By comparison, the current total of reported COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. stands at around 960,000. The new figures, published Thursday in The Lancet, are based on the number of "excess deaths" in countries around the world. Researchers determined how many additional deaths occurred from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021 by modeling the number of "expected" deaths in years unaffected by a global pandemic, compared to the total number who actually died from any cause. CBS News Read more
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17 And Living With Long COVID
Kat Sand fell ill with COVID-19 in March of 2021. It was just three days before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the use of COVID-19 vaccines in youth in her age group, she said. In March 2021, the world was just starting to open up again as the vaccines became widely available. Sand was 16. "I was like, ‘I’ve survived a year without getting this,’ and I started going back out into the world, and immediately got it,” she said. Sand’s symptoms were mild and cold-like, though she lost her sense of taste, she said. She was sick for about five days. But returning to school and sports did not feel normal. Sand recalled trying to sprint 300 meters at track practice and developing severe chest pain. She tried an inhaler to manage the condition, to no avail. Idaho Press Read more
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Chaos Of War in Ukraine Could Fuel New Covid Surge, Doctors Say
The last thing on anybody’s mind these days in Ukraine seems to be COVID. With millions of people on the move fleeing the Russian invasion, health systems disrupted, and testing and vaccination programs suspended in many places, health officials fear that conditions could spread disease. But the pandemic, they said, was no longer a top priority. Ukraine has a relatively low Covid vaccination rate, barely one-third of the population, and millions of people fleeing their homes have crowded into evacuation trains, resettlement centers, temporary housing and underground shelters — conditions ripe for a new surge of infections. NY Times Read more
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China Imposes New Curbs Amid Worst COVID Outbreak In Two Years
China has placed about 17 million residents under lockdown, as virus cases doubled nationwide to nearly 3,400 and anxiety mounted over the resilience of its "zero-COVID" approach in the face of the worst outbreak in two years. The southern tech hub of Shenzhen – home to about 13 million people – told all residents to stay at home as it struggles to eradicate an Omicron flare-up linked to the neighboring virus-ravaged city of Hong Kong. Al Jazeera Read more
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Former President Barack Obama Tests Positive For COVID-19
Former President Barack Obama announced Sunday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. "I've had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise," he said on his official Twitter account. Obama also said that his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, has tested negative. "Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted," the former President said in a Facebook post. "It's a good reminder that, even as cases go down, you should get vaccinated and boosted if you haven't already to help prevent more serious symptoms and giving COVID to others." CNN Read more
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Pandemic Medical Innovations Leave Behind People With Disabilities
Divya Goel, a 35-year-old deaf-blind woman in Orlando, Florida, has had two telemedicine doctors’ appointments during the pandemic. Each time, she was denied an interpreter. Her doctors told her she would have to get insurance to pay for an interpreter, which is incorrect: Under federal law, it is the physician’s responsibility to provide one. Goel’s mother stepped in to interpret instead. But her signing is limited, so Goel, who has only some vision, is not sure her mother fully conveyed what the doctors said. Kaiser Health News
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 1,279,269
California: 9,037,504
U.S.: 79,517,492
Alameda County
Primary Vaccine Series Completed: 85%
Total Cases: 255,369
Total Deaths: 1,800
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 1.9%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 3/14): 78
ICU Beds Available (as of 3/14): 92
As of March 14, cases have decreased recently but are still high. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Alameda County area have also 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: 8,030
California: 87,269
U.S.: 967,552
Contra Costa County
Primary Vaccine Series Completed: 85.5%
Total Cases: 189,426
Total Deaths: 1,265
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 2.7%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 3/14): 31
ICU Beds Available (as of 3/14): 48
As of March 14, cases have decreased recently but are still very high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has also 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
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Post-COVID Anxiety: An Emerging Condition
It’s hard to believe that just 2 years ago, SARS-CoV-2 didn’t exist. We went about our lives shaking hands with strangers, going in for that hug without a second thought, and crowding into venues like tightly packed sardines, from board rooms to concert halls. If the idea of these activities now evokes a sense of fear in you, you’re not alone. With professional support and self-care strategies, there is hope. PsychCentral 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 160 new cases and 3.3 new death per day.
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Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 129 new cases and 3 new deaths per day.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 3/14/2022
Oakland: 74,801
Hayward: 33,321
Fremont: 25,967
San Leandro: 15,617
Eden MAC: 14,545
Berkeley: 13,061
Livermore: 12,858
Union City: 11,266
Castro Valley: 8,738
Alameda: 8,729
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 3/14/2022
Richmond: 27,916
Antioch: 25,473
Concord: 20,443
Pittsburg: 16,483
San Pablo: 11,924
Brentwood: 11,378
Oakley: 9,539
Walnut Creek: 9,361
San Ramon: 8,064
Martinez: 6,274
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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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