COVID-19
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Oakland Private High School Is Going Remote As COVID Infections Rise
An elite private high school in Oakland will go remote for the last week of classes, a precaution to stave off rising COVID-19 infections among the student body, administrators said. Beginning last Thursday morning, teachers at The College Preparatory School held classes online, hoping that the school’s 372 students would return to campus for finals on May 27, followed by in-person events to celebrate graduation. SF Chronicle Read more
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Berkeley Unified Tells Students, Staff To Mask Up Again Amid COVID Surge
More than two months after state officials lifted an indoor mask mandate for public school students, Berkeley Unified leaders will require students to mask up again for the last two weeks of the academic year amid a surge of COVID cases. In a memo to parents, Superintendent Brent Stephens said all students, staff and people at district campuses and facilities must begin wearing masks on Monday. The mandate includes people attending indoor school events and indoor graduations, even those taking place off campus. East Bay Times Read more
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Bay Area Kids 5-11 Line Up To Get COVID-19 Booster Shots
Now eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster, children ages 5-11 headed to vaccination sites across the Bay Area Friday to get the shot. Several families NBC Bay Area spoke with said they made a booster appointment as soon as they saw the FDA approval come down. A few students even got out of school for an hour or two to get their shot. Zoe Shepherd, 11, was among the first children to get a booster shot in Santa Clara County. “I have been on my phone trying to get registered for the last couple days," Jessica Shepherd, Zoe's mom, said. "It just opened up this morning, so I tried to grab the first spot that I could." NBC Bay Area Read more
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Hybrid Work In The Bay Area: Data Suggests Region Nearing Its "New Normal"
Caroline Mills now goes into her San Jose office at accounting giant Ernst & Young whenever her team agrees they want to — and sometimes when the company puts on the Wednesday happy hour featuring beer, wine and Asian-fusion food-truck treats. That weekly grub-and-gab session did not exist before the pandemic, nor was a fund to pay for dog-sitting, or company-paid parking. Office attendance, for audit staffer Mills, was also not “very optional,” as it is today. “They’re definitely trying to keep us happy,” said Mills, 25, of Mountain View, “and keep employing us.” Mercury News Read more
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There’s A Monkeypox Outbreak. What Is It And Should Bay Area Residents Be Worried?
A new global virus outbreak is making headlines, and it’s not related to COVID. Cases of the viral infection known as monkeypox, which is related to smallpox, have been reported worldwide. One case has been identified in the U.S. so far, and a handful of other cases have been reported in Canada, the U.K. and several European countries. Monkeypox is in the same family as smallpox, but it’s less severe. Symptoms generally start with fever, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches, chills and fatigue.
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Bay Area COVID Patients Flag "Paxlovid Rebound" After Taking Antiviral Treatment
When Berkeley resident Myriam Misrach tested positive for the coronavirus last month, she started taking the COVID antiviral pill Paxlovid the same day. Over the five-day course of treatment, her cough and shortness of breath mostly faded, but a couple days after taking the final pill, her symptoms came roaring back. For 48 hours thereafter, she also had a fever, headache, nausea, runny nose and lost her sense of taste, she said. And she once again tested positive for the virus — despite having tested negative and feeling much better just a few days prior. SF Chronicle Read more
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COVID Vaccine/Treatment News |
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CDC Recommends COVID Booster Shot For Children Ages 5 to 11
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Thursday that children ages 5 to 11 get a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to boost their immunity as cases and hospitalizations tick upward in many pockets of the United States. CDC director Rochelle Walensky greenlit the recommendation Thursday evening, and she also encouraged parents of children in that age group who have not yet been vaccinated to get their first shot soon. Walensky also announced that the CDC was strengthening its recommendation that people 50 and older should get a second booster dose — a fourth shot in most cases — to be considered up to date on their coronavirus vaccinations. Washington Post Read more
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Pfizer Says Three Doses Of Its Vaccine Produce A Strong Response In The Youngest Children
Pfizer and BioNTech said on Monday that preliminary findings of a clinical trial of children younger than five showed three doses of their coronavirus vaccine produced a strong enough immune response to meet the criteria for regulatory authorization. In a news release, the companies announced results from a subset of a trial of 1,678 children ages 6 months through 4 years, saying the three-dose regimen had been 80 percent effective in preventing symptomatic infection. No supporting data was disclosed, and the companies did not say how many children were in the subset. A spokeswoman for Pfizer said comprehensive results from the trial will be disclosed next month. NY Times
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Officials Expected To Decide On New COVID-19 Vaccine Design In Early July
Federal regulators are expected to decide on a new COVID-19 vaccine design in early July, which would allow vaccine companies to begin production for rollout this fall and winter, a top official told ABC News. Food and Drug Administration vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said the decision would likely come from the FDA shortly after its advisory committee meets on June 28 to review data from the vaccine companies about the versions of next-generation vaccines they're testing. ABC News Read more
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The Quest For Longer-Lasting COVID-19 Vaccines
As waves of new coronavirus variants circulate the globe, one thing has become clear: human immunity against the virus fades over time. To maintain durable protection against the virus that causes COVID-19, scientists are working around the clock to develop next-generation vaccines. But some of the nuances around why and how immunity against COVID-19 fades remain a mystery. The steepest drops in immunity - which come about four to five months after vaccination and up to eight months after infection, but can vary - are against COVID-19 symptoms, getting infected and getting sick. CNN Read more
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Why Isn’t There A Nasal Vaccine For COVID-19 Yet?
COVID-19 vaccines have rapidly altered our relationship with SARS-CoV-2, turning a dangerous infection into something akin to the common cold for many vaccinated people who contract it. But while these vaccines are great at protecting against severe illness and death, they cannot stop vaccinated people from contracting the virus and experiencing mild symptoms. If we want to prevent mild COVID infections, we’re going to need vaccines that protect us where infections start: in the mucus membranes of the nose, mouth, and throat. And for that, we’re likely going to need intranasal vaccines. STAT Read more
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State/National/International News |
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Almost As Contagious As Measles: Coronavirus Spins Out Worrisome New Mutations
The relentless evolution of the coronavirus, which has spawned new variants to fuel fresh surges of disease every four to six months, could in the not-distant future propel the virus to overtake measles as the most contagious of all known infections. Increasing infectiousness does not necessarily make the virus deadlier, but it could make it harder to control, and leave communities vulnerable to the repeated waves of illness that have defined the pandemic. SF Chronicle Read more
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CDC Recommends COVID Tests Before Flying This Summer
If you are traveling internationally or within the U.S. this summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends you test for COVID-19 in the days before flying. The agency’s recommendation for all travelers regardless of vaccination status came in an update to its COVID-19 testing website on May 16. “Consider getting tested as close to the time of departure as possible (no more than 3 days) before your trip” when heading to any destination, the CDC said. Before the update, the CDC’s recommendation did not include domestic travelers considered up-to-date on their vaccines, according to CNN. Mercury News Read more
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The Workers' Right To COVID Sick Pay In California
Just because COVID sick pay exists doesn't necessarily mean employees always feel comfortable using it. Between Americans’ unhealthy relationship with work and a sense that the world is opening back up again, employers have a lot to gain from the lack of widespread knowledge of COVID sick pay benefits in California. But if you work in California and get infected with COVID, you may be able to claim up to 80 hours of paid leave. And now that the Bay Area is in another COVID surge because of the Omicron BA.2 variant, learning your rights about sick pay is more important than ever. KQED Read more
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Study Offers Clue About Why COVID Is Deadlier For Men: Estrogen May Play Protective Role
It's one of the pandemic's prolonged mysteries: Why have men died of COVID-19 at higher rates than women? COVID fatality rate for men was 1.7 times higher, on average, than the rate for women across 38 countries, a 2020 study found. More recent research from Harvard University scientists found that although men represented 49 percent of COVID cases in the U.S., they accounted for 55 percent of COVID deaths from April 2020 through May 2021. This week, a study lent further support to a leading theory about the discrepancy: Estrogen may offer some protection against severe COVID. NBC Bay Area Read more
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Scientists Identify Characteristics To Better Define Long COVID
A research team supported by the National Institutes of Health has identified characteristics of people with long COVID and those likely to have it. Scientists, using machine learning techniques, analyzed an unprecedented collection of electronic health records (EHRs) available for COVID-19 research to better identify who has long COVID. Long COVID is marked by wide-ranging symptoms, including shortness of breath, fatigue, fever, headaches, “brain fog” and other neurological problems. Such symptoms can last for many months or longer after an initial COVID-19 diagnosis. One reason long COVID is difficult to identify is that many of its symptoms are similar to those of other diseases and conditions. National Institutes of Health Read more
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North Korea's Suspected COVID-19 Caseload Tops 2 Million
North Korea last week reported 2.24 million people "sickened with fever" - a big jump from the previous week when the secretive nation acknowledged its first suspected cases of COVID-19. North Korean's state-run Korean Central News Agency is still not referring to the outbreak as COVID-19, likely because there are no test kits to diagnose patients. ABC News Read more
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The World Is As Vulnerable As Ever To Pandemics, An Expert Panel Concludes
Governments around the world are no better prepared today to address a new global disease threat than they were just before the coronavirus outbreak began in late 2019, a World Health Organization panel concluded in a report released on Wednesday. NY Times Read more
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 1,395,702
California: 9,449,915
U.S.: 83,291,791
Alameda County
Primary Vaccine Series Completed: 86.1%
Total Cases: 279,098
Total Deaths: 1,876
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 7.9%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 5/23): 75
ICU Beds Available (as of 5/23): 98
The community level of COVID-19 in Alameda County is medium based on cases and hospitalizations, according to the most recent update from the C.D.C. on May 19. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has risen in the Alameda County area. Deaths have remained at about the same level. NY Times
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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 8,422
California: 91,044
U.S.: 1,002,178
Contra Costa County
Primary Vaccine Series Completed: 86.6%
Total Cases: 204,014
Total Deaths: 1,304
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 11.0%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 5/23): 63
ICU Beds Available (as of 5/23): 38
The community level of COVID-19 in Contra Costa County is low based on cases and hospitalizations, according to the most recent update from the C.D.C. on May 19. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has risen in the Contra Costa area. Deaths have remained at about the same level.
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COVID-19: Did Lockdown Help Or Hinder Our Creativity?
COVID-19 lockdowns may have confined many people to their homes but new research suggests that these limits did not hinder people from expressing their creativity. Could this creativity have been fueled by unfamiliar emotions or, perhaps, more free time? Medical News Today 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 865 new cases and 0.3 new deaths per day.
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Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 540 new cases and 0.6 new deaths per day.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 5/23/2022
Oakland: 81,340
Hayward: 35,235
Fremont: 29,151
San Leandro: 16,884
Berkeley: 15,909
Eden MAC: 15,472
Livermore: 13,708
Union City: 12,202
Alameda: 9,910
Castro Valley: 9,669
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 5/23/2022
Richmond: 29,473
Antioch: 26,761
Concord: 22,019
Pittsburg: 17,334
San Pablo: 12,475
Brentwood: 12,241
Walnut Creek: 10,597
Oakley: 10,098
San Ramon: 9,372
Martinez: 6,896
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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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