COVID-19
breaking news & updates
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COVID Test Resources
Food Pantries
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Local Food Banks Struggle To Serve Communities Amid Inflation, COVID And Cost Of Living
At the beginning of the pandemic, food banks were hit with two simultaneous surges: one, of need, as the economy got thrown into chaos, and two, of generosity, as millions found themselves suddenly out of work. Others who found themselves in fortunate circumstances gave money and donations to food banks. While the need has remained elevated, the generosity has trailed off, pushed out of mind by everything else going on in the world. According to the hunger-relief organization Feeding America, in 2020 food banks nationwide distributed 6 billion meals, and 4 out of 10 people visiting food banks were there for the first time. As a result of the pandemic, an estimated 42 million people faced hunger nationwide in 2021. With the cost of food rising, it all adds up to a frightening outlook for our region's food assistance organizations. KQED Read more
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JPMorgan Health Care Conference Brings 8,000 To S.F. For First Time In Three Years
The JPMorgan health care conference, the largest industry event of its kind, returned to San Francisco’s Union Square on Monday for the first time since 2020, drawing 8,000 attendees. After its planned return last year was derailed by the Omicron surge, the conference’s flood of attendees in dark suits was another sign that San Francisco’s business travel economic engine is making a comeback. Medical and biotech heavyweights like Eli Lilly and Co., Gilead and Roche are holding events throughout the week, and speakers include Robert Califf, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. SF Chronicle Read more
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COVID Vaccine/Treatment News |
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FDA Vaccine Advisers "Disappointed" And "Angry" That Early Data About New COVID-19 Booster Shot Wasn’t Presented For Review
Last Year
Some vaccine advisers to the federal government say they’re “disappointed” and “angry” that government scientists and the pharmaceutical company Moderna didn’t present a set of infection data on the company’s new COVID-19 booster during meetings last year when the advisers discussed whether the shot should be authorized and made available to the public. That data suggested the possibility that the updated booster might not be any more effective at preventing COVID-19 infections than the original shots. The data was early and had many limitations, but several advisers told CNN that they were concerned about a lack of transparency. CNN Read more
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COVID-19 Vaccines: From Nasal Drops To A Redesign, What 2023 Could Have In Store
Several vaccine companies say they are expecting breakthroughs as early as this year as they pursue new ways to protect people against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration is set to convene a panel of its outside vaccine advisers later this month to weigh key issues over the future of COVID-19 vaccines, including when and how to greenlight new boosters and changes to which strain the vaccines target. Here's a peek at some of what's expected this year for the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines. CBS News Read more
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Mainland Chinese Citizens Are Eager To Travel — For The West’s mRNA COVID Vaccines
Mainland China’s move away from its zero-COVID policy has led to a sharp surge in infections, and the resumption of travel means some are looking farther afield for vaccines. In mid-December, China’s full COVID vaccination rate stood near 87%, with 54% boosted. The main COVID vaccines approved for use in China are from Sinovac and Sinopharm. Mainlanders have been flocking to Macao in recent months for Western mRNA vaccines, which are widely administered around the world but not endorsed by China. CNBC Read more
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State/National/International News |
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"Most Transmissible" COVID Variant Yet Is Spreading In California. What We Know About XBB.1.5
As the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic nears an end, the coronavirus continues to evolve and prove that it has more tricks up its sleeve. The highly contagious XBB.1.5 strain, the latest in a succession of Omicron subvariants that was first detected in the U.S. in October, is quickly spreading. Its rise had been most rapid in the Northeast, where XBB.1.5 made up 71.6% of sequenced coronavirus cases in the seven-day period ending Jan. 7, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That compared to 27.6% across the U.S. as a whole, and 7.6% of cases in the Western region, which includes California. SF Chronicle Read more
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Rapid Tests for COVID, RSV And The Flu Are Available In Europe. Why Not In The U.S.?
Sander Brus didn't expect a photo of his friend's grandfather's flu diagnosis to go viral. But when he shared the image on Twitter in December, he was bombarded with messages, he said. People in the U.S. wanted to know how to purchase the rapid test in the picture, which simultaneously screened people for three common respiratory viruses: Covid, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and two types of influenza, A and B. The viruses have circulated widely this winter and share many of the same symptoms, meaning they're often indistinguishable without a diagnostic test. But unlike COVID tests, which are available over the counter, RSV and flu tests must be performed at a doctor’s office or ordered via prescription. And the FDA hasn't authorized an at-home test that can rapidly detect all three viruses at once. NBC News Read more
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Some Newly Mailed COVID Tests From The Government Expire Imminently — Even With Extensions
Nora Boydstun is diligent about checking expiration dates. So when she received her latest batch of four free at-home COVID tests from the U.S. government in December, she quickly noticed that their packages listed expiration dates in July or August 2022. Over the summer, the Food and Drug Administration extended those tests' shelf life by six months, but even with that extra time, two of Boydstun's tests were only valid until Jan. 2. That meant she had two days to use them once they arrived. The other two tests expire in a month. NBC News Read more
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More U.S. Schools Institute Mask Mandates As COVID Cases Rise
More schools across the United States are putting mask mandates in place as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. Before winter break, districts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania announced they would temporarily be requiring masks among students and staff members amid a surge of respiratory illnesses. Now schools in Massachusetts and Michigan are following suit while Chicago schools are asking students to take rapid tests before classes start. ABC News Read more
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Most People Who Ended Up With Long COVID Started With A Mild Case, New Study Shows
Even mild COVID-19 cases can have major and long-lasting effects on people's health. That is one of the key findings from a recent multicountry study on long COVID-19 – or long COVID – recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Long COVID is defined as the continuation or development of symptoms three months after the initial infection from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. These symptoms last for at least two months after onset with no other explanation. A staggering 90% of people living with long COVID initially experienced only mild illness with COVID-19. CBS News Read more
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Europe Faces No Immediate COVID-19 Threat From China, WHO Says
The director of the World Health Organization’s Europe office said Tuesday that the agency sees “no immediate threat” for the European region from a COVID-19 outbreak in China, but more information is needed. China is battling a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus after abruptly easing restrictions. Hans Kluge said that, based on the information WHO had received from China, there was no threat, but more detailed and regular information was required from China to monitor the evolving situation. Several countries have imposed COVID-19 testing requirements on Chinese travelers.
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Travelers Urged To Wear Masks As New COVID Variant Spreads
Countries should consider recommending that passengers wear masks on long-haul flights, given the rapid spread of the latest Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 in the United States, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Tuesday. In Europe, the XBB.1.5 subvariant was detected in small but growing numbers, WHO and Europe officials said at a press briefing. Passengers should be advised to wear masks in high-risk settings such as long-haul flights, said the WHO's senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, adding: "this should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread COVID-19 transmission". Reuters Read more
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California Senate’s New Health Chair To Prioritize Mental Health And Homelessness
California state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Stockton Democrat who was instrumental in passing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature mental health care legislation last year, has been appointed to lead the Senate’s influential health committee, a change that promises a more urgent focus on expanding mental health services and moving homeless people into housing and treatment. Eggman, a licensed social worker, co-authored the novel law that allows families, clinicians, first responders, and others to petition a judge to mandate government-funded treatment and services for people whose lives have been derailed by untreated psychotic disorders and substance use. Kaiser Health News Read more
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Social Media's Effects On Teen Mental Health Comes Into Focus
Experts are increasingly warning of a connection between heavy social media use and mental health issues in children — a hot topic now driving major lawsuits against tech giants. Seattle Public Schools' recently filed lawsuit against TikTok, Meta, Snap and others — which accuses the social media giants of contributing to a youth mental health crisis — is one of hundreds of similar cases. Some scientists who study technology's effects on children say the negatives far outweigh any positives. Axios Read more
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Cries For Help Pour Into 988 Mental Health, Suicide Line
When Jamieson Brill answers a crisis call from a Spanish speaker on the newly launched national 988 mental health helpline, he rarely mentions the word suicide, or “suicidio.” Brill, whose family hails from Puerto Rico, knows that just discussing the term in some Spanish-speaking cultures is so frowned upon that many callers are too scared to even admit that they’re calling for themselves. However strong stigma around mental health concerns is in English-speaking cultures, in Spanish-speaking cultures it is triple that,” said Brill, who helps people navigate mental health crises from a tiny brick building tucked away in Hyattsville, Maryland. Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls day and night from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency.
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Hochul To Unveil A $1 Billion Plan To Tackle Mental Illness In New York
Gov. Kathy Hochul will unveil a far-reaching billion-dollar plan on Tuesday to close some of the many gaps in the care system for New Yorkers with mental illness. Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, is pledging to drastically change the state’s approach to mental health in the wake of the pandemic and its effects on public safety and children’s behavior and school performance. The governor’s plan would compel state-licensed hospitals to reopen more than 800 inpatient psychiatric beds that disappeared during the pandemic, create 3,500 units of housing with supportive services and expand mental health services in schools, which have seen steep increases in children with psychological problems.
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Fentanyl Crisis/Drug Trends |
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A "National Poisoning": Expert On U.S. Drug Abuse Says Conditions In S.F.’s Tenderloin Are Tragically Familiar
Sam Quinones, one of the nation’s foremost chroniclers of American drug abuse, took a stroll around San Francisco’s Tenderloin last week to take a hard look at the beleaguered neighborhood’s street addict scene. Like anyone else who’s taken that stroll lately, he saw the brazen fentanyl and methamphetamine use — and the grim consequences of unchecked addiction — that’s become a dispiriting calling card for that part of town. Nothing much surprised him. SF Chronicle Read more
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Surging Opioid Overdoses Prompt More Americans To Carry Narcan Spray
The worsening opioid epidemic is prompting more people to carry a nasal spray that reverses overdoses and become de facto first responders in life-or-death situations. Naloxone acts five times quicker than the approximately 10-minute average arrival time for EMS technicians, according to a federal overdose tracker launched last month. That can be critical when fentanyl, the synthetic drug behind most opioid overdose deaths, renders an individual unconscious and not breathing in as little as 90 seconds, said Bonnie Milas, a cardiac anesthesiologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Axios
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 1,883,035
California: 11,885,432
U.S.: 101,442,721
Alameda County
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the Latest Figures
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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 9.559
California: 99,037
U.S.: 1,097,686
Contra Costa County
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the Latest Figures
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Experts Say These Face Masks Provide The Best Protection During The Tripledemic
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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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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, Surlene Grant 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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