COVID-19
breaking news & updates
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"It’s just incredible to consider where we were just a few months ago … We’re going to defeat this disease. We’re going to end this pandemic. There’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel, but we still have more work to do.”
Governor Gavin Newsom
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Alameda County Library Hosts COVID-19 Vaccine Information Forum
Wednesday, April 21, 4-5 p.m.
Do you have questions or concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine? Alameda County Library will host a panel of medical professionals to address the many questions and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 virus, vaccine, access to the vaccine, and the effects on families and children. Spanish and Chinese translation services will be available for this presentation. Get more information and register
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Walk-In Vaccine Clinics Now Open in Parts of Contra Costa County
Anyone 16 or older who wants to get vaccinated will be able to do so at one of several pop-up clinics in Contra Costa County’s hardest-hit areas. The county has partnered with the California Office of Emergency Services to offer the walk-in service clinics for anyone who lives or works in the county in areas hard hit by COVID-19, such as Richmond, Concord’s Monument Corridor neighborhood and parts of East Contra Costa County. About 500 to 700 doses a day can be given at each site, officials said. Some of the sites opened last week and others will do so in the near future, they said. Mercury News Read more
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Marin County Could Move to COVID-19 Yellow Tier For Reopening This Week
Marin County is eyeing a move into the yellow tier this week and could become the first Bay Area County to do so. The county has fewer than two COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people and a positivity rate below 2%. Moving into the least restrictive yellow tier allows the county to reopen bars at 25% capacity, gyms at up to 50% capacity and live events with assigned seating up to 67% capacity. NBC Bay Area Read more
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Alameda County Fair On For 2021
Alameda County Fairgrounds announced Thursday that the fair will take place Oct. 22 through 31 in compliance with state and county COVID-19 protocols. Last year, the fair was canceled for the first time in 108 years. "We are excited to welcome Fair guests back in October and our team is working diligently to ensure we continue to put on a 'safety first' event for the community," Fairgrounds CEO Jerome Hoban said. San Leandro Patch
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Today's Minnesota Twins-Oakland Athletics Game Postponed For COVID-19 Issues
Monday's game between the Twins and Athletics at Oakland Coliseum has been postponed as the Twins organization continues to conduct testing and contact tracing for COVID-19. The game has been tentatively rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Tuesday, with Game 1 scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. ESPN
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Bay Area Restaurants Optimistic But Business Still Down Significantly
Bay Area restaurant owners are hopeful that as more people are vaccinated and social distancing restrictions ease, diners will be lured back to indoor tables at pre-pandemic rates. But the pace of dine-in reservations suggests the region’s food scene has a long way to go before it fully recovers. Reservations and walk-ins were still down an average of 73 percent in San Francisco from April 6 through 12 compared to the same time period in 2019, according to data from Open Table. That’s tied with New York for the biggest decline in the U.S. among 46 cities measured by the company. Mercury News Read more
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How S.F. Rescued 1,000 Thawed Vaccine Doses From 300 Miles Away
Dr. Mary Mercer was just coming off her emergency room shift at San Francisco General Hospital on Thursday night when the call came in: Humboldt County had a “pizza box” of Pfizer vaccine that it couldn’t use. Did San Francisco want it? A pizza box is public health slang for a flat of Pfizer vials - which is about the size of a pizza box, and contains more than a thousand doses. Mercer, who is the city’s vaccine coordinator on top of being an ER physician, said she didn’t hesitate. “Yes, we definitely want that,” Mercer said she told the caller. “Any drop we can get, we want.” SF Chronicle Read more
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U.S. Could Have 300 Million Excess Vaccine Doses By The End of July, Report Says
The US could have an estimated 300 million excess Covid-19 vaccine doses by the end of July, according to a report from Duke University. Researchers used data on the US government's advance purchase commitments with drug giants to arrive at the estimate. The country has commitments for vaccines with Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and Novavax. The AstraZeneca and Novavax shots are yet to receive emergency use authorization in the US, according to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). CNN Read more
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J&J’s Limbo Crimps U.S. Vaccine Drive at a Pivotal Moment
Communities across the U.S. are suddenly revamping their vaccination campaigns to adjust to an indefinite halt in Johnson & Johnson's doses, which has required officials to reschedule tens of thousands of appointments as they seek to reassure people that COVID-19 vaccines are safe. Health professionals are split on whether the delay should continue. On the one hand, the blood-clotting syndrome that led to the pause in J&J vaccinations is serious and can be deadly. Conversely, with J&J doses out of circulation, that means fewer people are getting immunized even as fast-spreading COVID variants are tightening their grip, and concern about the J&J shots risks expanding vaccine hesitancy. Bloomberg Read more
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Pause of Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus Vaccine Likely to Be Lifted By Friday, Fauci Says
The nationwide pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine is likely to be lifted Friday, according to Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert. In interviews on political talk shows Sunday morning, Fauci said that he expected federal health officials would decide the vaccine’s future in the United States by the end of this week and that he did not anticipate its use would be canceled outright.
“By Friday, we should have an answer as to where we’re going with it,” Fauci said on ABC News’s “This Week.” “I would think that we’re not going to go beyond Friday in the extension of this pause.” Washington Post Read more
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Booster Shots And Re-Vaccinations Could Be Needed
Scientists have long said that giving people a single course of a COVID-19 vaccine might not be sufficient in the long term, and that booster shots and even annual vaccinations might prove necessary. In recent days, that proposition has begun to sound less hypothetical. Vaccine makers are getting a jump-start on possible new rounds of shots, although they sound more certain of the need for boosters than independent scientists have. NY Times Read more
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Moderna Plans to Have Third Vaccine Booster Shot Ready by Fall
COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna will make a third booster shot for its two-dose vaccine available to Americans by the fall, CEO Stéphane Bancel said this week. Moderna's vaccine is more than 90% effective against the coronavirus six months after the second shot, studies show. What remains unclear is how long immunity from the virus lasts. CBS News Read more
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Coronavirus Vaccine Has no Impact on Fertility, Israeli Study Shows
The vaccine against the coronavirus, as well as the disease itself, does not alter female fertility, a recent study by a team from Hadassah-University Medical Center has shown. The study, which researchers describe as the first of its kind, is currently in the process of peer-review and has been published on medRxiv, an online publication that features unpublished manuscripts in the clinical field. Jerusalem Post
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Study Shows Vaccines Carry Much Lower Risk of Blood Clots Than COVID-19
A study by researchers at Oxford University in England suggests the risks of experiencing dangerous, rare blood clots in the brain are far higher in those who catch the coronavirus than in those who get either the AstraZeneca vaccine, or the vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna in the U.S. CBS News Read more
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Participants Sought For COVID-19 Vaccine Trial For Booster And Variant Protection
UC Davis Health will soon begin to enroll participants for a clinical trial to determine the answers to questions being asked around the world regarding COVID-19 immunization. Does a combination of different vaccines or a booster shot help us make more antibodies against COVID-19? Does a modified version of an existing vaccine help us generate a more robust immune response against the new South African virus variant? UC Davis Health Read more
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Stanford Begins Testing Pfizer Vaccine in Babies And Young Children
The littlest research volunteers arrived at Stanford University last week, accompanied by their parents, to participate in a pivotal study of the COVID-19 vaccine in very young children. The goal of the trial at Stanford Health Care, the only site on the West Coast to test the Pfizer vaccine in children younger than 5, is to identify the strongest dose with the fewest side effects. Mercury News Read more
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Vaccine Resources
Food Pantries
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Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 431,178
California: 3,718,210
U.S.: 31,672,240
Alameda County
Vaccines Administered: 1,269,299
Cases: 85,282
Deaths: 1,477
Test Positivity: 1.4%
Hospitalized Patients: 111
ICU Beds Available: 100
Cases have increased over the past week and are high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has fallen in the Alameda County area. Deaths have remained about the same level. The test positivity rate in Alameda County is relatively low, suggesting that test capacity is adequate for evaluating COVID-19 spread in the area. NY Times
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Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 6,142
California: 61,033
U.S.: 567,233
Contra Costa County
Vaccines Administered: 926,306
Cases: 67,019
Deaths: 768
Test Positivity: 1.8%
Hospitalized Patients: 41
ICU Beds Available: 47
Cases have increased over the past week are high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has fallen in the Contra Costa area. Deaths have remained at 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
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State/National/International News |
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Worldwide COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 3 Million as Crisis Deepens In Brazil, India and France
The global death toll from the coronavirus topped a staggering 3 million people Saturday amid repeated setbacks in the worldwide vaccination campaign and a deepening crisis in places such as Brazil, India and France. The number of lives lost, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the population of Kyiv, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; or metropolitan Lisbon, Portugal. It is bigger than Chicago (2.7 million) and equivalent to Philadelphia and Dallas combined. NBC News Read more
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India's COVID Tsunami Leaves Bodies Piling Up As Oxygen, Medicines, Vaccines And Hospital Beds Run Short
Most hospitals are full. In some cases, two patients share a bed. Stocks of oxygen, medicines and vaccines are all running out. Doctors and nurses are overworked. Thousands of patients are dying every day, leaving bodies to pile up outside crematoriums and graveyards. There's panic in the air as coronavirus cases multiply across India at the most fearsome rate since the pandemic struck more than a year ago. India's second wave really started gaining steam this month, with the daily count of new infections repeatedly setting new records throughout April. The total number of COVID-19 cases reported in India now stands at over 15 million. CBS News Read more
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Gov. Newsom Calls COVID Herd Immunity "Illusory" - Is He Right?
For more than a year since COVID-19 upended our lives, the concept of herd immunity has floated in our future as the goal to be reached: Once enough of us attained immunity by recovering from COVID-19 or vaccination, we could put the pandemic in the rearview mirror and return to life as we knew it. Experience with the likes of Spanish Flu and measles gave us reason to believe the virus will fade away once it can’t find enough unprotected people to infect. But even with the vaccination effort ramping up and access expanding this month to everyone 16 and older, experts and authorities are backing away from the notion that herd immunity is right around the corner, or even achievable. Not least among them is California Gov. Gavin Newsom. East Bay Times Read more
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More Young People Are Getting Hospitalized as COVID Variants Spread
Doctors are attributing the rise in hospital visits of teens and young adults, at least in part, to B.1.1.7, the coronavirus variant first identified in the U.K. that public health officials say is now the most common strain circulating in the U.S. The variant is highly contagious, thought to be about 60% more transmissible than the original strain of the virus. CNBC Read more
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Michigan Governor: State's Surge May Be Ending
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says her state could be seeing a drop in infections after leading the nation’s COVID-19 daily case rate for weeks. Whitmer has extended a pandemic order that limits business capacity and requires masks in public, but the Democrat has avoided further restrictions in place during previous surges, including suspending indoor restaurant dining. ABC News Read more
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Los Angeles County Sees Lowest COVID-19 Daily Test Positivity Rate Since Pandemic Began
Los Angeles County public health officials on Saturday reported 527 new coronavirus cases and 29 related deaths, noting that the daily test positivity rate of 0.9% is the lowest since the pandemic began more than a year ago. Though officials are encouraged by the steady decline in daily cases and transmission of the virus, as well as increased vaccinations, they caution residents to be vigilant against new variants of the virus by adhering to safety protocols such as wearing face masks and social distancing.LA Times Read more
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Regular Exercise Shielded COVID-19 Patients From Hospitalization, Death
Regular exercise habits appear to be just the thing for shaking off severe COVID-19 complications, according to a new study of more than 48,000 Kaiser Permanente patients in Southern California. Kaiser members who reported that they were regularly engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-strenuous exercise per week - essentially a brisk walk or better - when they were diagnosed with COVID-19 had significantly lower odds of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission and death than those who estimated their weekly efforts at 10 minutes or less.
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Teachers Now Grapple With Hybrid Learning and "Just Blank Stares"
Two weeks after she returned to her classroom in person, first and second grade teacher Andreanna Yanez-Vierra found herself working 10- to 11-hour days. Come quitting time, she said, teachers are "just physically and emotionally exhausted." Outside Hoover Elementary School in Burlingame, where students started their return to campuses in February, Yanez-Vierra begins her days at 8:30 a.m., more nurse than educator as she greets kids before taking their temperature.
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Senators to Biden: Waive Vaccine Intellectual Property Rules
Ten liberal senators are urging President Joe Biden to back India and South Africa’s appeal to the World Trade Organization to temporarily relax intellectual property rules so coronavirus vaccines can be manufactured by nations that are struggling to inoculate their populations. The lawmakers, in a letter delivered to the White House on Thursday evening, wrote that Biden should “prioritize people over pharmaceutical company profits” and support the temporary waiver of the rules. A waiver could pave the way for generic or other manufacturers to make more vaccines. AP Read more
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A Very Handy Breakdown of The Most Common Vaccine Side Effects by Age
How many times have you heard this conversation? A friend, relative, or colleague declares, “I got the vaccine!” Then, typically, two questions immediately follow: “Which one?!” and “How’d you feel afterward?!” If you’re one of the lucky 124 million who have been vaccinated, there’s a good chance you experienced at least one side effect. For many, the vaccine hits with more oomph than, say, the typical flu shot. Mother Jones 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 last seven days, Alameda County officials have reported 822 new coronavirus cases, which amounts to 50 cases per 100,000 residents. |
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Over the last seven days, Contra Costa County officials have reported 650 new coronavirus cases, which amounts to 57 cases per 100,000 residents. |
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, as of 4/18/21
Oakland: 26,524
Hayward: 13,311
Fremont: 7,697
Eden MAC: 5,779
San Leandro: 5,292
Livermore: 4,173
Union City: 3,897
Berkeley: 3,518
Newark: 2,705
Castro Valley: 2,497
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, as of 4/18/21
Richmond: 10,101
Antioch: 9,289
Concord: 7,847
Pittsburg: 6,638
San Pablo: 5,142
Brentwood: 3,693
Oakley: 3,089
Bay Point: 2,701
Walnut Creek: 2,780
San Ramon: 2,016
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Mask On!
Protect Yourself While Protecting Others
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Working in collaboration with the Alameda County Public Health Department, the cities of Hayward and San Leandro, and the Castro Valley and Eden Area Municipal Advisory Councils, the District has printed "Mask On" posters for each city in the Eden Health District area. These posters are free of charge and intended for businesses, health clinics, schools, churches, public agencies and nonprofit agencies to display in their entrances. The posters are available in English, Spanish and Chinese languages. The public is welcome to download and print or share "Mask On" posters from our website. |
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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 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.
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