COVID-19
breaking news & updates
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A Glimmer Of Hope As Rising Bay Area COVID Cases Slow
The highly transmissible delta variant continues to drive up COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area, but there are hints in some counties that cases may not be multiplying quite as fast. The most promising metrics are positivity rates. While a community’s case tally can fluctuate dramatically based on how many tests are completed each day, a low positivity rate suggests transmission is slowing. In recent days the rate has decreased ever so slightly in Marin county, while flattening in counties like San Francisco, Santa Clara and Alameda. KQED Read more
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Receive $100 Each Time You Talk Someone Into Getting A Full Vaccine Dose Against COVID
Convince someone to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and collect $100. Convince someone else and pick up another $100. That’s what Contra Costa Health Services is offering to pay people under a new program launched Wednesday in an effort to boost vaccination rates to ward off the Delta variant that has caused a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases. Anyone age 14 or older will be eligible for the money, as well as groups such as sport teams, community organizations, nonprofits and faith-based organizations, by signing up on the Health Services website at https://www.coronavirus.cchealth.org/helping-hands. East Bay Times
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No San Francisco Children Are Hospitalized With COVID, Even As Pediatric Hospitals Overflow Elsewhere
Pediatric hospitals in COVID hotspots around the country are filled to the breaking point. In Dallas, where pediatric hospitals are at capacity, county judge Clay Jenkins told reporters Friday that “your child will just not get on a ventilator,” and instead be airlifted for care elsewhere. Broward County in Florida said Friday that its pediatric intensive care units were at 100% capacity. In the Bay Area, however, while coronavirus cases have surged among children as well as adults due to the highly contagious delta variant, the numbers look much more manageable - with COVID patients often in the single digits at pediatric hospitals. No children who are San Francisco residents are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19, according to the city’s department of public health.
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Children Of Immigrants At The Heart Of Effort To Reach Oakland's Unvaccinated Communities
The woman with two bubbly children said she didn’t need the vaccine because God is protecting her. The man leaning on his cane at the bus stop said his adult daughter believes she will be implanted with a chip if she gets a shot. SF Chronicle Read more
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Santa Rita Jail No Longer Allowing Visitors Due To Rise In COVID Cases
In-person visits are no longer allowed at the Alameda County Santa Rita Jail due a rise in COVID-19 cases, authorities announced Friday. Effective immediately, visitors are not allowed at the jail. KRON4 Read more
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U.S. Administers 355.8 Million Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccines
The United States has administered 355,768,825 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 415,915,655 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 354,777,950 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Aug. 13 out of 414,376,925 doses delivered. The agency said 197,685,048 people had received at least one dose while 168,090,925 people are fully vaccinated as of Saturday. Reuters Read more
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Total Vaccination Numbers Up As Cities Announce Vaccine Mandates
Total vaccination numbers in the U.S. are at the highest they have been in more than a month as companies, organizations and, most recently, cities have begun announcing vaccine mandates. At the same time, COVID cases have also climbed around the country, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant. White House chief of staff Ronald Klain said that COVID vaccinations had reached their highest 24-hour total since before July 4, with 918,000 doses administered and 576,000 newly vaccinated, up from 821,000 and 565,000 respectively last Friday. NBC News Read more
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Why Some Unvaccinated Americans Are Changing Their Tune And How That Could Help Curb The Latest COVID Surge
As more and more unvaccinated people lose loved ones to COVID-19, a chorus of regrets has started to resonate. Experts say those voices could persuade fence-sitters to get vaccinated - a crucial step toward ending the pandemic. The human mind has reality constraints that make it difficult to grasp the severity of a situation before personally experiencing it, New York University Psychology Professor Jay Van Bavel told USA TODAY. Once you're in a hospital bed, you can no longer deny the virus, he said.
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Now You Can Get Your COVID Vaccine Delivered Just Like A Pizza
Unvaccinated DC residents can now get the COVID-19 vaccine brought to them at home. Previously, only homebound residents qualified for the program, but it’s now open to anyone. Both the vaccine and the delivery service are free. Washingtonian
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6 Things To Know If You're Immunocompromised And Considering A 3rd Shot
People with compromised immune systems who already got two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines can now get a third shot to boost their protection from COVID-19.
This week's decision by federal health agencies is welcome news to many patients and their doctors who have been calling for this for months. NPR Read more
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COVID Vaccine Mandates In Job Listings Jump By 34% As Delta Variant Sparks Surge In Virus Cases
Job postings requiring a Covid-19 vaccine have jumped sharply in the past month among a wide range of businesses, according to a new analysis published Thursday by job site Indeed. CNBC
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State/National/International News |
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California Doing Much Better With Delta Variant Than Florida, Texas Here’s Why
Despite a significant surge in both coronavirus cases and hospitalizations this summer, California so far has managed to avoid the sky-high infection rates and increasingly overcrowded hospitals some other states are now experiencing. California’s coronavirus case rate remains below the national average and significantly less than that of Florida and Texas: two common points of comparison given their population size and distinctly different pandemic responses. Experts say California’s better-than-average vaccination rates and newly implemented mandatory mask policies in parts of the state have helped prevent a more grim situation. LA Times Read more
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Newsom: Unvaccinated Can End COVID Pandemic In A Month
Can They Really?
With COVID-19 infections spiking just as millions of school kids return to classrooms, Gov. Gavin Newsom in recent days has declared that unvaccinated Californians could end the deadly pandemic in four weeks - simply by rolling up their sleeves for the jab. “If we want to end this pandemic and disease, we can do it in a month,” Newsom said at an Oakland elementary school this week, echoing remarks he’d made the week before in San Bernardino. Mercury News Read more
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The Lambda COVID Variant Is In California: 5 Things To Know
A new COVID-19 variant - named Lambda - has arrived in California. The emerging Lambda variant has been popping up in the news as it spreads rapidly throughout South America. In California, at least 152 cases have been reported, the first as early as September 2020, according to state public health officials. Experts say Lambda could be more infectious and resistant to vaccines than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. But there is no evidence, at least so far, that it’s as infectious as the Delta variant that now dominates California. CalMatters Read more
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Here’s Why Herd Immunity From COVID Is "Mythical" With The Delta Variant
Achieving herd immunity with COVID vaccines when the highly infectious Delta variant is spreading is “not a possibility,” a leading epidemiologist said. Experts agree on several reasons why such a goal - where overall immunity in a population is reached and the spread of the virus is stopped - is not likely. Sir Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, told British lawmakers last week that as COVID vaccines did not stop the spread of the virus entirely - with vaccinated people still able to be infected and transmit the virus - the idea of achieving herd immunity was “mythical.” CNBC Read more
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The Newest Disease Detection Tool For COVID And Beyond: Poop
Since reopening campus at the University of California-San Diego last summer, university officials have relied on the tried-and-true public health strategies of testing and contact tracing. But they have also added a tool to their arsenal: excrement. That tool alerted researchers to about 85% of COVID-19 cases in dorms before they were diagnosed, according to a study. California Healthline Read more
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COVID-19, Alzheimer’s Disease, And Memory Loss: What We Know
COVID-19’s immediate physical effects have been vastly studied, but much remains a mystery regarding long-term complications. In particular, scientists are scrambling to understand the disease’s long-term effects in neuropsychological health. Neurological signs of COVID-19 may include symptoms such as the loss of smell and taste and cognitive and attention deficits, known as “brain fog.” Healthline
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"Breaking Society Apart": Unvaccinated People Are Angry As They Face More COVID Restrictions
The divide between the vaccinated and unvaccinated when it comes to COVID-19 is likely to become even deeper, with officials in the U.S. and Europe planning, or introducing, an increasing number of restrictions on people who haven’t gotten a COVID shot. CNBC Read more
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What "Breakthrough" COVID Infections Feel Like
For those of us who rushed out to get vaccines, growing reports of “breakthrough” COVID-19 infections can feel like a betrayal. We did everything right. We’re supposed to be safe. But this startling news doesn’t mean vaccines don’t work. As interviews with Bay Area residents reveal, vaccines transformed a potentially deadly illness into something that’s just lousy. Mercury News Read more
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Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 499,890
California: 4,132,332
U.S.: 36,689,470
Alameda County
Vaccines Administered: 2,197,940
Cases: 101,876
Deaths: 1,302
Test Positivity: 4.6%
Hospitalized Patients: 251
ICU Beds Available: 92
Cases have increased recently and are very high. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Alameda County area have also risen. The test positivity rate in Alameda County is high, suggesting that cases may be undercounted. NY Times
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Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 5,913
California: 64,665
U.S.: 621,688
Contra Costa County
Vaccines Administered: 1,535,860
Cases: 82,150
Deaths: 846
Test Positivity: 7.2%
Hospitalized Patients: 212
ICU Beds Available: 37
Cases have stayed about the same recently and are still very high. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Contra Costa County area have risen. The test positivity rate in Contra Costa County is high, suggesting that cases may be undercounted. NY Times
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Map Shows Everywhere You Can Get A COVID-19 Test In The Bay Area
As part of the strategy to curb the spread of COVID-19, California is testing more than 300,000 people every day. Between state-run sites, city-run sites, healthcare providers and private companies, there are more and more options to get tested for the coronavirus in the Bay Area. A map made by ABC7 News' data journalism team plots out every testing location in the nine Bay Area counties. ABC7 News 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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COVID Test Resources
Food Pantries
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Over the last seven days, Alameda County officials have reported 2,235 new coronavirus cases, which amounts to 137 cases per 100,000 residents. |
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Over the last seven days, Contra Costa County officials have reported 2,293 new coronavirus cases, which amounts to 202 cases per 100,000 residents. |
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, as of 8/15/21
Oakland: 32,441
Hayward: 15,169
Fremont: 8,937
Eden MAC: 6,598
San Leandro: 6,379
Livermore: 5,160
Union City: 4,488
Berkeley: 4,213
Castro Valley: 3,059
Newark: 3,038
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, as of 8/15/21
Richmond: 13,185
Antioch: 11,878
Concord: 9,426
Pittsburg: 8,058
San Pablo: 5,830
Brentwood: 4,820
Oakley: 4,010
Walnut Creek: 3,484
Bay Point: 3,241
San Ramon: 2,564
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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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