Editor's Note: Based on communication with an Alameda County official, we understand that a large number of the recently reported deaths in Alameda County occurred in the past. These deaths, however, were added this week to the county's data set resulting in a sharp increase in the county's total number of Covid-19 deaths since the pandemic started.

Santa Clara isn’t the only county to hold off on reopenings. San Francisco, which was initially placed into the “red” zone for its lower case and positivity rate, stuck to its more restrictive order despite the go-ahead from the state to reopen additional indoor services. Napa meanwhile followed state guidance to reopen indoor dining.

Jon Jacobo, the health committee chair of the task force, called the results "deeply painful" and "deeply frustrating to see that we, from April to now, have not been able to get a grip or a handle on something like COVID 19." Previous testing in the largely Latino Mission district showed similarly disproportionate numbers.

Nearly a month after approving a coronavirus vaccine, Russia published positive data from early clinical trials of the shot, despite skepticism from scientists and Western politicians over its fast-tracked development. The findings showed that the shot was safe to use and generated immune response in all of its 76 test subjects. The study had limitations, including the low number of participants and the lack of placebo or control vaccine. Large-scale Phase 3 trials involving some 40,000 people only began in late August and are expected to begin to yield answers as early as October.

The next big test of whether Californians can slow the spread of the coronavirus will come this holiday weekend, with officials hoping the public will refrain from the large gatherings and risky behavior that contributed to a spike in Covid-19 infections and deaths after a disastrous Memorial Day weekend. Although the risk of the virus’ spread is greater inside than out, experts say crowds — even outside — can still pose a threat. “If you’re right in someone’s face, being outdoors isn’t going to make a difference,” said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at UCSF.

A recent poll revealed that Latinos are in fact more worried about contracting the virus and being economically impacted compared with other demographic groups. As a result, most Latinos wear masks while running errands, sanitize frequently and stay away from large gatherings with strangers, well aware of the heightened risk they face. But experts say familial closeness, often a strength for many working-class Latino families that lean on each other to get by, can present a chink in the armor guarding against COVID-19

Two-thirds of U.S. voters say they won't try to get a coronavirus vaccine as soon as it becomes available and one in four say they don't want to get it ever, according to a new USA TODAY/Suffolk poll released the same week that the number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 6 million. The poll of 1,000 voters follows similar surveys conducted in the past month that indicate as many as one third of Americans would decline a vaccine, fueled by mistrust of the Trump administration's push to speed up its development as well as a sizable slice of the country that generally oppose immunizations of any kind.

Blacks are dying at a rate 2.4 times higher than Whites, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Native Americans and Latinos are also dying at about 1.5 times the rate of that of Whites and Asian Americans, the data shows. In Michigan, nearly 40% of all deaths in the state were Blacks, even though they make up only 22% of the cases, Covid Tracking Project data shows.

The World Health Organization does not expect widespread vaccinations against Covid-19 until the middle of next year, a spokeswoman said on Friday, stressing the importance of rigorous checks on their effectiveness and safety. None of the candidate vaccines in advanced clinical trials so far has demonstrated a “clear signal” of efficacy at the level of at least 50% sought by the WHO, spokeswoman Margaret Harris said. “This phase 3 must take longer because we need to see how truly protective the vaccine is and we also need to see how safe it is,” she added. This referred to the phase in vaccine research where large clinical trials among people are conducted. Harris did not refer to any specific vaccine candidate.

Enrollment is expected to drop by as much as 25 percent in Colombia by the end of the year, with similar numbers expected in other countries. The exodus threatens decades of achievement that helped move entire communities out of poverty. And it is a big step back for a region struggling to escape its centuries-old trap — an often destructive dependence on exporting raw materials — and move toward a knowledge-based economy.

Mexico leads the world in coronavirus-related deaths among its healthcare workers, Amnesty International said in a new report. The organization said that Mexico had reported 1,320 confirmed Covid-19 deaths of health workers so far, surpassing the U.S. at 1,077, Britain at 649, and Brazil at 634.

Jo Craven McGinty, Wall Street Journal, September 4, 2020

Earlier this summer, the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee set about crunching data on more than 40,000 genes from 17,000 genetic samples in an effort to better understand Covid-19. According to the team’s findings, a Covid-19 infection generally begins when the virus enters the body through ACE2 receptors in the nose, (The receptors, which the virus is known to target, are abundant there.) The virus then proceeds through the body, entering cells in other places where ACE2 is also present: the intestines, kidneys, and heart. This likely accounts for at least some of the disease’s cardiac and GI symptoms. Covid-19 is like a burglar who slips in your unlocked second-floor window and starts to ransack your house. Once inside, though, they don’t just take your stuff — they also throw open all your doors and windows so their accomplices can rush in and help pillage more efficiently.