COVID-19
breaking news & updates
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Help your family, friends and colleagues stay informed and safe during this rapidly evolving pandemic by sharing this Bulletin with them and encouraging them to subscribe.
To subscribe: scan the QR code at right. You'll be directed to a page where you can sign up for the Eden Health District COVID-19 Bulletin featuring the latest local, state, national and international news, as well as important vaccination updates and the most current coronavirus statistics.
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COVID Test Resources
Food Pantries
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You’re Returning Home From Holiday Festivities? Here’s Where To Get A COVID-19 Test In The Bay Area
Whether you’re coming off of a plane or driving back over one of the Bay Area bridges, there’s a chance you’ve been surrounded by your family members this holiday season and it is probably a good idea to get a COVID-19 test. The following is a list of testing sites in Bay Area counties. All sites listed are free and appointments are strongly encouraged as demand is bound to increase as holiday travelers head back home and cases continue to rise across the region East Bay Times Read more
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Bay Area Residents With COVID Navigate An Omicron Christmas
When a phone alert from her Kaiser app pinged Andrea Case awake at 4:30 Wednesday morning, she knew within seconds that her family’s Christmas would change. The health care provider had sent an alert that her coronavirus test had come back positive. “I was thinking I just have to tell people,” said the 45-year-old Brentwood resident, who wanted to inform friends she had spent her birthday with last week. But, she thought, “I can’t be that crazy person and text them at 4:30 in the morning.” With the Omicron variant roaring through the Bay Area, Case is among thousands of people who suddenly had to change holiday plans after testing positive for the coronavirus in recent days. Getting the diagnosis has caused many people to cancel road trips or flights to visit family and instead patch together alternative gatherings with others who also have COVID, or, in Case’s case, resign themselves to solo meals. SF Chronicle Read more
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Omicron Rates Spiking In The Bay Area, But Not Hospitalizations
The Omicron variant is fueling an uptick in COVID-19 cases across California, according to the recent data that does not show spikes in hospitalizations or death rates. Just three weeks after a reported Omicron case in San Francisco became the first known case in the United States, the California Department of Public Health has determined “at least three health systems in California have reported approximately 50-70 percent of COVID-19 cases are consistent with Omicron.” While positivity rates and cases rates are spiking, hospitalizations have yet to see a sharp upwards spike. Experts believe high vaccination rates in the Bay Area will help keep the curves for hospitalizations and deaths here relatively flat, but it is too soon to know for sure as hospitalizations and deaths tend to lag by days and weeks. Mercury News Read more
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More Than 50K Castro Valley Residents Fully Vaccinated
Castro Valley residents have answered the call for the coronavirus vaccine. County health department statistics released Thursday show that 51,474 residents here are fully vaccinated. Of the 126,718 COVID-19 cases reported in Alameda County since the start of the pandemic, 4,037 have been in Castro Valley. The death toll in the county is 1,538. Castro Valley Patch Read more
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San Mateo County Rolling Out COVID-19 Tests For Residents
The demand for COVID-19 tests is high in the Bay Area amid the omicron variant, but supply remains low for many stores. Now, San Mateo County officials are fighting back by rolling out vehicles full of COVID-19 tests for residents to come by. San Mateo County officials gave out free COVID-19 tests all day Sunday in several cities including Daly City and Hillsborough. South San Francisco resident Breyanna Ransaw told NBC Bay Area’s Scott Budman Sunday that she was trying to do the right thing before going to work. "I saw my family on Christmas and found out they were exposed," she said.
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UCSF’s Bob Wachter: Here’s The Good News For San Francisco Amid Omicron
Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of medicine at UCSF, says that the latest data makes him optimistic about a highly vaccinated city like San Francisco, where 80% of all residents have been fully vaccinated, according to county data. Getting a booster provides even more protection against Omicron. While Wachter pointed out that the sharp rise in cases in San Francisco over the last week is “concerning” - the city has even surpassed its peak case rate during the Delta surge - he noted that hospitalizations are still low, a trend he thinks will continue. SF Chronicle Read more
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As Omicron Spreads, What It Means To Be Fully Vaccinated Is Changing
Omicron is changing the definition of what it means to be fully vaccinated, because early studies suggest that current COVID-19 vaccines will require three doses to offer sufficient protection against the variant. Yet given resistance to vaccinations, requiring a booster dose could be a thorny decision for policy makers and health authorities.
A booster shot is already becoming a fact of life at some places, however. More than 75 universities have required boosters for students returning to campus in the winter, according to data compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education. New Mexico mandated the extra dose for some state employees. Wall Street Journal Read more
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"He Would Have Been Shocked" - Dr. Peter Salk, Son Of Polio Vaccine's Developer, Speaks On COVID Hesitancy
When the polio vaccine was deemed safe and effective in 1955, newspapers boldly declared an end to one of the period’s most-feared illnesses. But to get to that point, the vaccine went through various trials, including one where over 600,000 children were volunteered by their parents to participate. Dr. Jonas Salk, the developer of the vaccine who spent years perfecting it at the University of Pittsburgh, would even administer a trial dose to his son, Peter. Now 77 and the president of his father’s namesake institute, Dr. Peter Salk told the Post-Gazette in an interview that he sees the public’s widespread willingness to take the polio vaccine as a mark of more innocent times. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Read more
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COVID-19 Vaccines Do Not Affect Ovarian Fertility – Israeli Study
COVID-19 vaccines do not affect ovarian fertility or function, according to a new Israeli study published in the journal Human Reproduction. “The vaccine definitely did not impair ovarian activity,” said Prof. Jaron Rabinovici, deputy director of the Women and Maternity Division, director of the Maternity Department, and a fertility specialist at Sheba Medical Center. “This study gives us for the first time a very objective measure and evidence about the lack of negative effects of the vaccines on ovarian function of fertility.” The Jerusalem Post Read more
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Trump Touts Effectiveness Of COVID-19 Vaccine
Former President Donald Trump pushed back on a questioner's skepticism about the effectiveness and safety of the Covid-19 vaccine in a new interview, saying that the "vaccine works" and "people aren't dying when they take the vaccine." "Look, the results of the vaccine are very good, and if you do get (COVID), it's a very minor form. People aren't dying when they take the vaccine," he said in an interview with The Daily Wire's Candace Owens that was released Tuesday. CNN Read more
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As Omicron Spreads, Some Nursing Homes Struggle To Boost Residents
At Sea Crest Nursing and Rehabilitation, a large nursing home that looks out on the Coney Island boardwalk, more than 100 residents have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Yet as a more contagious variant of the coronavirus surges to a new high in New York, the nursing home is struggling to provide what medical experts believe is one of the strongest forms of protection against this latest wave of the virus: a booster shot. NY Times Read more
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As Omicron COVID Cases Continue To Surge, The Race Is On To Find A Variant-Proof Vaccine
In a state-of-the-art science lab, nestled into the genteel slopes of the NSW Southern Highlands, a group of genetically engineered mice have become frontline soldiers in the fight against COVID-19. The mice have been inoculated with carrier proteins – used as the early building blocks of a new generation of vaccine — that scientists hope will make them resistant to any variant of SARS-CoV-2. ABC News Read more
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State/National/International News |
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U.S. Cuts COVID Isolation Time For Health Workers
Worried that a new COVID-19 wave could overwhelm understaffed U.S. hospitals, federal officials on Thursday loosened rules that call on health care workers to stay out of work for 10 days if they test positive. Those workers now will be allowed to come back to work after seven days if they test negative and don’t have symptoms. Isolation time can be cut if there are severe staffing shortages, according to the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. East Bay Times Read more
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As Omicron Spreads and Cases Soar, the Unvaccinated Remain Defiant
As a fast-spreading new strain of the coronavirus swarms across the country, hospitals in Ohio running low on beds and staff recently took out a full-page newspaper advertisement pleading with unvaccinated Americans to finally get the shot. It read, simply: “Help.” But in a suburban Ohio café, Jackie Rogers, 58, an accountant, offered an equally succinct response on behalf of unvaccinated America: “Never.” NY Times Read more
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COVID Stole The Heart Of My Family. It Also Divided It
The nurse helped tie our isolation gowns before we stepped into room 416. My sister Crystal Vargas and I were in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at Huntington Hospital. Staff watched a handful of patients on computer monitors, including our grandmother María Díaz. Inside the room came the steady whoosh of air getting pushed into her lungs by an oxygen mask that obscured her face. The numbers on her hospital monitor signaled that her blood pressure had plunged to 79/46 mmHG. LA Times Read more
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Coronavirus Can Persist for Months After Traversing Entire Body
The coronavirus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, can spread within days from the airways to the heart, brain and almost every organ system in the body, where it may persist for months, a study found. In what they describe as the most comprehensive analysis to date of the virus’s distribution and persistence in the body and brain, scientists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health said they found the pathogen is capable of replicating in human cells well beyond the respiratory tract. Bloomberg
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How Can I Protect A Child Too Young For A COVID-19 Vaccine?
How can I protect a child too young for a COVID-19 vaccine? Children younger than 5 can’t get COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. yet, but there are steps you can take to protect them from infection over the holidays. “Surround them with adults and siblings who are vaccinated, boosted if eligible,” advises Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She also encourages taking COVID-19 home tests before gatherings. The CDC recommends that anyone who’s not vaccinated – including children ages 2 and older – wear masks indoors in public. If your child is younger than 2 — or cannot wear a mask for other reasons — the agency suggests limiting visits with unvaccinated people. And it says to keep a distance between the child and others in public places. AP Read more
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Why You Should Upgrade Your Mask As The Omicron Variant Spreads
As the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread, some experts say it's past time to reconsider your face mask options - especially if you're still wearing the cloth variety. "Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations. There's no place for them in light of Omicron," said CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, on CNN Newsroom Tuesday. CNN Health Read more
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Long COVID: "I Have To Choose Between Walking And Talking"
Jasmine Hayer, 32, was living in London and training to be a yoga teacher when she caught coronavirus last March. It sometimes feels like it was a different person, she says, speaking slowly and carefully from her parent's house in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. She moved back there last summer when she realised she couldn't even make her bed without becoming breathless. "This illness is so baffling and no-one really knows how to treat it. I honestly don't know if I will ever get back to full health but I'll never stop trying," she says. BBC Read more
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COVID-19 Outbreak Leaves U.S. Navy Warship Sidelined In Guantanamo Bay
A U.S. Navy warship has paused its deployment to South America because of a coronavirus outbreak, the Navy said Friday. The USS Milwaukee, a littoral combat ship, is staying in port at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, where it had stopped for a scheduled port visit. It began its deployment from Mayport, Fla., on December 14 and was heading into the U.S. Southern Command region. The Navy said in a statement that the ship's crew is “100% immunized” and that all of those who tested positive for COVID-19 have been isolated on the ship away from other crew members. NBC Bay Area Read more
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Omicron Is Pushing America Into Soft Lockdown
“I do not see a scenario for any kind of shutdown,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared last week, as parts of New York were in fact shutting down all around him. Broadway canceled show after show. Restaurants closed their kitchens. De Blasio’s successor, Eric Adams, who will take office January 1, nixed his inauguration gala. There has been no March 2020–style universal shutdown, but New York is not back anymore, baby. For Brent Young, who runs a butcher shop and two restaurants in Brooklyn, it began last week when, one by one, staff members tested positive. “It’s more or less decimated our workforce,” he says. The Atlantic Read more
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 644,771
California: 5,310,698
U.S.: 52,337,541
Alameda County
Total Vaccines Administered: 3,104,599
Total Cases: 127,167
Total Deaths: 1,540
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 4.3%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 12/27): 95
ICU Beds Available (as of 12/27): 92
As of December 27, 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 relatively low, suggesting that testing capacity is adequate for evaluating COVID-19 spread in the area. NY Times
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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 6,967
California: 76,139
U.S.: 816,695
Contra Costa County
Total Vaccines Administered: 2,175,621
Total Cases: 106,867
Total Deaths: 1,072
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 5.2%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 12/27): 59
ICU Beds Available (as of 12/27): 42
As of December 27, cases have increased recently and are very high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has fallen in the Contra Costa County 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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How Do You Define Mild, Moderate And Severe COVID?
As the Omicron variant spreads around the globe, everyone wants to know: Will it cause mainly mild disease? Moderate? Severe? Early studies suggest that many people could have asymptomatic or mild cases rather than severe, in part because many more people are now vaccinated or have had previous disease. There's not yet enough data for a definitive answer. And then there's the question of what exactly "mild," "moderate" and "severe" mean vis-a-vis COVID. NPR 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 382 new cases and 2.4 new deaths per day.
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Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 237 new cases and 0.9 new death per day.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 12/27/21
Oakland: 39,567
Hayward: 17,952
Fremont: 11,501
Eden MAC: 7,808
San Leandro: 7,770
Livermore: 6,996
Berkeley: 5,793
Union City: 5,410
Castro Valley: 4,059
Newark: 3,750
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 12/27/21
Richmond: 15,822
Antioch: 15,204
Concord: 11,905
Pittsburg: 9,909
San Pablo: 6,850
Brentwood: 6,817
Oakley: 5,662
Walnut Creek: 4,875
Bay Point: 3,961
San Ramon: 3,722
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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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