COVID-19
breaking news & updates
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"We are seeing a surge in Michigan despite the fact that we have some of the strongest policies in place, mask mandates, capacity limits, working from home. We’ve asked our state for a two-week pause. So despite all of that, we are seeing a surge because of these variants.”
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
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Alameda County Emergency Medical Services Agency Offers PPE
Provider agencies, healthcare facilities, and public and private schools based in Alameda County can request personal protective equipment (PPE) or medical supplies related to the COVID-19 pandemic by completing this form. If you don't already have an account, you'll be asked to create one. All new accounts undergo a review. Once you have created an account, you will receive an automated e-mail. Wait for a second e-mail that states "APPROVED" in the header. That e-mail will contain instructions on how to proceed with submitting PPE requests.
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Want a COVID Shot Now? You May Have to Leave The Bay Area
Anxious for a COVID shot? The state will open appointments up to everyone in another week, but you may not even have to wait that long - if you’re willing to drive a few extra miles to get the jab. A handful of vaccination sites, faced with a surplus of shots, have opened their doors wide to all adults, regardless of age, employment status, medical history or where they live. All California adults 16 and older will be eligible starting April 15, but until then, demand for vaccinations and rules for who can get one vary widely from county to county and even clinic to clinic. Mercury News Read more
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Bay Area Teens Create Twitter Bot With Vaccine Appointment Alerts
A Twitter bot called “COVID Vaccines SF” is aiming people in the Bay Area to score their appointments. It was created by two high schools students in Redwood City, Sam Mendelson and Daniel Stoiber. They say they originally created it to help their parents get appointments, but quickly realized it’d be beneficial for the entire Bay Area community. KRON4 Read more
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Salesforce to Reopen S.F. Headquarters in May, Starting With Vaccinated Workers
Salesforce will reopen its San Francisco headquarters in mid-May, starting with employees who have been vaccinated, the company said Monday. The tech company, which is the city’s largest private employer, is taking a different approach than other businesses by requiring proof of vaccination for its first volunteers returning to offices. It appears to be the first major Bay Area company to implement that requirement to start. Other companies such as Facebook and Google haven’t required vaccinations as they reopen offices this month.
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Warriors to Allow Fans Back at Chase Center Starting April 23 vs. Nuggets
The Warriors will start letting fans back at Chase Center when they host the Nuggets on April 23. The team’s announcement on Thursday morning followed an update from San Francisco officials that said they’re “on track” to issue guidelines allowing indoor live events to resume April 15. The Warriors can have up to 35% capacity at Chase Center, or about 6,300 people, as long as guests show proof of a full COVID-19 vaccination or negative coronavirus test that was administered within 48 hours of the game. Social distancing and mask-wearing will be enforced. SF Chronicle Read more
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Complicated COVID Rental Aid Programs Start to Reach Bay Area
After a year of COVID-19 driving unemployment and falling wages, tenants and landlords are desperate to tap the $2.2 billion in federal aid given to California to help wipe out mounting rental debts. Nearly 78,000 Californians have applied for $363 million in relief since the state program opened March 15. State officials and contractors are processing the applications, and no funds have been released.
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S.F. Misses Yellow Tier, But Will Lift Some COVID Restrictions Soon
San Francisco missed the yellow tier by the slimmest of margins last week, but the city will relax a few more pandemic restrictions soon anyway, public health officials said. In addition to allowing indoor live events to resume this Thursday, the city will lift its 11 p.m. curfew on restaurants and allow more households to mingle, along with other somewhat subtle reopening gestures.
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Vaccine Supply Shrinks Ahead of California's 16+ Expansion
Welcome to open season. On Thursday, California will expand vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older - the same day the vast majority of counties will get the green light to resume indoor concerts, conferences, weddings and other gatherings under certain conditions. But the promising news comes amid some not-so-promising numbers: The Golden State’s vaccine supply is set to shrink 15% this week and another 5% the week after, largely due to a manufacturing mixup that ruined 15 million doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Because some doses are reserved for Californians getting their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, the number of available first shots will drop 33% this week and 4% the week after, even as millions more people become eligible, according to the state Department of Public Health.
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Women Report More Side Effects From COVID-19 Vaccine Than Men
Reports of COVID-19 vaccine side effects support what many have anecdotally observed: women shoulder the bigger burden. Among nearly 7,000 reports processed through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System from Dec. 14 to Jan. 13, more than 79% of them came from women. The most frequently reported side effects were headache, fatigue and dizziness.
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Vaccine is Piling Up in Red States, as Republican Anti-Science Threatens National Health
As of Thursday, Civiqs showed 41% of Republicans saying that they would definitely not accept a COVID-19 vaccine, while another 10% remain unsure. With the remaining Republicans saying they will accept the vaccine down to just 18%, red states are starting to see a problem that the rest of the nation would love to have - a vaccine surplus. As The New York Times reports, Mississippi alone is now sitting on tens of thousands of doses that they’re having a hard time giving out. Daily Kos Read more
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Pfizer Requests FDA Clearance For Vaccine in Kids Ages 12 to 15
Pfizer on Friday requested to expand use of its COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents ages 12 to 15. The request asks the Food and Drug Administration to amend the emergency use authorization, which the FDA originally granted late last year for people ages 16 and up. NBC News Read more
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Stalled at First Jab: Vaccine Shortages Hit Poor Countries
As many as 60 countries, including some of the world’s poorest, might be stalled at the first shots of their coronavirus vaccinations because nearly all deliveries through the global program intended to help them are blocked until as late as June.
COVAX, the global initiative to provide vaccines to countries lacking the clout to negotiate for scarce supplies on their own, has in the past week shipped more than 25,000 doses to low-income countries only twice on any given day. AP Read more
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When Should You Get The Vaccine If You Have Had COVID-19?
Over 175.1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered in the United States as of April 9, but many people still have questions about when to get the vaccine - particularly if they have had COVID-19 over the past year. Taking the vaccine also becomes more complicated if someone was recently diagnosed with COVID-19 or was diagnosed in between their two doses. CNN Read more
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Vaccine Resources
Food Pantries
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Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 427,674
California: 3,700,471
U.S.: 31,202,818
Alameda County
Vaccines Administered: 1,123,752
Cases: 84,460
Deaths: 1,446
Test Positivity: 1.1%
Hospitalized Patients: 100
ICU Beds Available: 108
Cases have increased over the past week and are high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Alameda County area have fallen. 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: 6,053
California: 60,452
U.S.: 562,096
Contra Costa County
Vaccines Administered: 825,275
Cases: 66,369
Deaths: 764
Test Positivity: 1.7%
Hospitalized Patients: 40
ICU Beds Available: 51
Cases have stayed about the same over the past week and are still 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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California Surpassed 20 Million Vaccinations Administered as of April 6
California reached a milestone with more than 20 million vaccinations administered as of Tuesday, April 6. The 20.2 million shots that have been put in people’s arms, means 7.5 million people, or 18.9% of the state, are fully vaccinated. Two of the three vaccine options out there require two doses. Mercury News Read more
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California Department of Public Health Rolls Out Statewide COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach For Black and African American Audiences
Ahead of expanded eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 15 for all Californians aged 16+, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is rolling out tailored outreach for Black and African American communities across the state. This latest element of the "Let's Get to ImmUnity" public education campaign is part of the state's overall Vaccinate ALL 58 effort. CDPH Read more
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California’s COVID Case Rate is Third-Lowest in The Nation
Will it Last?
Fast-growing COVID-19 variants are contributing to an alarming rise in new cases around the nation, yet California remains resistant - for now. Last week, California had the third-lowest new case rate of any state in the union, sporting just 45 new cases per 100,000 residents, bested only by Arkansas and Alabama. But variant-fueled outbreaks have pushed case rates up 13 percent nationwide and far higher in the worst states, contributing to fears of a fourth wave. Mercury News Read more
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Recent Rise in U.S. COVID-19 Cases Driven by Younger People
Younger people who haven’t been vaccinated are helping drive a rise in new COVID-19 cases, health officials are finding. Five states - Michigan, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey - account for some 42% of newly reported cases. In Michigan, adults aged 20 to 39 have the highest daily case rates, new data show. Case rates for children, aged 19 and under are at a record, more than quadruple from a month ago. There were 301 reported school outbreaks as of early last week, up from 248 the week prior, according to state data. Wall Street Journal Read more
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Michigan Shows Why Managing The COVID-19 Endgame Is So Hard
Michigan was among the states where B.117, a British variant, first appeared. It has been spreading quickly among the groups not yet vaccinated, which is mostly younger and more socially active people. It is a big reason for the state’s problems, although not the only one. Michigan may also be a victim of its own past success, some researchers have speculated. “Michigan did so well in the last surge that I actually think part of it is that they may just have more vulnerable people and a lower level of population immunity than many other states,” said Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. HuffPost Read more
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"Out of Control: Brazil's COVID Surge Sparks Regional Fears
Almost a year ago to the day, the jungle city of Manaus grabbed international headlines after a flood of COVID-19 deaths forced gravediggers to dig mass burials - catapulting the city into the centre of Brazil’s coronavirus outbreak. Those scenes are now being repeated throughout Brazil, where authorities are working day and night to bury the dead, with experts warning that the country’s funeral services could be the next to topple. Since the start of the year, an uncontrollable second wave has pushed Brazil over the 300,000 death mark. Aljazeera Read more
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COVID-19 Vaccines Encouraged But Not Required at Cal State Universities Next Fall
California State University will not require employees and students at its 23 campuses, including CSU East Bay and San Jose State, to be vaccinated against COVID-19 this fall. Its decision comes as a small but growing number of colleges and universities are announcing plans to mandate vaccines to restore a sense of pre-pandemic normalcy this fall – but face political and legal challenges.
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Scientists Work Toward an Elusive Dream: A Simple Pill to Treat COVID-19
The world has vaccines that can prevent most cases of Covid-19. It even has drugs that can help with the most serious symptoms of the disease. Now what it needs is a Tamiflu for SARS-CoV-2. It would be a pill, exquisitely calibrated to target SARS-CoV-2, with tolerable side effects and a low price tag. And it would work just as well as those antibody treatments that require an hourlong intravenous infusion, but it would come in a handy packet patients could take home. STAT Read more
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Orange County Announces Test Run For its Own COVID-19 Vaccine Passports
As public health leaders across the country weigh the pros and cons of so-called “vaccine passports” - a record meant to show a person has been inoculated against COVID-19 - the OC Health Care Agency is planning a field test to figure out how proving immunity would work in the real world. The agency announced that in April it will launch a pilot program to test “digital passports” - likely through the county’s Othena vaccine scheduling app – which a vaccinated person could display to enter places where strangers inevitably mix, such as at conferences, meetings, concerts and sporting events. Orange County Register Read more
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Can Your Employer Require a Vaccine? Probably. So Can a Restaurant or Hotel
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues to ramp up, and it’s ushering in a new phase of the pandemic. But being on the cusp of a return to some kind of normalcy also comes with a host of legal flashpoints. Questions over vaccine-based civil liberties, privacy and discrimination are replacing masks and business restrictions as a battleground for pandemic politics. Many of those questions are likely to be answered in the courts, with a raft of lawsuits expected to be filed in the coming months seeking to define the role the vaccine plays in reopening and protecting public life.
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COVID-19's Fourth Wave: What You Need to Know Now
After weeks of steady decline, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are creeping back up. The U.S. is seeing, on average, 63,000 new coronavirus infections each day - about the same amount recorded in mid-July during the summer surge, or second wave. And an increasing number of Americans are being admitted to hospitals for COVID-19 treatment. While the climb in cases and hospitalizations may feel like déjà vu, health experts are hopeful that this “fourth wave” will be different from previous peaks in the pandemic. AARP 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 680 new coronavirus cases, which amounts to 41 cases per 100,000 residents. |
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Over the last seven days, Contra Costa County officials have reported 701 new coronavirus cases, which amounts to 62 cases per 100,000 residents. |
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, as of 4/11/21
Oakland: 26,232
Hayward: 13,216
Fremont: 7,583
Eden MAC: 5,721
San Leandro: 5,246
Livermore: 4,159
Union City: 3,871
Berkeley: 3,492
Newark: 2,670
Castro Valley: 2,472
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, as of 4/11/21
Richmond: 10,018
Antioch: 9,197
Concord: 7,767
Pittsburg: 6,594
San Pablo: 5,116
Brentwood: 3,653
Oakley: 3,033
Bay Point: 2,684
Walnut Creek: 2,751
San Ramon: 1,996
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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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