COVID-19
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Contra Costa Businesses Drop Vaccination Checks, But Some Restaurants Hang On To Mask Rules
Darryl Wong, a manager at downtown’s Burma 2, has had one less worry since Contra Costa County last week stopped requiring restaurants and gyms to check indoor customers for proof that they’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19. With the mandate now lifted, Wong doesn’t have to deal with disgruntled patrons who resent showing their CDC cards or can’t get in because they didn’t get the jab. But at the same time, he acknowledges, the order helped protect his staff and prevent virus outbreaks. So even as COVID-driven health orders start getting peeled back — Contra Costa and almost all Bay Area counties followed California’s lead Wednesday in easing mask rules — Wong is still drawing a line. Mercury News Read more
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S.F. Mayor London Breed Is Crafting A Plan To Push More Downtown Office Workers To Return In March
Mayor London Breed is working with business leaders to push San Francisco employers to start bringing more workers back to downtown offices at some point in March. Breed revealed the plans during a Friday morning appearance with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf at the Hyatt Regency. Sitting before hundreds of business leaders and others at an economic forecast event hosted by the San Francisco Business Times, Breed said she was developing a strategy with the Chamber of Commerce and other groups to help turn around the city’s once-bustling commercial core. San Francisco’s downtown has been hit hard as most employees have stayed home during the pandemic. SF Chronicle Read more
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Here’s Why UCSF’s Bob Wachter Isn’t Ditching His Mask — Yet
Even as COVID-19 rates fall and pandemic restrictions lift in the Bay Area, Dr. Bob Wachter UCSF’s Chair of Medicine, said Saturday he’s still not ready to ditch his mask. Wachter explained his rationale in a thread on Twitter, citing San Francisco Department of Public Health data that shows the city reporting 282 positive cases a day, or 32 cases for every 100,000 people. That ratio, while signaling a rapid improvement, still doesn’t meet Wachter’s threshold of 10 cases for every 100,000 people — a low enough transmission rate that “even vulnerable people,” such as older adults or the unvaccinated, would have “a slim chance” of brushing against an infected person, Wachter wrote in the thread. SF Chronicle Read more
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Empty Trains, Deserted Stations Cost Taxpayers Billions. Will BART, VTA And Caltrain Riders Ever Return?
Despite widespread vaccinations, the Bay Area is among the slowest metro regions in the nation to get passengers back aboard buses and trains. Kept afloat by $3.9 billion in federal relief funds that are certain to evaporate, a system that thrived off commuters faces an uncertain future and may never again see the crowds of riders it was built to serve. Among the sleepiest transit corridors are BART’s Dublin and Pleasanton stations in the East Bay with over 80% ridership losses. In Sunnyvale, the Valley Transit Authority’s Moffett Park Station sees about 22 people a weekday, a 95% loss from pre-pandemic numbers. Meanwhile, Caltrain’s once-mighty commuter rail into downtown San Francisco has dwindled from 20,000 riders each day to 1,400 passengers – a 93% loss. East Bay Times Read more
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Marin Leaders Promote COVID Boosters In Canal Area
Marin County’s public health office, hoping to get more COVID-19 booster shots into arms, is set to expand mobile vaccination clinics in San Rafael’s predominately Latino Canal neighborhood. Dr. Lisa Santora, deputy public health officer, said the county plans to roll out more mobile sites and appointment windows at locations such as Pickleweed Park now that the countywide mass vaccination effort over the winter is winding down.
“We’ll be refocusing our efforts and our resources back into vulnerable communities,” Santora said. Marin Independent Journal Read more
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"I’ve Seen A Lot Of Death, And It’s Made Me Hungry For Life: Local Chaplains Have Been At The Center Of Grief And Misery During The Pandemic
On her first day as a staff chaplain at UCSF, Rev. Jessica Easter got a phone call relaying that her father had died. While grappling with her own grief, and after moving to the Bay Area from Chicago, Easter was confronted with the daily pain and suffering brought on by COVID-19, finding her services increasingly in demand from patients and staff alike. It was October 2020, a point in the pandemic when vaccines were not yet widely available and the virus was killing 700 to 800 people a day in the U.S. SF Chronicle Read more
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San Mateo County Health Returning To A Traditional Role
San Mateo County Health Chief Louise Rogers said this week the county will return to its more traditional public health role as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations decline across the region and in the county. Meanwhile, the county continues to promote one vital message: It’s not too late to be vaccinated. “As the nature of the pandemic changes and the state and counties step back from using health officer powers to order and regulate, you will see us in County Health return to the more traditional role of public health of offering guidance and recommendations,” Rogers said in a statement Tuesday.
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FDA Eyes Second COVID-19 Booster Shot
U.S. health regulators are looking at potentially authorizing a fourth dose of a COVID vaccine in the fall, according to people familiar with the matter. The planning is still in early stages, and authorization would depend on ongoing studies establishing that a fourth dose would shore up people’s molecular defenses that waned after their first booster and reduce their risk of symptomatic and severe disease, the people said.
The Food and Drug Administration, however, has begun reviewing data so it can make a decision, the people said. The thinking among regulators is that the agency would look at authorizing a second booster dose of the messenger RNA vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTechSE and from Moderna Inc., one of the people said.
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Is It Time For A Second COVID Booster Shot? Not So Fast, Experts Say
New research on the waning immunity of COVID boosters is prompting many people to wonder whether they should seek a second booster shot — a fourth dose for those who originally got Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Experts say there’s not enough data to recommend fourth shots for everyone, and that people who’ve had the normal course of vaccination plus a booster remain well protected against severe disease and death. Vaccine protection against COVID hospitalization fades from 91% effectiveness two months after the third shot to 78% four months after the third shot, according to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the first major look in the U.S. at the waning immunity of boosters. SF Chronicle Read more
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The U.S. Is Ramping Up Vaccination Assistance to 11 African Countries
The United States will increase coronavirus vaccine assistance to 11 African nations, officials said on Thursday, in an effort to prevent future variants and bolster inoculation efforts in the least vaccinated continent. Through the Initiative for Global Vaccine Access, or Global Vax, the Biden administration will provide “intensive financial, technical and diplomatic support” to African countries that have recently shown the capacity to hasten vaccine uptake, according to a statement from Rebecca Chalif, a spokeswoman for the United States Agency for International Development. NY Times Read more
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Nasal Vaccines Could Help Stop COVID-19 From Spreading—If Scientists Can Get Them Right
When SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, infiltrates the body, it typically enters through the nose or mouth, then takes root and begins replicating. But what if it could never get a foothold in the upper airways? That’s the promise of nasal COVID-19 vaccines, which are meant to prevent infection by blocking the virus at its point of entry. There is not yet a nasal COVID-19 vaccine available in the U.S.—and it’s not clear if or when there will be—but multiple research teams in the U.S., including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and abroad are working on them. Time
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Indonesia Relies Heavily On China’s Sinovac Vaccine. A New Wave Of Infections Puts It To The Test
Indonesia is going through a new wave of COVID infections, with daily cases hitting record highs last week. The Southeast Asian country has relied heavily on inactivated virus vaccines produced by China, which studies previously showed were less effective than mRNA shots. Indonesia has the highest number of cases among Southeast Asian countries, Johns Hopkins data showed. CNBC Read more
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Indian Scientists Get Funding Fo Develop Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine
Indian scientists on Monday announced launching an ambitious project to develop a pan-coronavirus vaccine that would give protection not only against known infections like MERS, SARS and COVID-19 but also from any other coronavirus infections that may emerge in the future. With funding support of $12.5 million from a global agency, scientists from Translational Health, Science and Technology Institution, Faridabad and Panacea Biotech will work together to come out with such a vaccine. Deccan Herald Read more
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State/National/International News |
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Omicron Cases In California Have Dropped 90%. Why Are COVID Deaths Still Rising?
California’s indoor mask mandate ended this week. The state’s COVID-19 case rates have plummeted nearly 90% from a month ago. But deaths linked to the virus are only now peaking from last month’s axis-shattering surge from the omicron variant. The Golden State’s climbing death toll now averages more than 200 daily COVID deaths reported each day. That’s the highest it’s been since last March, at the tail end of the state’s deadliest surge of the pandemic as vaccines were still in short supply. Why are deaths still climbing weeks after cases peaked? That’s a trend we’ve seen throughout the pandemic in previous surges. "It is exactly what I expected to see,” said John Swartzberg, professor emeritus of infectious disease and vaccinology with the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program. He says deaths tend to trail cases by several weeks, from four to up to seven weeks. East Bay Times Read more
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COVID Still Threatens Millions Of Americans. Why Are We So Eager To Move On?
Iesha White is so fed up with the U.S. response to COVID-19 that she’s seriously considering moving to Europe. “I’m that disgusted. The lack of care for each other, to me, it’s too much,” said White, 30, of Los Angeles. She has multiple sclerosis and takes a medicine that suppresses her immune system. “As a Black disabled person, I feel like nobody gives a [expletive] about me or my safety.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a strict definition of who is considered moderately or severely immunocompromised, such as cancer patients undergoing active treatment and organ transplant recipients. Still, millions of other people are living with chronic illness or disabilities that also make them especially susceptible to the disease. Though vulnerability differs based on each person and their health condition — and can depend on circumstances — catching COVID is a risk they cannot take. California Healthline
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More Contagious Version Of Omicron Spreads In U.S., Fueling Worries
As the Omicron surge continues to decline in the U.S., infectious disease experts are keeping a close eye on an even more contagious version of the variant that could once again foil the nation's hopes of getting back to normal. The virus, known as BA.2, is a strain of the highly contagious omicron variant that appears to spread even more easily — about 30% more easily. Because BA.2 quickly overtook the original omicron in South Africa and other countries and has even caused a second omicron surge in Denmark, researchers have been bracing for the same thing to happen in the U.S. NPR
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How Long Covid Exhausts The Body
Millions of people continue to suffer from exhaustion, cognitive problems and other long-lasting symptoms after a coronavirus infection. The exact causes of the illness, known as long Covid, are not known. But new research offers clues, describing the toll the illness takes on the body and why it can be so debilitating. Studies estimate that perhaps 10 to 30 percent of people infected with the coronavirus may develop long-term symptoms. It’s unclear why some people develop long Covid and others don’t, but four factors appear to increase the risk: high levels of viral RNA early during an infection, the presence of certain autoantibodies, the reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus and having Type 2 diabetes. NY Times Read more
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What The World Got Right During The COVID-19 Pandemic
Two years ago this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) gave a name to the mysterious new disease caused by a novel coronavirus then about to rip through the world: COVID-19. One year ago, the rollout of the vaccines created to fight COVID-19 was well on its way. For all the frustrations over vaccine inequity and hesitancy, that one-year gap between the pandemic’s start and the rollout of the vaccines is nothing short of a historic success. A new report underscores just how miraculous it was. The study, from the Center for Global Development (CGD), found that the Covid-19 vaccination campaign “has been the most rapid in history,” outpacing landmark achievements in vaccination for diseases like smallpox, measles, and polio. Vox Read more
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COVID Patients May Have Increased Risk Of Developing Mental Health Problems
Social isolation, economic stress, loss of loved ones and other struggles during the pandemic have contributed to rising mental health issues like anxiety and depression. But can having COVID itself increase the risk of developing mental health problems? A large new study suggests it can. The study included only patients who had no mental health diagnoses or treatment for at least two years before becoming infected with the coronavirus, allowing researchers to focus on psychiatric diagnoses and treatment that occurred after coronavirus infection. People who had COVID were 39 percent more likely to be diagnosed with depression. NY Times Read more
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What Is The Link Between Vitamin D Levels And COVID-19?
A recent study has shown a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 severity and mortality. The study is based on data from Israel’s first two coronavirus waves before vaccines were widely available. It found that people with a vitamin D deficiency are more likely to develop a severe or critical case of COVID-19 compared to people who had sufficient levels of the vitamin in their blood. Patients with a vitamin D deficiency were 14 times more likely to have a severe or critical case of COVID-19. Additionally, the mortality rate for those with insufficient vitamin D levels was 25.6%, compared with 2.3% among those with adequate levels. |
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Apple Update Lets You Unlock iPhone With Face ID While Wearing A Mask
Apple Inc.’s next iPhone software update will finally address a grumble that’s been bugging users since the COVID pandemic started: You’ll finally be able to unlock your phone without first taking off your mask. The updated Face ID feature is expected to work on iPhones and iPads and is likely to be included in iOS 15.4, expected to be released sometime in the first half of March. Bloomberg Read more
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U.S. Surgeon General Tests Positive For COVID-19
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy announced Friday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. Murthy wrote in a long thread on Twitter that his wife and 5-year-old son were also positive for the virus and had mild symptoms. His 4-year-old daughter, who was the first in his family to test positive, is "doing ok" and has an improving fever days after he announced that she has the virus, he added. CNN Read more
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 1,250,259
California: 8,894,324
U.S.: 78,479,838
Alameda County
Total Vaccines Administered: 3,495,119
Total Cases: 249,204
Total Deaths: 1,713
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 4.4%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 2/21): 191
ICU Beds Available (as of 2/21): 73
As of February 21, cases have decreased recently but are still very high. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Alameda County area have also fallen. The test positivity rate in Alameda County is very high, suggesting that cases are being significantly undercounted. NY Times
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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 7,622
California: 84,002
U.S.: 935,336
Contra Costa County
Total Vaccines Administered: 2,424,690
Total Cases: 186,226
Total Deaths: 1,200
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 7.0%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 2/21): 117
ICU Beds Available (as of 2/21): 40
As of February 21, cases have decreased recently but are still very high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has also fallen in the Contra Costa County area. Deaths have increased. The test positivity rate in Contra Costa County is very high, suggesting that cases are being significantly undercounted. NY Times
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COVID-19 Hospitalizations Average $4,000 In Out-Of-Pocket Costs Per Visit, Research Says
Measures to protect patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from financial liability have been rolled back by most insurers in the United States, leaving the vast majority of patients with an average out-of-pocket bill of about $4,000 for each hospital stay, according to research published this week in the journal JAMA Network Open. Between March 2020 and January 2021, less than 9% of patients with private health care insurance had any cost-sharing associated with COVID-19 hospitalization. By March 2021, more than 84% of patients with private insurance had some financial responsibility for a COVID-19 hospitalization. Mercury 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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Over the past week, Alameda County has averaged 567 new cases and 4.6 new death per day.
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Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 372 new cases and 7 new deaths per day.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 2/21/2022
Oakland: 72,323
Hayward: 32,967
Fremont: 25,471
San Leandro: 15,342
Eden MAC: 14,352
Livermore: 12,648
Berkeley: 12,302
Union City: 11,094
Castro Valley: 8,551
Newark: 7,818
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 2/21/2022
Richmond: 27,527
Antioch: 25,131
Concord: 20,100
Pittsburg: 16,309
San Pablo: 11,759
Brentwood: 11,190
Oakley: 9,401
Walnut Creek: 9,162
San Ramon: 7,902
Bay Point: 6,129
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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, and Gordon Galvan. 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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