COVID-19
breaking news & updates
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Eden Area Annual Community Toy Drive Underway
Help put a smile on a child's face this holiday season! Unwrapped toy donations benefiting local children are being collected until Wednesday, Dec. 22. Donation drop-off sites:
San Lorenzo
15903 Hesperian Blvd.
Monday - Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
377 Paseo Grande
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
Oakland
1221 Oak Street, 5th floor
Monday - Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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COVID Test Resources
Food Pantries
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Oakland Could Require Proof Of COVID-19 Vaccinations To Go To Restaurants, Gyms Under Proposed Ordinance
People dining inside restaurants in Oakland or visiting other indoor public gathering spaces such as gyms may have to show proof that they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 if the City Council approves an emergency ordinance on Tuesday. The ordinance, proposed by Councilmember Dan Kalb, is similar to ones adopted several weeks ago by San Francisco and Contra Costa counties and the city of Berkeley. It would require adults to show their vaccine card and ID inside places where food or drinks are served, and at concert venues or museums, gyms, yoga studios, assisted living homes, senior centers, libraries, dentist offices and Oakland City Hall. The law would also apply to youths 12 and older, but they would not be required to show identification. East Bay Times Read more
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Bay Area Health Officers Renew Booster Calls, Say "Many More Cases" Expected Amid Omicron Variant
Health officers across the Bay Area renewed calls for people to get COVID-19 booster shots Friday, as many have yet to receive their third dose while the omicron variant rapidly spreads across the region. “Many more cases of Omicron are expected to be reported in the coming days and weeks and based on the exponential growth in cases being seen in Europe, there is a significant risk of exponential growth in COVID-19 cases in our region in the coming weeks,” said a statement signed by health officers in all nine Bay Area counties, Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, along with the City of Berkeley. KPIX5 Read more
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Bay Area Schools Give Students At-Home COVID Tests Ahead Of Winter Break
Several school districts across the Bay Area handed out at-home COVID-19 testing kits for their students ahead of the winter break. The message is to get tested before you go and please test again before you come back from winter break. Meanwhile, county health directors across the Bay Area are urging people not to forget this important component of testing before and after the holidays. NBC Bay Area Read more
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Where To Find a COVID Test Near You In The Bay Area
If you're looking for COVID-19 testing in the Bay Area, you have several options — and for many testing sites you don’t need health insurance. Unless otherwise noted, testing sites use nasal or oral swabs to determine whether you have the virus — not an antibody (serology) blood-based test to determine whether you've been exposed. Most sites require appointments, and test results should be available within three days. If you need results sooner, be sure to select a rapid test. KQED Read more
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Local Doctors Monica Gandhi And Bob Wachter Are Seen As "Diametric Poles" On COVID Measures. Here’s What They See Coming In 2022
UCSF Department of Medicine Chair Bob Wachter and infectious disease doctor Monica Gandhi turned into Twitter celebrities and public health emissaries amid the coronavirus pandemic. But they don’t always agree. With the holidays approaching, the new omicron variant emerging and 2022 around the corner, Gandhi and Watcher joined Fifth & Mission host Cecilia Lei and Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday live on Twitter Spaces on Dec. 10 to talk about their different pandemic perspectives, and what we can — or should — expect from COVID-19 in 2022. SF Chronicle Read more
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San Francisco Believes It Has At Least 31 Omicron Cases
As global warnings about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus grow more urgent, Californians may feel as if they’re sliding back into phases of the pandemic they once thought — or hoped — were long gone. Outbreaks, canceled events and indoor mask mandates all echo the worst moments of the last 22 months. “Fasten seat belts & up your precautions,” Dr. Robert Wachter, UCSF Department of Medicine chair, said in a tweet. “This may be riskiest time since March 2020.”
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Concerns About Omicron Prompt Stanford To Go Online For First Two Weeks Of Winter Quarter
With COVID-19 on the rise again, Stanford University announced Thursday it will return to remote classes for the first two weeks of the winter quarter. The emailed announcement to the campus community comes just weeks after university officials reported a surge in cases among students and faculty following the Thanksgiving weekend. Remote classes will begin on Jan. 3 for most students, and officials expect in-person classes to open up on Jan. 18. Mercury News Read more
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Moderna Says Its Booster Significantly Raises The Level Of Antibodies To Thwart Omicron
A booster shot of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine significantly raises the level of antibodies that can thwart the Omicron variant, the company announced on Monday.
The news arrives as Omicron rapidly advances across the world, and most coronavirus vaccines seem unable to stave off infection from the highly contagious variant. Moderna’s results show that the currently authorized booster dose of 50 micrograms — half the dose given for primary immunization — increased the level of antibodies by roughly 37-fold, the company said. A full dose of 100 micrograms was even more powerful, raising antibody levels about 83-fold compared with pre-boost levels, Moderna said. NY Times Read more
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CDC Recommends Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines Over J&J’s
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended adults take a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. or Moderna Inc. over Johnson & Johnson's after agency officials reported the rate of a rare but serious blood-clotting condition was higher than previously detected. The CDC made the move Thursday, following a 15 to 0 vote by advisers encouraging use of vaccines other than J&J’s. The agency noted similar recommendations have been made in other countries, including Canada and the U.K. People unable or unwilling to receive a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, the CDC said, will continue to have access to the J&J vaccine. Wall Street Journal Read more
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In A Trial, Pfizer-BioNTech's Low-Dose Shot Did Not Provoke An Adequate Immune Response In 2- To 5-Year-Olds
A low dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine did not produce a potent immune response in children 2 through 5 years of age, the companies announced on Friday, a discouraging setback that threatens to keep the vaccine from younger children for longer than many parents had hoped. In ongoing clinical trials, the companies tested 3 micrograms of the vaccine — one-tenth of the adult dose — in children 6 months to less than 5 years of age. After two doses, children between 6 months and 2 years produced an immune response that was comparable to that of people aged 16 to 25 years, the companies said. But children between 2- and 5-years-old did not. NY Times Read more
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Could mRNA Vaccines Be The Next Frontier Of Cancer Treatment?
When Omar Rodriguez finishes chemotherapy in February, he will return to the hospital for a dose of an mRNA vaccine. But it won’t be for Covid-19. Rodriguez, 47, of Edinburg, Texas, was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer this summer. He has already had surgery to remove the tumor, but even after chemotherapy, his doctor told him there’s still a 70 percent chance his cancer will return in the next five years. Rodriguez will be among the first people in the U.S. to receive a novel, personalized vaccine that harnesses the same mRNA technology used in Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s Covid vaccines. This time, the vaccine won’t teach the body to target the coronavirus, but cancer cells, instead. NBC News Read more
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Moderna Backs Down In Its Vaccine Patent Fight With The N.I.H.
Moderna has backed down in a bitter dispute with the government over who deserves credit for a crucial component of its coronavirus shot, in a case that has major implications for the vaccine’s future distribution and Moderna’s future profits.
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Omicron May Sideline Two Leading Drugs Against COVID-19
As strained U.S. hospitals brace for a new surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the fast-spreading omicron variant, doctors are warning of yet another challenge: the two standard drugs they’ve used to fight infections are unlikely to work against the new strain. AP Read more
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State/National/International News |
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Health Officials Say Omicron Variant Likely To Cause Record-High Coronavirus Cases, Hospitalizations In U.S.
Top government health officials on Sunday warned that the United States will probably see record numbers of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations as the omicron variant spreads rapidly and forces Americans to again grapple with the dangers of a pandemic that has upended life around the globe. “Unfortunately, I think that that is going to happen. We are going to see a significant stress in some regions of the country on the hospital system, particularly in those areas where you have a low level of vaccination,” Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-disease specialist, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked whether the United States could see record numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Washington Post Read more
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Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Biden Administration’s Business Vaccine And Testing Mandate
A federal appeals court has reinstated the Biden administration’s vaccine and testing requirement for private businesses that covers about 80 million American workers. The ruling by the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati lifted a November injunction that had blocked the rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which applies to businesses with at least 100 workers. In the decision Friday, the 6th Circuit noted that OSHA has historical precedent for using wide discretion to ensure worker safety and “demonstrated the pervasive danger that COVID-19 poses to workers—unvaccinated workers in particular—in their workplaces.” CNBC Read more
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OSHA Vaccine Mandate Penalties Will Begin On Jan. 10
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration said Saturday it will wait until Jan. 10 to begin issuing citations to companies that do not comply with its coronavirus vaccine mandate. OSHA also said that it would not issue citations for its COVID-19 testing requirements before Feb. 9 "so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard," the agency said. The announcement comes one day after the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reinstated the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for businesses with at least 100 workers. Axios Read more
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The C.D.C. Says Unvaccinated Students Exposed To The Virus Can "Test To Stay"
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday that unvaccinated students exposed to the coronavirus can remain in school, as long as they are tested for the virus twice in the week after and both tests come back negative. The new guidance, known as the “test to stay” protocol, could ease the burden on children who have been expected to stay home if a close contact tested positive for the virus, and on parents who have had to scramble to retrieve them from school or find day care. It also aims to minimize disruptions to learning as two highly contagious variants of the virus spread across the country, causing some school closures and threatening to upend the strategies that federal and state officials adopted to return to in-person classes in the fall. NY Times Read more
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You Tested Positive For COVID. Now What?
As the Omicron variant continues to spread around the country, many more people, including those who have been vaccinated, will test positive for the coronavirus.So what should you do if you’re one of them? If you’re in public or around people when you get the bad news, put on a mask immediately. Then isolate yourself as quickly as possible, even if you don’t have symptoms. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends isolating for 10 days after you test positive. NY Times Read more
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Why Omicron Could Bring The Deadliest Phase In The Pandemic Yet
COVID-19 cases are surging upward again in the United States, and public health experts are warning the fast-spreading omicron variant may push the number of infections to their highest level yet. Whether this surge will be followed by an unprecedented level of hospitalization and death is uncertain, but researchers say it’s possible the most devastating phase of the pandemic is yet to come. The big reason is that Omicron appears to spread far more readily than the Delta variant that has been dominant worldwide since the summer — Omicron is 25 to 50 percent more transmissible, according to some UK estimates. Vox Read more
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Scientists Didn’t See Omicron Coming. And No One Knows What’s Next
In spring 2020, shortly after the pandemic began, many scientists predicted that the coronavirus would not evolve particularly fast. But those predictions have been upended time and again — and never more so than with Omicron, a variant with an astonishing number of mutations that is rampaging through Europe and South Africa. In New York, cases are suddenly soaring to record levels as holiday parties and sports games are canceled, and California officials are bracing for a similar crisis in the coming weeks. Once again, uncertainty and worry are rising. No one knows what the next Greek letter variants will unleash. SF Chronicle Read more
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"A Perfect Storm" For Delta, Omicron Could Overwhelm Hospitals Within Weeks
The rapid growth of Omicron is prompting officials to warn that hospitals could easily become overwhelmed, potentially within weeks, as they deal with a combination of the newest variant of the coronavirus along with patients hit by a holiday wave of the Delta strain. California and the rest of the nation now face a formidable winter. According to the state’s COVID forecasting models, there are plausible scenarios in which a winter surge could hit hospitals worse than the summer Delta wave, which strained facilities across swaths of the state. The combination is “a perfect storm for overwhelming our hospital system that is already strained,” said Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, a deputy health officer for Orange County. LA Times Read more
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COVID-19 Breakthrough Hospitalizations: Who Gets Sick When Vaccines Don’t Work?
As the new omicron variant continues to spread throughout the United States, vaccinated people who are older or sicker are at greatest risk of hospitalization from a COVID-19 breakthrough infection, according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. But the shots continue to offer some protection, because these breakthrough illnesses are shorter and milder than sickness in unvaccinated people, the study found. “It tells us the older people and people with high-risk preexisting conditions should continue to be cautious about COVID, especially given the new variant,” said study author and public health expert Cynthia Cox, vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation. East Bay Times Read more
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The Virus Is Not Tired Of You: Fast- Spreading Omicron Shows "At Most Limited Changes In Severity"
Friday was another day of very mixed messages on Omicron. Some hopeful results out of South Africa show the number of daily cases taking a slight drop in the Gauteng district where the variant first became dominant. There has also been a decline in patients under critical care in that region. At the same time, the rate of deaths in South Africa has remained almost flat throughout the Omicron spike so far. The result has been a great tendency to declare that omicron is, in fact, milder than Delta or previous variants. The Daily Kos
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Doctors And Nurses Are "Living In A Constant Crisis" As COVID Fills Hospitals
On the top floor of the hospital, in the unit that houses the sickest COVID-19 patients, 13 of the 14 beds were occupied. In the one empty room, a person had just died. Through surge after surge, caregivers in the unit at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw, Mich., have helped ailing patients say goodbye to their relatives on video calls. The medical workers have cried in the dimly lit hallways. They have seen caseloads wane, only to watch beds fill up again. Mostly, they have learned to fear the worst. New York Times Read more
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 631,488
California: 5,206,956
U.S.: 50,859,891
Alameda County
Total Vaccines Administered: 3.040,627
Total Cases: 125,205
Total Deaths: 1,531
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 1.6%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 12/20): 101
ICU Beds Available (as of 12/20): 86
As of December 20, cases have increased recently and are high. The number of hospitalized COVID patients has also risen in the Alameda County area. Deaths have remained at about the same level. 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: 6,914
California: 75,727
U.S.: 806,453
Contra Costa County
Total Vaccines Administered: 2,135,271
Total Cases: 104,388
Total Deaths: 1,069
Test Positivity (7-day rate): 2.4%
Hospitalized Patients (as of 12/20): 46
ICU Beds Available (as of 12/20): 31
As of December 20, cases have stayed about the same recently and are still high. The numbers of hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in the Contra Costa County area have also 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 To Double Mask Correctly
As new, more contagious variants of the novel coronavirus spread around the world, public health officials are advising us to upgrade our mask protection. One of the easiest ways to do that is to wear two masks at the same time. Here are answers to common questions about the dos and don’ts of double masking. NY Times 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 148 new cases and 2.6 new deaths per day.
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Over the past week, Contra Costa County has averaged 144 new cases and 1 new death per day.
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Alameda County, cumulative
as of 12/20/21
Oakland: 39,000
Hayward: 17,804
Fremont: 11,331
Eden MAC: 7,739
San Leandro: 7,682
Livermore: 6,886
Berkeley: 5,551
Union City: 5,348
Castro Valley: 3,984
Newark: 3,709
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Top 10 Locations of Cases in
Contra Costa County, cumulative
as of 12/20/21
Richmond: 15,529
Antioch: 15,013
Concord: 11,674
Pittsburg: 9,777
San Pablo: 6,762
Brentwood: 6,663
Oakley: 5,576
Walnut Creek: 4,667
Bay Point: 3,915
San Ramon: 3,535
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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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