Eden Health District COVID-19 Bulletin
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Alameda County:
566
Contra Costa County:
386
California:
15,201
U.S.:
337,971
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Alameda County:
12
Contra Costa County:
6
California:
350
U.S.:
9,654
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"We are committed to meeting this moment. Time is our friend.
The curve is our enemy. Let's bend it." -
Gov. Gavin Newsom, 4/1/20
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The Eden Health District is proud to partner with the
East Bay Community Foundation
in publishing this bulletin. Through donations to its
COVID-19 Response Fund,
the EBCF provides grants to East Bay nonprofit organizations delivering essential services to those most impacted by the economic fallout from the pandemic.
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Berkeleyside, April 3, 2020
The
Berkeley Food Network
(BFN) has
registered the highest number of clients in its history of operation in the last week. Before the pandemic, the network distributed food to 500 households a week. That number leaped 180% in the last two weeks to roughly 1,400 households. The heads of pantries are urging community members to check in with them for opportunities to volunteer. More importantly, they need continued donations to help sustain their efforts to fight hunger in what they fear could be a “prolonged emergency” period.
Press Release, April 2, 2020
The City of Hayward announced today the formation of a Community Relief Fund to receive and direct charitable donations to sustain and protect local residents and businesses during the COVID-19 health emergency. Learn more at
Mercury News, April 5, 2020
The Bay Area’s COVID-19 virus came from all over. No one case ignited an epidemic that has now infected more than 11,000 and killed nearly 250 Californians. A new UC San Francisco genetic analysis detected at least eight different viral lineages in 29 patients in February and early March, suggesting multiple independent introductions of the pathogen into our state during the earliest days of the pandemic.
SF Chronicle, April 5, 2020
A few ghastly exceptions marred a good week at East Bay parks, where most heeded the details of the state’s stay-at-home order to stop the spread of the coronavirus, said Bob Doyle, manager of the nation’s largest regional park district.
SF Chronicle, April 5, 2020
For the public at large, even as people are allowed back to work and school and encouraged to take the first steps back into a functional society, they’ll be advised to keep their distance and protect themselves and others from infection. Wearing face coverings in public spaces may become common. People may still be told to work from home as much as possible. Public transit may need to be completely re-imagined to prevent overcrowding
.
SF Chronicle, April 5, 2020
San Francisco transit officials will shut down all but 17 of 68 Muni bus lines this week because an estimated 40% of the system’s operators are expected to be out because of the coronavirus outbreak. The service cut, which will take place over the next few days, comes a week after the city’s fleet of Muni light-rail trains was shuttered and replaced by buses.
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East Bay Times, April 6, 2020
This will be the “hardest and saddest week of most Americans’ lives,” the U.S. Surgeon General warned on television this weekend. But in California, there was a bit of good news Monday morning. California has largely cleared its testing backlog without a dramatic increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19, though it did cross another mile marker over the weekend. The state went over 15,000 total cases Sunday, There were 15,161 positive tests reported as of Sunday evening, a 35% increase since Friday morning. Since that time, the number of pending tests in the state has fallen from 59,900 to 15,000. The state has now received results from more than 116,000 tests, meaning fewer than one in five are coming back positive.
LA Times, April 5, 2020
Nursing homes and assisted-living centers across California continued to see significant increases in coronavirus cases, alarming officials who are trying to slow the spread. Administrators have responded by banning visitors, confining patients to their rooms and scrambling to create sterile wings to treat residents who contract the disease.
East Bay Times, April 5, 2020
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday announced a new effort to increase daily tests five-fold.
The effort, helmed by a new testing task force, will create five to seven of what Newsom called high-capacity testing “hubs” through a new partnership with UC San Diego and UC Davis.
LA Times, April 5, 2020
For those who look to school for learning and social structure, the new reality is sinking in: There will be no school as we know it after spring break. No prom. No year-end field trips. No projects to present inside a familiar classroom. Navigating the next three months left in the school year, leaders said, calls for patience and dedication from educators, self-motivation from already stressed-out students and swift actions from school districts typically mired in bureaucratic obstacles.
Legislative Analyst's Office, April 5, 2020
California's reserve level is the amount the state currently is $17.5 billion. Compared to prior recessions, the state enters this period of economic uncertainty with significant reserves. That said, in the past, a budget problem associated with a typical recession could significantly exceed this sum.
Press Release, April 4, 2020
Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser ordered that no gatherings of any number of people may take place outside of family members residing in the same home. Dr. Kaiser also ordered everyone to wear a face covering when leaving home, including essential workers.
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Field Hospitals Accept Patients
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This photo shows a field hospital at the
New Orleans convention center
which opens today. Patients with
COVID-19 who no longer need acute care treatment but still require medical supervision will be sent to the facility to free up beds at area hospitals. Similar field hospitals are being established in the SF Bay Area including at the
Craneway Pavillon in Richmond
.
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Bloomberg, April 5, 2020
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence said they see signs the U.S. coronavirus outbreak is beginning to level off or stabilize, citing a day-to-day reduction in deaths in New York, the Covid-19 epicenter in the country. “We are beginning to see the glimmers of progress,” Pence said at a White House news conference on Sunday.
New York Times, April 5, 2020
Hospital officials, doctors, public health experts say that official counts have failed to capture the true number of Americans dying in this pandemic, as a result of inconsistent protocols, limited resources and a patchwork of decision-making from one state or county to the next.
Washington Post, April 5, 2020
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counts only deaths in which the presence of the coronavirus is confirmed in a laboratory test. A widespread lack of access to testing in the early weeks of the U.S. outbreak means people with respiratory illnesses died without being counted. Even now, some people who die at home or in overburdened nursing homes are not being tested, according to funeral directors, medical examiners and nursing home representatives.
NY Times, April 5, 2020
Although many have weathered racist remarks and some physical attacks over the virus, Chinese-Americans are tapping their deep social networks to procure medical supplies.
Reuters, April 4, 2020
President Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on his support for a drug that is still being tested to treat the coronavirus, saying he might take the medicine himself and encouraging others with doctor approval to do the same. Trump also chided some states for requesting more ventilators from the federal government than he said they needed.
NY Times, April 5, 2020
President Trump doubled down Sunday on his push for the use of an anti-malarial drug against the coronavirus, issuing medical advice that goes well beyond scant evidence of the drug’s effectiveness as well as the advice of doctors and public health experts.
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Korea Herald, April 6, 2020
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo stated that the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak "may drag on for months, or even years.” Until a vaccine is produced, there is “no alternative to social distancing” and the distancing practice may have to go on indefinitely, said Professor Lee Jae-gap, an infectious disease expert. He warned of an impending virus surge in Seoul.
Japan Times, April 5, 2020
Tokyo confirmed at least 143 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, metropolitan government sources said, again breaking the record for the most seen in the capital in a single day. The new cases pushed the total in Tokyo over 1,000. Meanwhile, the number of people with the pneumonia-causing coronavirus who have died in Japan exceeds 100.
Reuters, April 5, 2020
Italy reported its lowest daily COVID-19 death toll for more than two weeks on Sunday as authorities began to look ahead to a second phase of the battle against the new coronavirus once the lockdown imposed almost a month ago is eventually eased.
Reuters, April 5, 2020
NY Times, April 4, 2020
The pandemic has hit Germany hard, with more than 92,000 people infected. But the percentage of fatal cases has been remarkably low compared to those in many neighboring countries.
BBC, April 1, 2020
The lack of widespread, systematic testing in most countries is the main source of discrepancies in death rates internationally, says Dietrich Rothenbacher from the Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry. As a result, the current figures are “not at all” directly comparable between countries.
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Associated Press, April 5, 2020
As the first alarms sounded in early January that an outbreak of a novel
coronavirus
in China might ignite a global pandemic, the Trump administration squandered nearly two months that could have been used to bolster the federal
stockpile
of critically needed medical supplies and equipment. A review of federal purchasing contracts shows federal agencies largely waited until mid-March to begin placing bulk orders of N95 respirator masks, mechanical ventilators and other equipment needed by front-line health care workers.
Nicolas Kristof, NY Times, April 4, 2020
Many people seem to believe that once we get through this grim month or two, the nightmare will be over. But the virus is resilient, and health experts warn that this may be just the first wave of what may be many waves of infections until we get a vaccine sometime in 2021.
Washington Post, April 4, 2020
The US will likely go down as the country that was supposedly best prepared to fight a pandemic but ended up catastrophically overmatched by the novel coronavirus, sustaining heavier casualties than any other nation. It did not have to happen this way. Though not perfectly prepared, the United States had more expertise, resources, plans and epidemiological experience than dozens of countries that ultimately fared far better in fending off the virus.
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LA Times, April 4, 2020
But how can the same virus affect people so differently — killing some while leaving others blissfully unaware that they have been infected at all? We spoke with two infectious disease experts to answer that question.
NY Times, April 5, 2020
While a simple face covering can reduce the spread of coronavirus by blocking outgoing germs from coughs or sneezes of an infected person, experts say there is more variation in how much homemade masks might protect the wearer from incoming germs, depending on the fit and quality of the material used.
Daily Kos, April 2, 2020
How to shop during the pandemic to reduce the chance of spreading or catching COVID-19.
Huffington Post
Advice on how to be productive, maintain relationships, and avoid developing wrist, neck and back pain while working from home.
NY Times, April 1, 2020
A large-scale, new study finds that for every additional 4,000 steps someone takes in a day, even if it’s just ambling around the block or across the room, his or her risk of dying early from heart disease, cancer or any other cause drops by 50 percent or more.
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Nonprofit Spotlight: Davis St.
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Located in San Leandro and serving residents across the Eden Area, Davis Street is rising to the moment through its primary care clinic, food pantry and pre-school and child care programs for children of essential workers. Davis Street is in need of volunteers, N95 and surgical masks, sanitizing items, and unexpired food.
Monetary donations are also requested
.
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Hospitals throughout the East Area are experiencing
a shortage of medical supplies. They are seeking business and community donations of new items in original packaging of protective masks, gowns and gear, hand sanitizer and other products. For more information on how to donate visit:
Additional lists of SF Bay Area hospitals, neighborhood clinics and hospices accepting donations can be found
here
and
here
. Also a group of SF Bay women have launched
Mask-Match.com
to connect donors with medical facilities that need masks.
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We Welcome Your Feedback and Please Share
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.
Please share our bulletin with your contacts. If you would like to submit feedback or stories on the local response to the pandemic you would like us to highlight, please contact Barbara Adranly, EHD Clerk, at
[email protected].
We welcome additional subscribers to our free bulletin.
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to subscribe.
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