November 11, 2020
Eden Health District COVID-19 Bulletin
“We are certainly seeing, almost all across the state, an upward trajectory. If trends don’t ease by next week, over half of California counties will have moved into a more restrictive tier."
Dr. Mark Ghaly, California Secretary of Health and Human Services, 11/11/20

"The most critical way to protect against Covid-19 is to wear a face covering whenever you are near people who do not live with you, and whenever you go in a building that is not your home."
Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa Health Officer, 11/10/20
Close-knit sweater tree forest appears in downtown Livermore
Teenagers Jash Gada, Vincent Su and Eddie Wang set up a weekly barbershop at Grace Baptist Church, in San Jose, where they cut hair for some of the dozens of people who stay at the church shelter or come for a free shower or food.

Su explained that the teens have been cutting their friends’ and family’s hair for fun the past few years. Then, when barbershops closed during the coronavirus shelter-in-place, the trio put a new twist on their hobby.

“I kind of saw this as an opportunity to use a skill I needed to give back,” Su said.

The Lynbrook High School seniors established Bay Cuts, a free traveling barber service. The trio has given away about 50 haircuts to men and women at Grace Baptist since May.
Wang said talking with the clients has also snipped away at their own stereotypes of the homeless. “They’re just like us,” he said. “They’re just normal people that had some unfortunate events happen to them. They could be a distant uncle or just our neighbors.”

Shelter case manager Sachin Radhakrishnan is inspired by the young barbers. “I kept telling them, ‘I wish I was that mature at your age,'” he said.

Gada said everyone feels a buzz of excitement when they’re done. “It’s like a feeling of warmth that you feel when you finish giving them the haircut. You see them smile and they feel confident.”

By the Numbers
CONFIRMED CASES
Alameda County: 25,110

Contra Costa County: 20,418

Bay Area: 126,236

California: 991,225

U.S.: 10,339,570
REPORTED DEATHS
Alameda County: 474

Contra Costa County: 253

Bay Area: 1,852

California: 18,078

U.S.: 240,521
Bay Area News
SF Chronicle, November 11, 2020
As coronavirus cases spike across California, three more Bay Area counties could backslide as soon as next week to a more restrictive tier in the state’s reopening plan — which would place new limits on businesses as the critical holiday season gets under way.

Napa and Santa Clara counties are on track to regress from the “moderate” orange tier to the “substantial” red tier in the state’s next assessment on Nov. 17. Solano County could move backward to the most restrictive “widespread” purple tier after hovering on the edge for several weeks.
They would follow the 11 California counties, including Contra Costa and Santa Cruz, that were bumped back to more restrictive tiers Tuesday. San Francisco also shut down indoor dining because of spikes in coronavirus cases.

County officials say a number of factors are driving the surge in infections, including household transmission, large gatherings, Halloween activities, contact-tracing difficulties and “pandemic fatigue.”

Contra Costa Health Services, November 10, 2020
In response to evidence that COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in Contra Costa, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today moved the county back into the red tier of its Blueprint for a Safer Economy, restoring more safety requirements to slow the virus and save lives. Most new COVID-19 cases in Contra Costa are spread within the home, with an infected member of a household passing the virus to people with whom they live.

Effective starting Friday, Nov. 13 in Contra Costa:

  • Retail stores that operate indoors must scale back their maximum occupancy to 50% or 100 people, whichever is lower.
  • Indoor shopping malls must reduce their occupancy and reduce the occupancy of food courts to 25% or 100 people, whichever is fewer.
  • Office workspaces must operate remotely.
  • Higher education institutions must keep indoor lectures and student gatherings to 25% occupancy or 100 people, whichever is fewer.
  • Gyms and fitness centers must scale back their indoor occupancies to 10%.
  • Communal indoor pools must close.
  • Indoor family entertainment centers, such as bowling alleys, must close their indoor operations. Amusement parks cannot operate.
  • Most live outdoor theatrical, musical or artistic performances are prohibited.

SF Chronicle, November 10, 2020
San Francisco will shut down indoor dining this Friday and is pausing plans to reopen high schools after reporting an alarming spike in coronavirus cases that is pushing the city toward a coronavirus surge that could surpass the summer peaks, city and public health leaders said Tuesday.

The city remains in the least restrictive, yellow tier in California’s reopening plan, but public health officials said Tuesday that they were imposing immediate, aggressive new restrictions because of the “rapid and significant” increase in cases, including a 250% jump since Oct. 2.

In Santa Cruz County, public health officials said a recent spike in cases was tied to Halloween. With the move to a more restrictive tier, several attractions at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk that opened only last weekend will have to close again.
Health News
NY Times, November 11, 2020
Breaking from its tentative recommendations on mask use thus far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday that using masks benefits wearers, which is a step beyond its previous declaration that said wearing masks would only protect those around them.

“Experimental and epidemiological data support community masking to reduce the spread” of the virus, the C.D.C. said in a document that details scientific evidence supporting mask use. “Individual benefit increases with increasing community mask use,” it said.

LA Times, November 11, 2020
While a winter surge of COVID-19 is now unavoidable, experts caution that the number of infections and deaths it will bring is not yet written in stone — and its magnitude depends on what we do next. Hundreds of thousands of lives may hang in the balance.“Saying a surge is inevitable may sound like fatalism,” said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “But just because some surge of some size is inevitable, it doesn’t mean the size is inevitable.” Simply getting people to wear masks every time they leave their homes would reduce infection rates by 25%, experts say.

Nature, November 11, 2020
The reasons for the drop in the mortality rate of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 are "not entirely obvious" Nature reports: "There have been no miracle drugs, no new technologies and no great advances in treatment strategies for the disease that has infected more than 50 million and killed more than 1.2 million around the world. Hard-won experience, changing demographics and reduced strain on hospitals are all possibilities — but no one knows how long the change will last."

The Hill, November 10, 2020
The federal government will begin distributing Eli Lilly's coronavirus antibody treatment this week, but supplies will be limited and getting the drug into infected patients will be a challenge, officials said. The drug itself is administered through an IV infusion that takes more than an hour and requires another hour of observation afterward, officials said.

The FDA issued an emergency authorization of the experimental drug on Monday for people newly infected with COVID-19 and who are seen as at risk of developing a severe form of the disease.  Officials on Tuesday emphasized the evidence shows it works only when administered early in the disease progression, and is not meant for hospitalized patients. 

STAT, November 11, 2020
Large urban hospitals across the U.S. are rushing to buy expensive ultra-cold freezers to store what’s likely to be the first approved Covid-19 vaccine. But most rural hospitals can’t afford these high-end units, meaning health workers and residents in those communities may have difficulty getting the shots.

The vaccine, developed by Pfizer and the German firm BioNTech, seems to provide 90% immunity according to early data released on Monday. But there’s a catch: The vaccine has to be stored at -70 degrees Celsius. Typical freezers don’t get that cold, making distribution of this vaccine a logistical nightmare.

The CDC has advised state health departments against purchasing ultra-cold freezers — which cost $10,000 to $15,000 each — saying other vaccines with less demanding storage requirements will be available soon. Hospitals with money to spare are flouting this guidance. 

NY Times, November 11, 2020
People with intellectual disabilities and developmental disorders are three times as likely to die from Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, compared with other people who contract the disease, according to a large analysis of insurance claims data.
The finding raises complex questions about how new vaccines should be allocated when they become available in limited supplies.
US and California Data: Last 90 Days
Covid Tracking Project, 11/10/20 (bold lines are 7-day averages)
United States
California
California News
Mercury News, November 11, 2020
A day after recording its most new cases of Covid-19 since August, California reported an even larger number of new infections Tuesday. Counties around the state on Tuesday combined to report 8,453 new cases of Covid-19 and another 64 fatalities from the virus. Tuesday’s total amounted to the most new cases in a single day since mid-August and raised the daily average to its highest point — 6,351 per day over the past week — since about the same time.

On Monday, the total number of patients receiving care for Covid-19 in the state reached 3,083 – a 32% increase in two weeks — according to the latest data from the California Department of Public Health.

For a span of nearly two months, there wasn’t a day when there were 3,000 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 around California. At its peak this summer, there were as many as 7,170 patients hospitalized across the state, but that figure fell below 3,000 on Sept. 11 and didn’t return to that level until Sunday

Although some states are reaching the upper limits of their medical capacity amid a third wave sweeping across the nation, in California, active Covid-19 patients make up about 5% of the state’s total beds, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a recent update.

Orange County Register, November 10, 2020
Ten of California’s 58 counties changed tiers on Tuesday, Nov. 10, according to the weekly update to the state’s four-tier coronavirus tracking system. There are now six counties categorized in the least restrictive yellow tier. That is down from nine that were listed as yellow last week.

Three counties—San Diego, Sacramento and Shasta—regressed from red to the most restrictive purple tier. The state has 12 counties now in the purple tier. At a minimum, counties have to remain in a tier for 3 weeks before they can progress on, and they have to meet the next tier’s criteria for at least two consecutive weeks before making a move. They can also backtrack if their performance on the metrics reverses course.

Sacramento Bee, November 11, 2020
As the holidays approach and Covid-19 rates trend up in California, government health officials are urging residents to avoid activities where people easily spread the coronavirus.
California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly on Tuesday outlined which “high-risk” behaviors people should avoid to prevent another debilitating spike in disease rates:

·     Activities where you can’t keep your mask on (eating and drinking are examples).
·     Contact with people outside your household. Although it may be counter-intuitive, Ghaly said this is especially risky with people you know well because you may let your guard down.
·     Activities where you can’t keep your distance or that take long periods of time. Eating at a small table is a good example, as is crowding around a board game.
·     Gatherings in spaces without good air flow. Outdoor spaces are safest during the pandemic, but opening windows and doors can help make indoor spaces safer, too, Ghaly said. Avoid gathering in rooms with poor ventilation.

Mercury News, November 11, 2020
Eight months into the public health crisis, the neighboring states have made starkly different choices on tracking and reporting workplace outbreaks — decisions that shape how much the public knows about the spread of coronavirus as hotspots appear at meat-packing plants, stadium construction sites, warehouses and other essential worksites.

Since May, Oregon has used a centralized tracking system, which has enabled health officials there to release weekly reports that list the names and addresses of every known business with at least 30 employees where five or more positive Covid-19 cases are identified. California, in contrast, doesn’t post workplace outbreaks. The state lets its 58 counties handle coronavirus data, with wide variety in how each county tracks and reports workplace outbreaks.

Sacramento Bee, November 11, 2020
Leaders across Sacramento’s faith community are trying to show optimism and patience in the face of yet another round of restrictions wrought by a surge in coronavirus cases. The California Department of Public Health on Tuesday moved Sacramento County into the “purple tier” — the most extreme category for coronavirus limitations. Places of worship must cease in-person indoor services, assuming they restarted them at all.
US News
CNN, November 11, 2020
Following weeks of rapid climbs in Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations, more state leaders have begun asking residents to stay at home in hopes of helping curb an already rampant spread of the virus. The announcements also come as Texas became the first US state to surpass a million cases.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak is asking people to commit to a voluntary plan he calls "Stay at Home 2.0" in the next two weeks in efforts to push a "significant reversal of the current trends" in the state. Wisconsin's governor announced Tuesday he's signed a new order advising people to "stay home to save lives."

The governors join a chorus of other officials across the country who have moved to encourage more residents to stay home and limit socializing. A stay-at-home advisory went into effect last week in Massachusetts, where residents are advised to stay at home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. A stay-at-home advisory also took effect Sunday in Rhode Island, where the governor warned last week there'd be an upcoming shutdown if large house parties that were helping fuel the spread didn't stop.
NPR, November 10, 2020
Seriously ill Covid-19 patients are starting to fill up hospital beds in record numbers, and health care workers are bracing for even more patients to come in the wake of skyrocketing coronavirus infections. But the burden on hospitals is not evenly spread. Some communities, particularly in the West and Midwest are particularly hard-hit.

USA Today, November 11, 2020
The CDC started the Covid-19 crisis as the world’s public health gold standard, a beacon for other countries responding to their own outbreaks. Polls show more than eight in 10 Americans trusted its coronavirus information in early spring. Since then, the country’s faith in the CDC’s coronavirus guidance has evaporated by double digits. President Donald Trump has undermined the agency by airing his own mistrust in it. And CDC scientists and staff have increasingly expressed their deep concerns over Dr. Robert Redfield’s leadership and the state of the agency.

NY Times, November 11, 2020
Two critical unemployment programs are set to expire at the end of the year, potentially leaving millions of Americans vulnerable to eviction and hunger and threatening to short-circuit an economic recovery that has already lost momentum.

As many as 13 million people are receiving payments under the programs, which Congress created last spring to expand and extend the regular unemployment system during the coronavirus pandemic. Leaders of both major parties have expressed support for renewing the programs in some form, but Congress has been unable to reach a deal to do so. 

Axios, November 11, 2020
As tough as the pandemic has been on most Americans, it has hit many U.S. veterans especially hard and made their struggles with mental health even tougher. Isolation during the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in increased instances of depression and suicide among veterans as coronavirus cases spike all over the country.

"Sleep problems, post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression are the top reported problems for the injured veteran population, and these are some of the challenges that are being exacerbated by Covid-19," said Melanie Mousseau, vice president of program operations and partnerships at the Wounded Warrior Project.
"Not only is this a population that struggles with, day after day, working through those challenges — now this is being amplified."
CA Education News
EdSource, November 11, 2020
Sacramento, San Diego and Stanislaus counties moved from red status, or Tier 2, to purple status, or Tier 1, after Covid-19 cases in the counties increased over two weeks. The status change doesn’t impact schools that already opened. 

But moving to purple can keep schools closed, at least until the rate of infections decrease. Districts can still reopen elementary schools if they apply for waivers from their county department of health, said Sacramento County Superintendent Dave Gordon. Waivers are only given to K-6 students, even in California schools that include other grades, according to the California Department of Health.

EdSource, November 11, 2020
Los Angeles elementary schools located in predominantly low-income areas were expected to be at the front of the line to bring back their youngest students to campus through the county’s waiver program, but they remain largely absent from the application pool.

Why is the number of low-income schools on the reopening list so low? Many are not applying for the waivers. Some school officials are waiting for fear of transmission in areas that are hotspots. Others believe the small number of waivers granted each week could lead to greater inequity within school districts during a public health crisis that already has deepened the chasm between the rich and the poor. Some elementary schools, for example, within a school district could be approved for a waiver while others may not.

LA Times, November 10, 2020
This fall, thousands of students pushed the Cal State system to record high enrollment, despite predictions that the pandemic and shift to virtual learning would prompt students to leave in droves. The 23 campuses of the university collectively enrolled 485,549 students in fall 2020, about a 0.75% increase over last fall. A number of factors likely contributed to the Cal State system’s counterintuitive numbers, university officials and other experts said: The state universities’ bold decision last spring to decide to keep students online in the fall provided certainty during the early tumultuous months of the pandemic.

SF Gate, November 10, 2020
Another high school in Marin County has suspended on-campus classes after learning students attended parties in both Marin and San Francisco and didn't wear masks or socially distance amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
The Branson School in the prestigious community of Ross issued a statement Monday, saying students put the community at risk and, as a result, it's transitioning to "fully remote instruction," beginning Tuesday and until further notice.

This news comes after Marin Catholic High School suspended hybrid learning for two weeks in October after several sources shared concern over student sleepovers and at least one large party.
US Education News
NY Times, November 11, 2020
On Tuesday, Philadelphia delayed plans to bring its youngest public school students back to classrooms for at least some in-person instruction on Nov. 30 as cases rise in the city. Remote learning will continue for all students “until further notice,” officials said.

A similar trend is playing out across the country, especially in big cities, as U.S. cases and hospitalizations reach a new high. Even though research has shown that children are not likely to spread the virus, many experts say that schools cannot safely reopen while community transmission is rampant — even though closing in-person school carries a heavy social and economic cost.

The Atlantic, November 11, 2020
The litany of tragedies and inconveniences visited upon Americans by Covid-19 is long, but one of the more pronounced sources of misery for parents has been pandemic schooling. The logistical gymnastics necessary to balance work and school when all the crucial resources—time, physical space, internet bandwidth, emotional reserves—are limited have pushed many to the point of despair.

What parents are coming to understand about their kids’ education—glimpsed through Zoom windows and “asynchronous” classwork—is that school was not always working so great before Covid-19 either. Like a tsunami that pulls away from the coast, leaving an exposed stretch of land, the pandemic has revealed long-standing inattention to children’s developmental needs—needs as basic as exercise, outdoor time, conversation, play, even sleep. All of the challenges of educating young children that we have minimized for years have suddenly appeared like flotsam on a beach at low tide, reeking and impossible to ignore.

Kandy Galvez, EdSource, November 11, 2020
Giving rigid orders for students to follow reinforces teacher control over the classroom but it also impedes the creation of a learning environment where students feel safe to speak and learn from one another. The classroom shouldn’t be isolated from what happens in the real world; it should be an extension of students’ lives.

Teaching from a place of fear unintentionally teaches the students to be fearful. They are more likely to be afraid to fail and miss out on using those failures as opportunities for growth. Students in the traditional classroom setting do not raise their hands because they are afraid to be wrong.

In distance learning necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, the majority of our students have shut off their computer cameras and tell us their microphone is broken. Some don’t even participate in the text-based chat. My school recently extended instructional hours because half of our students were failing at least one class. With targeted small group instruction focused on our most vulnerable students, we were able to improve as a school.
A cancer survivor became part of the virus vaccine breakthrough
Three months ago, Dan Stepenosky, a colon cancer survivor, volunteered to help test a vaccine being developed to stop the coronavirus’ spread. Last month, his teenage daughter Kearston joined him in the trial.

For the 52-year-old lifelong educator, a few weeks of aches and pains was a small price to pay to be part of the vanguard leading the way to combat Covid-19. This week, the Calabasas father and daughter are savoring the news that the vaccine they received — developed by Pfizer and tested locally through Kaiser — has been 90% effective in protecting people from transmission of the virus in global trials. It may be in production by year’s end.

“Some people are like, ‘That’s so awesome, I’m amazed.’ And some people say, ‘You’re an idiot.’” But Stepenosky is a former high school physics teacher who isn’t swayed by others’ opinions on the coronavirus. “I believe in science and I believe in medicine, so I’m all in.”

He was actually hoping for side effects when the vaccine kicked in. “I didn’t want the placebo,” he said.

But when his muscles began to ache a few days later, the pain was so mild “I didn’t know if that’s just from being 52, or if I was thinking about it too much,” he said.
The aches ebbed and flowed, “and for three straight weeks, I wondered, is [the vaccine] doing this, or is my body just playing tricks?” Stepenosky weathered it so calmly that his daughter, 16-year-old Kearston, wanted to take the leap as well.

For Kearston, the fallout from the vaccine shot turned out to be rather humbling. “I kind of went into it with the mentality that it might be fun,” Kearston admitted ruefully. “I was clearly a bit naïve.”

She wound up sick and exhausted for days, with headaches, chills and body aches. “I wasn’t scared,” she insisted. “It was inconvenient, more than anything.” Still, for a young woman aiming for a medical career, the experience was well worth the pain.

“It was great to see the trial close up, with its challenges and problems and how thorough everything was,” she said. “Being able to play the guinea pig for such important science was super-motivating for me.”

Source: LA Times
"The virus came back to haunt them. These countries are turning it around. It can be done."
Dr. Eric Topol, 11/10/20
International News
LA Times, November 10, 2020
In country after country, the intensive-care burden of those sickened by the coronavirus is nearing and sometimes surpassing levels seen at last spring’s peak. Health officials, many advocating a return to stricter lockdowns, warn that adding beds will do no good because there aren’t enough doctors and nurses trained to staff them.

Patients from France, Belgium and the Netherlands are being sent to German intensive-care units, but German doctors say they are watching the number of free beds dwindle quickly
“But a bed, a ventilator and a monitor doesn’t mean the patient can be cared for. When it comes to nurses and specialist staff, Germany is far behind,” he said. “We have a lot of beds, but we don’t have enough staff for them.”

The Guardian, November 11, 2020
Officials in Japan have warned of an impending third wave of coronavirus infections amid a rise in cases blamed on colder weather and a government campaign to encourage domestic tourism.

As the prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, vowed to secure enough vaccines to cover Japan’s entire population, the number of daily cases continued to rise after several weeks of staying relatively stable. While Japan has avoided the large number of cases and deaths seen in the UK, US and other countries – with widespread mask wearing often cited as a factor – the decision to press ahead with a heavily subsidized tourism campaign in July appears to have contributed to a new wave of infections.

Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2020
Brazil’s decision to suspend trials of an advanced Chinese coronavirus vaccine has raised fears among doctors that politics will delay immunization efforts against a disease that has already claimed the lives of more than 160,000 Brazilians. [The decision was reversed Wednesday and trials are now set to resume.]

CoronaVac has been at the center of a bitter political dispute between Mr. Bolsonaro and São Paulo’s powerful state governor, João Doria, who is expected to run against him in the 2022 elections. 

Associated Press, November 11, 2020
With 1.6 million people buried on its grounds, which stretch across more than 5 square kilometers (1,320 acres), Behesht-e-Zahra is one of the world’s largest cemeteries and the primary one for Tehran’s 8.6 million people. The golden minarets of its Imam Khomeini Shrine, the burial site of the leader of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, are visible for kilometers (miles).

But it was not big enough for the coronavirus, which roared into Iran early this year, seeding the region’s worst outbreak. Behesht-e-Zahra is struggling to keep up with the coronavirus pandemic ravaging Iran, with double the usual number of bodies arriving each day.

Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2020
India’s middle-class households are culling their armies of domestic helpers amid the Covid-19 pandemic, eliminating a crucial source of jobs and spurring an appliance-buying binge.
Other countries have seen a surge in home-improvement spending by people stuck at home. In the U.S., it has led to shortages in refrigerators, kitchen mixers and washing machines. In India, however, this spending is putting people out of work.
Analysis/Opinion
NY Times, November 11, 2020
The pandemic caught the nation flat-footed in March, but epidemiologists have been warning for months of a fall and winter wave as people are driven indoors, schools resume in-person classes and Americans grow tired of months of precautions. Yet shortages of personal protective equipment are back, especially among rural hospitals, nursing homes and private medical practices that lack access to the supply networks that serve larger hospital chains.

As the country enters what may be the most intense stage of the pandemic yet, the Trump administration remains largely disengaged. President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is trying to assume a leadership mantle, with the appointment of a coronavirus advisory board and a call for all Americans to wear masks, but until his inauguration on Jan. 20, he lacks the authority to mobilize a federal response.

Carly Severn, KQED, November 10, 2020
Traveling during the Covid-19 pandemic raises a person's risk of contracting — or spreading — the coronavirus. Gathering in groups with other households, especially indoors, does just the same. Put these two facts together and it's clear: even when following all advised precautions, traveling to visit your family for Thanksgiving carries undeniable risk factors.

So it's no surprise that rather than try to navigate this minefield, some people are choosing to forgo the holidays with their families altogether — and declining "Friendsgivings" too — during the pandemic. But how can you have that tricky conversation with loved ones without creating a rift, or unduly hurting someone's feelings?

  • Remember: This Is Always Your Choice
  • Be Firm, But Lead With Feelings
  • Acknowledge That This [Stinks] . . . But Make Your New Plans Clear

New York Times, November 9, 2020
This is going to be a strange year, even if you do get together with family in person. Talk through your family’s comfort level, and ask each individual how they stand. The most cautious person may get to set the agenda.

When you are together, plan some way to give thanks on purpose. That might be over Zoom or email if you’re not together. But even if hugging is a no-go, we still need to be together somehow this year. Even in the best of times, family tensions tend to flare over Thanksgiving. If that happens, remember that none of this is your fault, nor is it your family’s fault. So carve the turkey (or the tofurkey!) and find togetherness however you can.

Tyler Johnson, Mercury News, November 10, 2020
We count the cost of the pandemic in communities suddenly bereft of in-person companionship, schools emptied of their students, dreams of all kinds deferred, a yet unknown burden of long-term sequelae from the virus itself and, of course, most obviously, the now more than 200,000 lives lost in the United States and more than 1 million worldwide.

In a moment when all of us could catch the virus at any moment, we would do well to remember that the dying person is each of us and every person around us.

Life is short.
Kindness matters.

Let’s wear masks as a sign of compassion and care for each other as a mark of how the pandemic has made us better, kinder, and more whole.
East Bay Focus
Alameda County
Moderate (Orange)
  • 3.8 Adjusted case rate of new Covid-19 positive cases per day per 100,000 residents
  • 1.6% Positivity rate
  • 2.8% Health equity metric
Contra Costa County
Substantial (Red)
  • 5.3 Adjusted case rate of new Covid-19 positive cases per day per 100,000 residents
  • 2.3% Positivity rate
  • 4.1% Healthy equity metric
All California counties are assigned to a tier based on its test positivity and adjusted case rate. To move forward, a county must meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks. If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier. The state updates the tier data every Tuesday, with the exception of this week when the data was updated today.

If the adjusted case rate of daily new cases per 100,000 residents rises and stays above 3.9 in Alameda County, it will enter the substantial (or red) tier later this month.
by day as of 11/10/20
by day as of 11/10/20
Over the last seven days, Alameda County officials have confirmed 948 new cases, which amounts to 58 cases per 100,000 residents.
Over the last seven days, Contra Costa County officials have confirmed 860 new cases, which amounts to 76 cases per 100,000 residents.
Top 10 Locations of Cases in Alameda County, as of 11/10/20. Alameda County does not publish cases per 100,000 in the last 14 days by city.
Oakland: 9,513

Hayward: 3,737

Fremont: 1,812

Eden MAC: 1,642

San Leandro: 1,440

Livermore: 1,083

Union City: 972

Berkeley: 851

Newark: 677

Castro Valley: 665
Top 10 Locations of Cases in Contra Costa County plus (in parentheses) cases per 100,000 in last 14 days, as of 11/11/20
Richmond: 3,795 (137)

Concord: 2,652 (95)

Antioch: 2,707 (159)

Pittsburgh: 2,233 (147)

San Pablo: 1,744 (315)

Bay Point: 1,040 (225)

Brentwood: 822 (104)

Walnut Creek: 720 (61)

Oakley: 635 (122)

San Ramon: 489 (65)
East Bay Resources


We are 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.
Mask On Eden Area
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 and community in the Eden Health District area. The posters are free and intended for businesses, health clinics, schools, churches, public agencies and nonprofit organizations to display in their entrances.

“Wearing masks in public or any gatherings, including events with friends and extended families, is essential for slowing the spread of the virus,” stated Eden Health District Director Pam Russo. “While we are seeing signs of progress in California, Alameda County remains a Covid-19 'hot spot' in the Bay Area. Please wear a mask to protect yourself while protecting others.”
The public is welcome to download and print or share “Mask On” posters from the District’s website. Posters are available in English, Spanish and Chinese languages.

Posters may also be retrieved during business hours from the lobby of the Eden Health District office building located at 20400 Lake Chabot Road, Castro Valley. Posters for the City of Hayward are also available from the Hayward Chamber of Commerce located at 22561 Main Street, Hayward.
Public Education Covid-19 Flyers
Contra Costa County Health Services has recently published highly informative flyers addressing the risks of becoming infected in certain settings and activities.
Eden Area Food Pantries
We have posted information on food pantries and food services in the cities of Hayward and San Leandro and unincorporated Alameda County including Castro Valley and San Lorenzo. You can access the information here on our website. Alameda County has also released an interactive map listing food distributions and other social services. 
Your feedback is welcome. Please share the Bulletin.
The Eden Health District Board of Directors are Gordon Galvan, Chair, Mariellen Faria, Vice Chair, Roxann Lewis, Pam Russo and Thomas Lorentzen. 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.

Each bulletin includes a summary of the top health, Bay Area, California, national, education and international news on the pandemic plus links to a diverse range of commentary and analysis. We publish the Bulletin on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, unless the day fall on a public holiday.

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We welcome your feedback on our bulletin. Please contact editor Stephen Cassidy.