COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters VA is providing COVID-19 vaccines, as authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Supply varies by facility. You can also receive your Pfizer booster outside of VA. You can locate a vaccine site at https://www.vaccines.gov/search/. Make sure to take your CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card when you go! We continue to encourage all eligible individuals to get vaccinated.

Who can get the vaccine?

We are now providing COVID-19 vaccinations to all eligible veterans and anyone who served in the military, and their caregivers and spouses, and some other beneficiaries (see below) under the authority granted by the SAVE LIVES Act.

Those now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines under the SAVE LIVES Act include:

• veterans: All Veterans are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine at VA. Eligibility includes anyone who served in the US military, including the US National Guard, Reserves, or Coast Guard, and Veterans regardless of character of discharge.
• Spouses and Surviving Spouses of Veterans: For COVID-19 vaccine eligibility, we are including spouses of same-sex and common-law marriages. Eligibility includes a widow or widower of a Veteran.
• Caregivers of a Veteran: For COVID-19 vaccine eligibility, we define a caregiver as a family member or friend who provides care to the Veteran. Caregivers may help the Veteran with personal needs like feeding, bathing, or dressing. They may also help the Veteran with tasks like shopping or transportation.
• CHAMPVA Recipients: Recipients of Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) benefits, including spouses or children of permanently and totally disabled Veterans or of Veterans who have died from service-connected disabilities. Recipients must meet CDC age requirements for vaccine administration.

What vaccines are available?

We offer the Moderna vaccine, as well as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

How can I register to be contacted for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment?

Those eligible under the SAVES LIVES Act can receive the COVID-19 Vaccine at the SFVAHCS Fort Miley campus. The COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic is now open every Monday through Friday, from 8 am to 4 pm—with no need to make an appointment or register ahead of time. Simply visit the Medical Center and inform screeners you are here to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

If you know an individual who is interested in receiving the vaccine at the Fort Miley campus or one of the SFVAHCS’ community-based outpatient clinic (CBOC) locations, please instruct them to make an appointment:

• Call this number to make a vaccine appointment for any of the following locations: 415-750-2204
  • San Francisco VA Medical Center – Fort Miley Campus
  • Downtown San Francisco
  • San Bruno
  • Oakland
  • Santa Rosa
  • clear lake
  • Ukiah
  • Eureka

I’m a Veteran who is not enrolled in VA health care. How can I enroll?

Veterans can apply for VA health care by calling 877-222-8387 or visiting https://www.va.gov/health-care/how-to-apply/.

I have a specific medical condition and don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to be vaccinated. Who should I ask?

If you have a question about your personal medical history, please communicate with your primary care provider. You can also learn quite a bit about the specifics of the COVID-19 vaccine at our Keep Me Informed tool.

In the meantime, what can I do to fight COVID-19?

Keep up the 3W’s!

It’s important for everyone to continue using all the tools available to help stop this pandemic as we learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines work in real-world conditions. Even after vaccination, Veterans and employees should continue to:

• Wear a face covering
• Watch your distance (stay 6 feet apart)
• Wash hands frequently

To get the latest updates and sign up to stay informed about COVID-19 vaccines, visit VA’s vaccine information page

The post COVID-19 Vaccines And Testing | VA San Francisco Well being Care appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO

Before the pandemic, before San Francisco closed its public schools for a year or more, Beth Kelly was on a political “cusp” between identifying herself as a progressive Democrat and a moderate one. Not anymore. This environmental lawyer and mother of two young children says she’s now “solidly in the moderate camp.”

That move may not sound like much of a change to people outside the Golden State. But it’s a significant shift in this famously liberal city where voters are pushing back against progressive policies that they see as ineffective.

On Tuesday, Ms. Kelly and other angry voters overwhelmingly recalled three members of the San Francisco school board. During a historical pandemic shutdown, the board made national headlines for its focus on renaming 44 schools, including those named after Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, while elementary schools were closed for 12 months and high schools for 17. In June, the city faces another test in a special election to boot District Attorney Chesa Boudin, one of a new cadre of progressive prosecutors across America. In December, the city’s mayor, London Breed, declared a state of emergency in the downtown Tenderloin district, vowing to end “the reign of criminals who are destroying our city.”

Why We Wrote This

San Francisco has long been a way-shower for progressive ideals. But progressive policies haven’t kept up with crisis-level social welfare needs – causing political backlash that may signal a deeper shift in liberals’ commitment to compassion-driven governance.

Could it be that San Francisco, where Republicans are only 6.7% of registered voters, has found the limits of liberal idealism? 

From her home in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset District, Ms. Kelly describes “a shift rightward,” or at least “still left, but maybe less left” than before the pandemic. “People are getting fed up with ineffective policies, and homelessness and drugs.”

Others put it slightly differently. “This is a revolution for governance,” says Siva Raj, one of the parent organizers of the school board recall. It’s not right vs. left, he explains, but a grassroots demand “for elected leaders to actually govern.”

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Beth Kelly, an environmental lawyer, plays a math game with her two children before they head off to school on Jan. 27, 2022, in San Francisco. She supported the recall of all three school board commissioners in the Feb. 15 special election, and has become known through Twitter as the parent expert on the school budget – #BethBreaksItDown.

Left or right, up or down, many San Franciscans are dismayed at the state of their beloved city, which like other urban centers in the country has seen a pandemic spike in homelessness, drug use, and homicides, not to mention student learning loss – with subsequent political reaction. In New York, concern over public safety propelled a former police officer – Democrat Eric Adams – to the mayor’s office. In Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, cleared a ballooning homeless encampment with a combination of social workers and bulldozers. Meanwhile, Glenn Youngkin last year recaptured the Virginia governorship for Republicans, running on a message of more parental control over education. In Congress, Senate Republicans are again swinging at their favorite liberal punching bag, messaging on the San Francisco mayor’s “reign of criminals” comment from December. If even San Francisco Democrats are unhappy, well then. 

“Republicans are going to cash in on popular revulsion on what appears to be an increasing criminality, certainly murders, as well as homelessness,” says Jerry Roberts, former managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and biographer of former San Francisco mayor and now Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was the last person to face a recall on the city ballot. That was in 1983.

The latest surge in socioeconomic crises brings liberalism to yet another threshold. Does this represent a pivot point for the city – or even Democrats nationwide, who might be ready to temper some of their most progressive instincts on COVID-19, crime, and education just as a crucial midterm election looms? Or, as Mr. Raj suggests, is it a call for politicians to refrain from “symbols over substance” and do the hard work when it comes to budgets, crime, and schools?

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Ed Ho, an engineer and father of two children in San Francisco public schools, relaxes at his home in the Sunset neighborhood on Jan. 27, 2022, in San Francisco. He supported the recall of all three school board commissioners.

As Ed Ho, a public school parent who voted for the recall, puts it: “We actually support criminal justice reform. We actually support Black Lives Matter. We want a better society. We want to close the achievement gaps in education. But the way that it’s being pursued now in this city is just off the rails.”

Out with the school board

On a recent Thursday at 7:15 a.m., Ms. Kelly opened the door to her world – a “work-from-home hustle” of juggling clients and children. Inside, it’s hardly the “chaos morning” she described when setting up this appointment. Her husband, a civil engineer, is asleep upstairs, having worked the night shift. He left word not to use his name or the names of the kids. 

Things quickly and quietly settle down, with mother and 5-year-old daughter on the sofa, reading aloud. Her 7-year-old son free-ranges with toys and books in the remodeled kitchen-dining room where a wall of large windows opens to a terraced garden. Eventually mom and kids migrate onto the living room rug, where they play a favorite math game with cards. Both kids are really good at this. Grandma arrives to pick them up, with the boy heading to second grade at a public school, and the girl to preschool.  

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Beth Kelly, an environmental lawyer, reads with her daughter before the child heads off to preschool on Jan. 27, 2022, in San Francisco. Ms. Kelly supported the Feb. 15 recall of three school board commissioners.

Parents of school-age children know how tough these last couple of years have been. As this attorney mom explains, her son has a “glitter sprinkle” of learning needs, and suffered educational setbacks without his individualized support from in-person school. Now that school is open, things are so much better. But last summer, Ms. Kelly was hospitalized for a month because “it was just too much – the pressure on families, working families.” 

Added strain came from her devotion to Zooming in on hourslong school board meetings that ran late into the night. One issue that caused an uproar was a rushed process to eliminate the entrance exam at prestigious Lowell High School in order to fight racism at the school and provide more opportunities for Black and Latino students. Parents of Asian students, who made up slightly more than half of the student body, were particularly upset. A judge ruled the board’s decision-making process violated the law, and declared its decision null and void.

Ms. Kelly’s interests, however, were focused on budget challenges. “I started looking at some of the board meetings. No one was paying attention to the structural deficit.” An admitted numbers geek, she began tweeting out reports from every meeting, missing family dinners, missing swim lessons. Under the hashtag #BethBreaksItDown, she became a tweeting sensation. The outgoing board inherited the nine-figure deficit, but she says the board’s inaction meant that more than $100 million in federal funds intended to catch kids up from learning loss instead went to fill the budget hole.

“I found the whole process extremely disturbing. … It’s a crisis. It’s nuts and bolts. You have to balance your budget.” Also disturbing – the nasty social media backlash from progressives who derided this white mom for sending her kid to a “white” school that is just 35% white. Another target for derision: the success of her school’s PTA in fundraising.

“This year has made me feel very unwelcome in both the public-schools sphere and certainly in the more progressive wing of things,” Ms. Kelly states. “There is a real liberal discomfort with affluence and whiteness.” That’s a lot of internal conflict for a city where two-thirds of the population is registered Democrat, half the population is ethnically white, and the median household income is nearly twice the national average. 

Nearly 30% of San Francisco’s K-12 students go to private schools. If progressives keep shunning these families, she explains, enrollment in public schools will continue to decline, and so will funds, which are based on enrollment. That means closing schools. “We need to bring those families back in,” she says. “We need education for everybody.”

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

First grade teacher Jeremiah Jeffries sets up a literature drop for the No School Board Recall organization in the Sunset District of San Francisco on Jan. 29, 2022. “The Board of Education kept us safe during the pandemic,” Mr. Jeffries says.

Clash in the city of tolerance

San Franciscans pride themselves on being tolerant and compassionate, a city of second chances. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, likes to invoke the prayer of her city’s patron saint, St. Francis: “Lord, make me a channel of thy peace.” 

This tolerance and activism, for instance, brought a sea change in the nation’s LGBTQ culture and laws. In his history of California, the late Kevin Starr writes that as a port city, with a “live-and-let-live” attitude, San Francisco attracted gays and lesbians from the 19th century onward.

Easton Agnew-Brackett, also a Democrat and resident of the Sunset District who voted for the school board recall, loves San Francisco for its weather, architecture, and stunning beauty – all of which make this the most expensive place to buy a house in the United States (median sales price: over $1.3 million). This college counselor grimaces over the “very, very expensive” cost of living, but embraces the city’s values. “As a gay parent, I am treated just like any other parent. And I can walk down the street with my kids and my husband and people don’t give me weird looks.”

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A mural is seen in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district on Jan. 28, 2022. The neighborhood is testing progressive policies, seen by some as inadequate to combat a pandemic spike in homicides, homelessness, and drug use.

But that tolerance seems to elude city politics: “Like a knife fight in a phone booth,” the saying here goes – with consequences that can be fatal. In 1978, a former San Francisco supervisor assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to political office in the nation.

Ms. Kelly says equity, compassion, and social justice are her “core beliefs,” and she and others are deeply troubled by the demonization of those who disagree with progressives on the school board issue. Anti-Asian tweets by one school board member, the Lowell High School changes, plus a surge in hate crimes against Asian people have galvanized that community.

A school board supporter, Julie Roberts-Phung, who co-chaired the no-recall effort, cites doxxing and harassment of people opposed to the recall. Pictures of two board members were painted with swastikas and burned, she says. This school board is the most credentialed, diverse board she’s seen – one that responded to parents’ concerns about pandemic safety.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Charles Pitts, who has been homeless for four years, chats outside the Linkage Center, which provides health and social welfare services at U.N. Plaza in the Tenderloin on Jan. 27, 2022, in San Francisco. Mr. Pitts sleeps in the Mission District, where it’s safer; gets a small government check; and buys from Costco outside the city and then sells his wares at twice the amount inside the city.

“We have deep-seated issues around racism in San Francisco,” she says. “There’s a lot of people who describe themselves as liberals but are taking positions that are opposite of Black and brown families in San Francisco.”

The city is a hotbed of local politics, says Mr. Roberts, the former managing editor. “It’s kind of like Beirut. There’s so many factions. It’s bare-knuckled and in your face.” The issues being vigorously argued over today – education, public safety, homelessness, race – go back decades, he says. 

In a way, today’s backlash could be described as a fight over how to be the most effectively compassionate. 

“San Francisco is plagued with idealism. We really do want to care for everybody that can’t care for themselves,” former Mayor Willie Brown told The New York Times in January, when asked about the city suffering from a crisis on the streets. But that idealism has created its own set of problems, as anyone walking the streets of the Tenderloin can see.

Safe passage in the Tenderloin

It’s a bit like parting the Red Sea. For two hours every weekday morning and afternoon, JaLil Turner and his team of 15 to 30 volunteers make sure the sidewalk along Jones and Turk streets in the Tenderloin is clear of drug dealers, drug users, tents, and any other potential dangers, so volunteers can escort young children safely to and from Tenderloin Community Elementary School.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Maria Cortes with the Safe Passage program, run by the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, helps schoolchildren cross the street on Jan. 28, 2022, in San Francisco. Ms. Cortes has two children at the local elementary school and lives in the Tenderloin neighborhood. Volunteers work two shifts, 8-10 a.m. and 2-4 p.m., protecting every corner the children pass through to get to their school and after-school programs.

“Kids are coming through,” announce the escorts, as they roll out in teal-and-orange safety vests. If they see someone openly using or dealing drugs, the escorts ask that person to move to the other side of the street. There’s no belittling or talking down, says Mr. Turner, and if someone refuses, there’s backup – a police officer who walks the route and more safety “ambassadors” contracted by the city. 

“Our group is essentially all things to help the Tenderloin,” says Mr. Turner. He manages the Safe Passage program for the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, a nonprofit that is deeply committed to this neighborhood of 50 blocks sandwiched between the luxury stores of Union Square to the east and the imposing beaux-arts City Hall, opera house, and symphony to the west.

This is the area that shocks Mr. Turner’s friends who visit from Kansas, where he went to college. The visible concentration of people struggling with substance use disorder, mental illness, and homelessness does not comport with their paradisal image of San Francisco. Also living here: the city’s largest concentration of children, 3,500 of them, as well as older adults, many of them Asian. “It’s a melting pot,” says Mr. Turner, with many young immigrant families from the Mideast and Latin America.

The Safe Passage patrols reflect that. Tatiana Alabsi, from Yemen, wears her safety vest over an abaya and hijab, and speaks Arabic. Her son goes to the school. Spanish speaker Maria Cortes, a volunteer from Mexico, has two boys in the school. The patrols start off from a sparkling YMCA in Boeddeker Park, with two “captains” peeling off at street corners along the route. Mr. Turner understands it can be uncomfortable for people to work in this area, but for him, it’s the opposite. His grandmother was a drug user who frequented the Tenderloin, and as a child, he and his mother would sometimes come here looking for her. He does this work “from the heart” to help others in a similar walk. 

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

JaLil Turner, manager of the Safe Passage program run by the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, chats before heading out for the afternoon session, on Jan. 28, 2022, in San Francisco. The program, with the help of volunteers, provides safe passage for children to and from school in the Tenderloin, and also for older adults.

Mr. Turner walks the entire route, checking in by radio every 15 minutes with his crew. Along the way, he points out fresh murals in the neighborhood, a small Yemeni eatery where he sometimes gets lunch, a street sanitation crew, and a gated corner park in pristine condition. The cleaned-up park is another improvement since the state of emergency, maintained by his nonprofit’s staff. He also passes a man behaving erratically, a sidewalk party, and at an opposite corner close to the school, drug dealing. About a dozen young people are milling about there. Which one is the drug dealer? “They all are.” 

In his three years doing this work, he has observed the stark contrast between policing and conditions in the Tenderloin and everywhere else in the city. Residents here vigorously protest the way that homelessness and drug use have been “contained” in their neighborhood. Behaviors are “allowed to happen here” that are not tolerated elsewhere, says Mr. Turner.

“If you’re selling drugs in the Presidio and you’re caught, you’re usually arrested and prosecuted. You’re not out in a day or so. You do it in the Tenderloin, and that same person you saw dealing, who was arrested in front of your eyes yesterday, will probably be out tomorrow.” It’s not unusual for him to see Tenderloin dealers commute from Oakland with him on Bart. “If you’re a drug dealer and you can go to a place where you won’t be prosecuted, you’ll probably go there every day.”

On this day, walking along Turk Street, he was pleased to point out two police officers on motorcycles – another novelty since the state of emergency, he says. Meanwhile, the nearby shopping district of Union Square is bristling with seven marked police vehicles, plus a trailer-sized emergency operations center, on the block where the Louis Vuitton store is located. In November it was hit with a sensational “smash and grab” robbery. 

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

The upscale Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco’s Union Square, seen on Jan. 28, 2022, was the site of a recent smash and grab robbery. There is now a lot of police presence in the area.

At 2:40 p.m., the Tenderloin school begins the coordinated end-of-school routine. Six groups of kids are released at intervals over the next half hour. They make their way down the Turk Street sidewalk, masked and toting backpacks, a Safe Passage worker leading the way and another one bringing up the rear. 

Now in its 13th year of operation, the entire Safe Passage effort is finely tuned. That’s a point of pride for Mr. Turner. But he also comments that the best thing for a nonprofit is to no longer be needed. “I feel like I will never not need to be here.”

Time for “tough love?”

In November, the Tenderloin Community Benefit District wrote to Mayor Breed pleading for help. Families met with her, describing daily dangers that they and their children encounter on filthy streets.

The intensity of challenges seemed to reach a boiling point in December when the mayor, citing persistent, worsening public safety and an opioid crisis with an average of two overdose deaths a day, declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin. It allowed for more enforcement and disruption of illegal activities, and cut through red tape to stand up the Tenderloin Linkage Center – a one-stop resource for people who need health, housing, or social welfare services.

“I know that San Francisco is a compassionate city. We are a city that prides ourselves on second chances and rehabilitation, but we’re not a city where anything goes,” she said.

The mayor, whose sister died of an overdose, said she was raised by her grandmother to believe in “tough love.” Described as a moderate, she is often at loggerheads with the progressive board of supervisors. She supported the recall of all three school board members and recently said that she is “not on the same page” with District Attorney Boudin.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Unhoused people chat outside the Linkage Center at U.N. Plaza in the Tenderloin on Jan. 27, 2022, in San Francisco. The center provides one-stop services, including food, vaccinations, showers, laundry, and help with housing.

“I think we’re sort of suffering the effects of what people have called progressive policies that have been in place for many years but in fact don’t really serve the very people they are purporting to serve,” says Maggie Muir, a Democratic consultant in San Francisco.

The tussle over policies comes into sharp focus at the new Linkage Center. On one hand, it’s being praised for bringing siloed agencies together under one roof and making them easy to access. It’s located at U.N. Plaza, across the street from a “safe sleeping” homeless encampment in front of City Hall. A man emerges from the center and happily says people there were able to connect him with temporary housing. He’s been homeless and fighting substance use disorder since he was let go by the National Park Service two years ago. 

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A homeless man who used to work for the park service chats outside the Linkage Center after getting signed up for housing, on Jan. 27, 2022. The Linkage Center provides one-stop services, including food, vaccinations, showers, laundry, and help with housing.

But the center has come under sharp criticism for a fenced-in, outdoor area that allows “safe use” of drugs, denounced by some as enabling users. Outside the center, a few men lean against the building, one of them holding a makeshift pipe to his face – the kind often used to smoke fentanyl, crack, or crystal meth. A young man walks up to people loitering outside the center’s entrance, announcing, “I got meth. I got crack.”

Open dealing and use without consequences “create an environment where people get caught in an endless cycle of addiction without actually getting the help they need,” says Ms. Muir.

At the state level, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he wants to make conservatorship easier for homeless people “who truly can’t help themselves.” That’s something that would have to go through the state Legislature and is sure to face stiff opposition from civil rights advocates.

On criminal justice reform, Ms. Muir points out that San Franciscans have consistently elected progressive, reformist prosecutors – the question is, what does reform look like? Mr. Boudin narrowly won in 2019 on a campaign of ending mass incarceration and holding police accountable. But Ms. Muir faults him for releasing people from jail without a real assessment of whether that person has a support network to prevent him from reoffending. Criminal justice reform and public safety “should be able to work together.”

And on housing, many cite a resistance to new projects. Progressives object to market-based housing, while residents on the west side oppose higher-density dwellings.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Del Seymour, founder of Code Tenderloin, which helps people overcome barriers to long-term employment, pauses in the Tenderloin on Jan. 28, 2022, in San Francisco. He is a community leader who lived in this neighborhood for more than 30 years, and also co-chairs San Francisco’s Local Homeless Coordinating Board.

Del Seymour lived in the Tenderloin for more than 30 years and is deeply involved in neighborhood issues through his nonprofit, Code Tenderloin. He guffaws over the premise that San Francisco is a liberal city. “That is the biggest San Francisco myth of anything,” he exclaims. “These people are so holier-than-thou,” he says of the NIMBY crowd. “It went from Summer of Love to not in my backyard.”

He would welcome a city that is much more liberal – with mental health services in place of the Tenderloin’s 40-plus liquor stores, for instance. And he doesn’t want to see a greater police presence. “We don’t need no more stinkin’ badges down here,” he says, citing heavy-handed law enforcement. “We manage ourselves pretty well.”

He’s unhappy that the mayor declared a state of emergency, calling it a matter of “dignity.” The crisis in the Tenderloin is decades old, he said. “The only thing that’s changed is the model of the cars.”

And yet, he’s pleased with the new one-stop Linkage Center. He’s also pleased that the city is buying buildings, such as a hotel, to shelter homeless people. Earlier in the pandemic, about 400 tents blocked sidewalks in this compact district. Now, it’s down to about 40 – not counting the encampment, according to the district supervisor’s office. “Things are looking up,” says Mr. Seymour. “I can see light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s not a train.”

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If there’s anything good about the pandemic, he says, it’s that “finally the homeless are coming into focus.”

Indeed, the pandemic has stirred things up in this city. Unlike in Congress, no Republican threat will force the hand of leaders here. It’s Democrats themselves who are left to work their way through these complex challenges, toward the sweet spot where compassion meets effective governance.

The post San Francisco faculty board recall: Testing liberal beliefs appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

AutoX, a Chinese autonomous vehicle company that has made plays in both the US and its home country, is now making a move into San Francisco, an area where its biggest competitors are creeping towards commercialization.

The company, which has been testing its vehicles in the greater San Jose area since 2016, shared plans to launch robotaxi operations and build an operations center in the Golden City. The center will be responsible for vehicle housing, maintenance and charging, as well as processing data collected by the cars locally and calibrating their sensors. AutoX is hiring to build out its local San Francisco team, according to AutoX’s CEO Dr. Jianxiong Xiao, who also goes by Professor X.

AutoX plans to initially start testing its hybrid Fiat Chrysler Pacificas, equipped with the company’s latest fifth-generation AV platform and a redundant drive-by-wire system, with human safety operators behind the wheel. The AV company has already acquired both a drivered testing permit, which allows testing with a human safety operator behind the wheel; and a driverless testing permit, which allows testing without a human safety operator, from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. However, AutoX’s driverless testing permit is for its third-generation vehicle and is strictly limited to San Jose, so AutoX will have to request that the DMV expand that permit to include driverless testing using its newest system in San Francisco.

The Dongfeng Motor-backed company did not say when it plans to pull the driver out for testing in San Francisco, but it did say that it would continue driverless testing in San Jose.

AutoX is moving into San Francisco at a time when others like Cruise and Waymo are actually spinning up commercial operations. Both companies have permits from the DMV to deploy their vehicles, which means they can start earning revenue for autonomous deliveries. Cruise still needs a final permit from the California Public Utilities Commission before it can charge for its robotaxi service, but the General Motors-owned company just nabbed an additional $1.35 billion from investor Softbank as it opened up its driverless ride-hailing service to the public .

The DMV’s annual disengagement reports, which were released on Wednesday, showed that Waymo drove 2.3 million autonomous miles on California’s public roads in 2021, which was far more than any competitor. Cruise followed second with around 900,000 miles driven, both with and without a human safety driver.

The same data shows that AutoX, which only drove around 50,000 miles with a safety operator, did not report any driverless testing of its vehicles. That said, AV developers aren’t required to report testing done on private tracks or closed courses.

In California, AutoX’s fleet size is 44 vehicles, according to the company. The DMV’s data shows that only six of AutoX’s total fleet were actively used for autonomous testing last year. AutoX attributes this to COVID leading the company to scale down testing, but it plans to ramp it back up this year.

AutoX is also claiming to be scaling massively in China with a robotaxi fleet of 1,000 vehicles, which the company says are distributed throughout the cities of Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, where AutoX deploys a driverless fleet. The company would not share the number of rides it has accrued via said fleet.

AutoX frequently touts its in-house full stack hardware capability, which includes a compute platform and various kinds of sensors. The kind of tech to back this up, combined with the move to increase operations in San Francisco and the expansion of a robotaxi fleet back in China, would require seriously large amounts of capital to fund.

The company last publicly announced a Series A raise in 2019, an investment that put AutoX at $160 million in total funding. For comparison, nearly all of AutoX’s Chinese competitors received funding in 2021. Momenta and Pony.ai raised $1.2 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively, WeRide raised over $600 million within a span of five months last year, and Deeproute.ai, a relatively newer company, has raised $350 million as of September 2021.

To the question of how AutoX is able to do so much scaling with less funds, Professor X told TechCrunch that while the company is indeed looking to raise a round in the coming months, it leans on the support from previous investors as well as the massive market in China for robotaxi services.

The post Chasing Cruise and Waymo, Chinese language AV firm AutoX plans to start testing in San Francisco – TechCrunch appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Carbon Health, a leading omnichannel healthcare provider, announced three new major COVID-19 testing sites in South San Francisco, California, as well as in Montgomery Township, NJ and Plainsboro Township, NJ. These community-based websites offer thousands of COVID-19 tests in areas that are seeing an increase in COVID-19 positivity rates due to the Omicron variant, at no additional cost.

Throughout the pandemic, Carbon Health has been at the forefront of patient care, partnering with cities across the country on public testing initiatives, including conducting more than 2.1 million COVID-19 tests and nearly 1.5 million vaccines. During December 2021 and January 2022, Carbon Health conducted nearly 4,000 tests per day and provided vital COVID-19 care at 100 clinics and through virtual appointments nationwide. For patients who test positive, Carbon Health offers its proprietary COVID Positive Care program, which provides access to comprehensive emergency and virtual care assessment, state-of-the-art clinical protocols, symptom trackers, device monitoring, and therapeutic modalities including symptom management and monoclonal antibody therapy.

Carbon Health works closely with public partners such as Montgomery Township and Plainsboro Township, New Jersey, and the City of South San Francisco, California to understand their unique needs to create a rapid and community-focused pandemic response. During the recent COVID-19 omicron surge, New Jersey communities have struggled to obtain rapid home tests by going to overcrowded emergency clinics and emergency rooms or receiving delayed PCR test results.

“Due to the incredible post-holiday demand for COVID-19 testing, we were looking for a reliable partner to host COVID-19 testing clinics, and Carbon Health more than delivered,” said Devangi Patel, health officer for Montgomery Township Health Department. Carbon Health was able to mobilize its resources at short notice and expand its capacity to run clinics in a matter of days. They took the time to understand our agency and our needs, and helped us provide a much-needed resource to our community around town.”

“We are at a critical juncture in the fight against the pandemic where the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly and is highly transmissible,” said Dr. Chirag Patel, Regional Clinical Director at Carbon Health. “At our nine clinics in central New Jersey, 30% of COVID-19 tests are currently positive, up from 8% in early December. Each test helps our community make more informed decisions to get kids back to school, keep businesses running, and end the surge.”

“Carbon Health is uniquely positioned to help with our expertise and experience across a variety of areas, including rapidly mobilizing healthcare teams to set up large-scale testing sites, partnering with local community governments, and our ability to flexibly scale down and scale up at these Efforts to succeed are based on local needs,” said Nita Sommers, Chief Growth Officer at Carbon Health.

Information about the test location:

Parish of Montgomery, NJ – Now open

• Location: Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products, Inc (testing will be conducted in the North Building lobby)

• Address: 199 Grandview Rd, Skillman, NJ 08558

• Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 3:00pm ET

• Type of test: PCR

• Processing time: 24-48 hours

• Register here for an appointment or available walk-ups

Plainsboro Township, NJ – Now open

• Location: Princeton Alliance Church

• Address: 20 Schalks Crossing Rd, Plainsboro Township, NJ 08536

• Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET

• Type of test: PCR

• Processing time: 24-48 hours

• Register here for an appointment or available walk-ups

South San Francisco, CA – Now open

• Address: 616 Linden Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080

• Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PT, extended hours beginning Jan. 24

• Type of test: PCR

• Processing time: 24-48 hours

• Register here for an appointment or available walk-ups

About carbon health

Carbon Health is a leading national healthcare provider with a mission to make quality healthcare accessible to all. Carbon Health provides primary and emergency care to nearly two-thirds of the United States. Leveraging its unique technology platform, Carbon Health offers its patients omnichannel care designed to meet patients where they are by delivering them through a variety of access points, including in-person clinics, virtual care and remote patient monitoring (RPM ). Carbon Health also focuses on value-based care and other value-added services for employers, health plans, health systems and other ecosystem partners.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, Carbon Health is backed by Atreides, Blackstone Horizon, Dragoneer Investment Group, Brookfield Technology Partners (BTP), Fifth Wall, Lux Capital, Silver Lake Waterman, DCVC and Builders VC. To access Carbon Health, download the app (iTunes or Google Play) or visit carbonhealth.com.

The post Carbon Well being Launches Massive COVID-19 Testing Websites in South San Francisco, California, Montgomery Township and Plainsboro Township, New Jersey appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

The latest number of confirmed cases in the U.S. can be found at the CDC’s 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the U.S. page. (The CDC updates the webpage on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.)

Join anchor Kristen Sze for ABC7’s daily, interactive newscast about the coronavirus outbreak in the Bay Area and around the world. You can check here to stream the show Monday-Friday at 3 p.m.

Jan. 11, 2022

10:30 a.m.
San Francisco issues new testing guidelines for health care providers
New San Francisco guidelines require all large health care facilities to provide access to COVID-19 testing for people with symptoms and people who have been a close contact within 24 hours of a request from a member patient. Under the new order, the largest health systems will now be required to produce documentation twice a week to the SF Department of Public Health with proof of meeting patient testing needs in a timely manner.

The city also announced more support for SFUSD, including providing more masks for students and teachers, and adding to the District supply of rapid antigen tests to support educators who are in quarantine being able to test back into the classroom.

An average of 1,386 San Francisco residents a day are testing positive for COVID-19 at testing sites, which is more than four times that of last winter’s peak at 373 cases per day.

5 a.m.
Hayward Unified returns to remote learning
Today the Hayward Unified School District is going back to remote learning for one week. More than 500 students have tested positive for COVID and there are fewer teachers available, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Making the switch to online learning means the district risks losing $2.5 million a day in funding. Students received Chromebooks yesterday. The district has set up learning hubs for students who need access to virtual learning from a school facility.

Jan. 10, 2022

5 p.m.
Sonoma Co. to temporarily ban large indoor, outdoor gatherings

Sonoma County health officials issued a temporary restriction Monday banning large gatherings as omicron variant spikes in the community. Large gatherings of more than 50 people indoors, or more than 100 people outdoors (where social distancing is not feasible), are prohibited for the duration of the order. The order will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 12 until Feb. 11.

The county also issued an appeal to residents to stay home as much as possible for the next 30 days and limit interactions with those outside of their immediate household.

5 a.m.
West Contra Costa Co. Unified schools closed today
Schools in West Contra Costa Unified will be closed today because of the spike in omicron cases. When classes resume tomorrow all staff will be required to wear a medical grade KN-95 mask. Each person will be provided one new mask every week through the end of the school year. All schools got a deep cleaning on Friday. Students and staff are asked to get a COVID test before returning to class, although this is not a requirement.

Jan. 8, 2022

7a.m.
UC Berkeley to start semester remotely, plans to resume in-person learning Jan. 31

UC Berkeley announced it will begin the semester with most classes being offered remotely.
Some students and staff had expressed concern that Berkeley was the only University of California undergraduate campus not planning to offer virtual learning.
Remote classes will begin January 18, and plans to go full in-person instruction will resume on January 31.
You can read the university’s statement here.

5a.m.
Vallejo City Hall Closed until Feb. 28

Vallejo City Hall will be closed to the public until at least March because of a spike in COVID cases.
City Council, Board, and Commission meetings will still happen in-person for now.
City Council will consider switching to completely virtual meetings in its next session on Tuesday.
If you need to reach a certain department, it’s taking virtual appointment meetings Mondays through Thursdays.
Drop boxes for bill payments are open.

Jan. 7, 2022

11p.m.
Hayward Unified to remote for 1 week

The Hayward Unified School District voted on Friday go back to remote learning for a week starting Monday.
The debate went on for several hours and the majority of the discussion and public comments focused not so much on whether to go back to distance learning, but if one week was actually too short.
There were several parents and even board members urging the kids be kept out of class for two weeks or even until the start of February.
The school board will revisit the decision and its next meeting and consider an extension for remote learning.

7:30p.m.
Gov. Gavin Newsom sends CA National Guard to help with state’s COVID-19 testing capacity

Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday he has sent the California National Guard to help communities throughout the state with additional testing sites as COVID-19 cases continue to grow.

In a statement by the governor, “the National Guard plan will deploy more than 200 Cal Guard members across 50 Optum Serve sites around the state, providing interim clinical staff while permanent staff are hired adding capacity for walk-ins, assisting with crowd control and back-filling for staff absences – all in an effort to conduct more tests for more Californians. “

The COVID-19 testing site in Antioch located at 4703 Lone Tree Way, Antioch, CA 94531, started receiving aid from the National Guard on Friday, the governor’s office said.

“On Monday, the site will double the number of testing windows to four and double the number of appointments per day. The site is open Saturday from 11a.m. – 7p.m. Additional sites in Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties will also receive assistance from the National Guard beginning today and through the coming days.”

Additional members of the national guard will be deployed next week in similar capacities.

“California has led the country’s fight against COVID-19, implementing first-in-the-nation public health measures that have helped save tens of thousands of lives,” said Governor Newsom in written statement. “We continue to support communities in their response to COVID by bolstering testing capacity.”

The activation of the CA National Guard is on top of the additional 6,000 testing sites across the state as well as the nearly 10 million tests given to schools since early December, the governor said.

12 p.m.
CA reports more than 100,000 new COVID cases
The state of California released new coronavirus numbers on Friday. See the breakdown below:

103,606 new cases
5,634,357 total cases
292 new deaths
76,341 total deaths
7 day test positivity rate = 21.7%
9,279 hospitalized patients
(up 608)
1,500 icu patients
(up 70)

San Jose City Council set to approve booster mandate
Next week, San Jose’s city council is set to approve an update to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. If approved, it would require people who visit city-owned facilities like SAP Center, where the Sharks play and the San Jose Convention Center to provide proof that they have received a booster vaccination. The proposal would also require city employees to get a booster, if eligible, or prove that they have received one.

Jan. 6, 2022

Noon
Cal State East Bay going remote for first 2 weeks of spring 2022 semester

Cal State East Bay is the latest CSU to announce it will delay in-person learning.
The university said it will begin the first two weeks of the spring 2022 semester remotely, according to its website.
Class and labs scheduled between Jan. 18 through Jan. 28 will be “delivered via remote modalities,” the school wrote. “We have made the decision to start the Spring semester virtually to greatly reduce population density on our campuses,” said Cal State East Bay President Cathy Sandeen.
The school plans to return to in-person learning on Monday, Jan. 31.
San Francisco State University announced today it has delayed in-person learning until Feb. 14.
You can read the posting by visiting this page.

Cal State East Bay will temporarily begin the first two weeks of Spring 2022 semester with remote instruction. Classes and labs offered between Jan. 18 through Jan. 28 will be online and will return to the planned instructional modality Jan. 31. https://t.co/63kMhPOnDm

— Cal State East Bay (@CalStateEastBay) January 6, 2022

11:35a.m.
San Francisco State University to delay in-person learning until Feb. 14
San Francisco State University announced on Thursday it has delayed in-person learning until Monday, Feb. 14 due to the omicron surge.
“The escalation in positivity rates and increased hospitalizations across the state,” said SF State President Lynn Mahoney, Ph.D. in a written statement on the university’s website.
She also said most campus services will be held remotely until February 7.
However, she wrote the school semester will start as planned on Monday, January 24.
You can read the full statement by visiting this page.

CAMPUS ALERT: SF State President Mahoney announced today that the University is temporarily moving to remote modalities until February 14 due to the current Omicron surge. The semester itself will start as planned on January 24.

Read the full message: https://t.co/Q3itFgejhd pic.twitter.com/84spHkzSYn

— SF State (@SFSU) January 6, 2022

9 a.m.
Oakley will distribute free at-home COVID test kits
Supervisor Diane Burgis’ office and the city of Oakley will distribute free at-home COVID test kits to families. The testing kits will be given out on a first-come-first-served basis at a drive-through event at the Oakley Recreation Center on O’Hara Avenue, the East Bay Times, reports. It will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. or while supplies last. Test kits are limited to two per family. Each kit contains two tests.

Jan. 5, 2022

7 p.m.
West Contra Costa Unified School District cancels classes for Friday and Monday due to omicron surge
The West Contra Costa Unified School District announced it is cancelling classes for Friday, January 7 and Monday, January 10 due to the omicron surge
Dr. Kenneth Chris Hurst, Superintendent of West CoCo unified said on the school’s website on Wednesday all district schools will be closed for students and staff on both days as schools will undergo a deep cleaning on Friday, January 7. You can read the full statement on this page.

3 p.m.
CA extends indoor mask mandate
California is extending its indoor mask mandate for at least one more month – through Feb. 15 – state officials said Wednesday.

The state had brought back the mandate last month amid a surge in new COVID-19 infections fueled by the more-contagious omicron variant. Holiday gatherings and related activities are also playing a role in a continuing sharp increase in cases. Here’s the full story.

8:25 a.m.
SJPD taking measures to reduce spread
Local jurisdictions are taking action to try and stop the spread of COVID 19. The San Jose Police Department is reducing services at its main headquarters and it’s temporarily barring any in-person filing of police reports. Fingerprinting will only be available for court orders, bookings, registrations, and warrant requests. San Mateo County is following the lead of Contra Costa County and stopping jury trials for two weeks.

Jan. 4, 2022

5:45 p.m.
Bay Area school district to provide faculty 1 KN95 mask every week through end of school year
The West Contra Costa Unified School District will require all faculty at school sites to wear a KN95 mask while at work starting Jan. 10. The District has ordered enough masks for each employee to have one KN95 mask per week through the end of the school year.

1:15 p.m.
Marin Co. public schools to prohibit indoor gatherings, spectators at indoor sporting events
Marin County public schools plan to prohibit indoor gatherings like assemblies and prohibit spectators, including parents, at indoor sporting events due to the surge of omicron, ABC7 News has learned. Marin County public health officer Dr. Matt Willis says most of the positive cases have been from asymptomatic people, and have more likely to have been involved in indoor sporting activities, attended at least two indoor gatherings over holidays and likely have traveled out of the state.

1 p.m.
Stanford announces new winter sports attendance policies
Stanford athletics announced Tuesday that spectator attendance at all indoor winter events will be temporarily reduced to a limited number of student-athlete families, while outdoor events will require social distancing and mask-wearing for all attendees. The changes come as the university sees rising COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant.

11:30 a.m.
Hundreds of SF essential workers in quarantine
SF health officials say 186 SFPD members, including 167 sworn officers, 135 SFFD staff, and 85 SFMTA personnel have been exposed to COVID-19 and have entered or are entering quarantine. These departments say they are prioritizing essential operations and establishing emergency contingency plans to minimize disruption to services.

11 a.m.
SF health officials give COVID update
San Francisco health officials provided an update on the surge in omicron cases in the city. An average of 829 SF residents a day are contracting COVID-19 (as of December 27), which is more than double that of last winter’s peak at 373 cases per day. Officials say 81% of SF residents are vaccinated, and 54% have been boosted. San Francisco Department of Public Health sites have expanded to more than 25,000 tests a week across the city, nearly doubling capacity from three weeks ago.

10:30 a.m.
CA releases 1st full update on numbers since Dec. 31
California released its latest coronavirus data on Tuesday, our first full update since Dec 31 so these numbers all look exceptionally high, especially the new cases. The positivity rate sets a new record, but remember you do have more people testing so that contributes to the increase. See a breakdown of the numbers below:

237,084 new cases.
5,428,522 total cases
77 new deaths
75,924 total deaths
7 day test positivity rate = 20.4%
7,914 hospitalized patients
Up 600
1,343 icu patients
Up 14

6:15 a.m.
San Mateo reopens vaccine clinic
San Mateo County is reopening a vaccination clinic at the San Mateo Event Center today. The clinic reopens at noon and closes at 7 p.m. It will be open Tuesdays through Saturdays going forward. You are encouraged to sign up through the state’s MyTurn website for an appointment, but people without appointments will not be turned away. The county is offering first, second, and booster doses.

Jan. 3, 2022

7 a.m.
FDA takes actions to expand Pfizer vaccine use
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to:

• Expand the use of a single booster dose to include use in individuals 12 through 15 years of age.
• Shorten the time between the completion of primary vaccination of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and a booster dose to at least five months.
• Allow for a third primary series dose for certain immunocompromised children 5 through 11 years of age.

Jan. 2, 2022

8:45 a.m.
SF Unified to offer rapid testing to students starting today
Starting today, San Francisco Unified will offer mobile rapid testing at the district office. Appointments are required. School sites will also be testing students throughout next week.
The site at Franklin St. will be open from 9a.m. to 4p.m. on Sunday at 555 Franklin Street (parking lot). For more information, you can visit this page.

Jan. 1, 2022

11:25 a.m.
SF Unified to offer rapid testing to students
Many families in the Bay Area are struggling to get their children tested for COVID before they return to school on Monday. COVID testing appointments or rapid tests are hard to find in some areas. Starting tomorrow, San Francisco Unified will offer mobile rapid testing at the district office on Franklin Street. School sites will also be testing students throughout next week.

Dec. 31, 2021

8:15 a.m.
California’s positivity rate rises
California’s 7-day test positivity rate is now up to 12.9 percent. It was in the single digits only on Tuesday.

Dec. 30, 2021

2p.m.
SF Sketchfest postponed due to rise in omicron cases, organizers say

The 2022 SF Sketchfest has been postponed due to the rise in omicron cases, organizers said on Thursday.

The event was originally slated for Jan. 7 to Jan. 23. Organizers said in a statement online, in part:

“The safety of our artists, staff and audiences is our number our priority. Over the past week, we have had many artists reach out to us to express concern about traveling and performing at a time when the COVID omicron variant is causing increased positive cases and breakthrough infections around the country. We have also had some artists and staff members test positive for COVID.”

The site says a new date will be announced in the coming weeks.

To read the full statement, you can visit this page.

12p.m.
California’s positivity rate is 12.9%, new data shows
The state positivity rate is now at 12.9%, according to the California Department of Public Health which just released new data today.

There are a reportedly 37,673 new cases with a total of 5,135,071 COVID-19 cases.

Here are the latest numbers:
109 new deaths
75,738 total in deaths
5,516 hospitalized patients which has increased by 318
1,194 ICU patients, up 115
64,562,129 individuals have been vaccinated in California

6:30 a.m.
California’s COVID positivity rate now 11.2%

6:30 a.m.
California’s COVID positivity rate now 11.2%
Here in California, the test positivity rate is now in the double digits, at 11.2%. Remember, before Christmas it was around 5%. The week of Thanksgiving, it hovered around 2%.

Dec. 29, 2021

2 p.m.
Sonoma County to reinstate indoor mask mandates
Sonoma County joined other Bay Area counties Wednesday in rescinding exemptions that allowed stable groups of fully vaccinated people to remove their masks indoors in some workplaces, gyms, churches and other public settings. Everyone, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a mask in all indoor public settings according to the updated guideline, set to begin at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.

11:45 a.m.
San Francisco temporarily tightens vaccine, indoor masking requirements
San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Wednesday a updated vaccine and indoor masking requirements due to the surge of the omicron variant, effective February 1, 2022.

The changes include:
1) Requiring boosters among workers in healthcare and high-risk settings as well as some additional higher-risk settings not covered by the State requirements
2) A temporary suspension of the indoor universal mask exemption that allowed removal of masks for stable groups of 100% fully vaccinated individuals in certain settings
3) Attendees and staff of indoor megaevents are up-to-date on vaccinations, including boosters if eligible

In addition, San Francisco Department of Public Health plans to align its guidance on the quarantine with the recently announced modifications recommended by the CDC and California Department of Public Health.

10 a.m.
Alameda and Marin counties update indoor masking mandate
Marin County, Alameda County and the city of Berkeley announced that their health officers are rescinding the facemask amendments allowing fully vaccinated people to go unmasked in some limited settings, effective 12:01 am on December 30, 2021. Everyone, regardless of their vaccination status, must mask in all indoor public settings. This change does not impact face masking requirements for school and youth settings.

5:10 a.m.
Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose offers free passes to vaccinated guests
Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose is offering to help families get vaccinated and visit the museum for free. It’s happening this Sunday, January 2, and on the 23. All you have to do is show up on one of those dates, get vaccinated, and the museum will give you a free museum pass. You can use it the day you’re vaccinated or anytime within 6-months.

Dec. 28, 2021

2:45 p.m.
Contra Costa Co. updates indoor masking mandate
Contra Costa County health officials announced a new order requiring masks in all public indoor places without exceptions for certain indoor settings. The order, which goes into effect on Dec. 29, 2021, now requires all people in Contra Costa, regardless of vaccination status, to mask in public indoor settings.

Previously, fully vaccinated public speakers and performers, and fully vaccinated groups of 100 or fewer people were allowed to remove their face coverings under controlled conditions.

10:30 a.m.
Santa Clara Co. updates vaccination requirement for high-risk work settings
Santa Clara Co. health officials issued a health order requiring up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination for workers in certain higher-risk settings in light of the rapid surge in cases due to the omicron variant.

Under the new order, by Jan. 24, 2022, workers must be up-to-date on their vaccination (both fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 if eligible for a booster) in these higher-risk settings:

• Skilled nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, adult day care facilities, and memory care facilities

• Healthcare delivery facilities (such as hospitals, clinics, medical offices, dialysis centers) where patient care is provided, as well as medical first responders

• Jails and other correctional facilities

5:30 a.m.
Contra Costa Co. mandates booster shots for first responders
Contra Costa County has mandated booster shots for first responders and other at-risk workers. The order will take effect on January 10. Workers who don’t get the booster shot will have to test weekly for COVID. The mandate covers law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel as well as workers in homeless shelters.

VACCINE TRACKER: How California is doing, when you can get a coronavirus vaccine

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The post Coronavirus Bay Space stay updates: San Francisco points new testing tips for well being care suppliers amid omicron surge appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – After opening hours at several COVID test sites in San Francisco were temporarily reduced due to staffing issues, statewide computer problems forced health officials to completely close six test centers on Monday afternoon, and service could be suspended for even longer.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health tweeted at 1:30 p.m. that the city of Color’s COVID-19 test partner’s computer problems resulted in a number of locations being closed.

CONTINUE READING: COVID: Stay Home: Sonoma Health Officer Urges Residents to Stay Home Amid the Omicron Wave

On Monday evening, Color tweeted from Palo-Alto that the service would be suspended until Tuesday due to outages and that people with postponed appointments would be contacted with alternative test options.

Due to failures affecting our software, we have temporarily suspended the service at our @ SF_DPH test locations until Tuesday, 1/11. When your appt. was postponed to Mon 1/10 or if you have an appt. for Tuesday 1/11 we will contact you by e-mail / SMS with alternative test options.

– Color (@Color) January 11, 2022

The computer difficulties weren’t limited to San Francisco.

The test locations that closed were Alemany, SOMA (7th / Brandan), Southeast Health Center, 20 Norton, Ella Hill Hutch, and Bayview Opera House.

UPDATE: Due to a nationwide computer problem at our COVID-19 test provider @Color, 6 test locations will be closed today: Alemany, SOMA (7./Brannan), SEHC, 20 Norton, Ella Hill Hutch and Bayview Opera House. Please do not visit these pages for testing at the moment. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/SyoT3DTo07

– SFDPH (@SF_DPH) January 10, 2022

“We’re working with Color to accommodate those who had appointments today,” read a subsequent tweet. “We’ll provide updates as soon as we learn more and have the next steps.”

Local residents were advised to refer to an online list of other test locations in San Francisco.

Color shared the following statement about the failure:

“We have temporarily suspended service at our test locations in San Francisco until the end of today to ensure that people don’t have to wait unnecessarily. We manage intermittent outages that have impacted our patient registration and sample collection software, and our team is actively working to resolve this situation. We will restore service to these locations as soon as possible. For those whose dates have been postponed today, Color will be in touch with alternative test options. Please do not access these websites for testing at this time. Don’t call 911 or go to the emergency room unless it’s a medical emergency. We apologize for the stress and inconvenience this caused. “

The issues also emerged in Hayward, another city that has partnered with Color for their COVID test locations.

Problems started around 9:00 a.m. Monday morning at the Cherryland COVID testing facility on Mission Boulevard in Hayward when nurses noticed a slowdown in the computer system. The check-in process, which can usually be completed in seconds, took more than ten minutes per patient.

The Hayward site also took advantage of Color Labs, whose website was repeatedly frozen and unresponsive on Monday morning.

The system worked intermittently before staff decided to close the site around 1 p.m. early Monday afternoon.

“We did it! Thank you God!” exclaimed McGee. “They said they would cancel everything. We weren’t happy about that. “

At 1 p.m., nonprofit service provider La Familia – who runs the website – shut it down and told the hundreds of people in line to go home. Aaron Ortiz, CEO of La Familia, said the site had similar problems last week.

“We need to have a meeting with the state lab and we need to have a meeting with the county to see what the next steps are,” he said. “We just can’t keep allowing this to happen to the church. Or I have to see if I can switch to another laboratory. “

Rosa Cruz waited several hours for a test before she was rejected. Her employer requires a negative test before she can go back to work.

“We can not do anything. So we won’t be available to go to work, ”said Cruz.

CONTINUE READING: Daly City woman stands face to face with a mountain lion in her garden

Ortiz said that despite the increased demand for testing, Color should be able to perform its services as promised.

“I understand we have an uphill climb and the system is overloaded,” said Ortiz. “But if you want to do this job, you have to be ready and willing to take on this kind of load at the same time.”

The frustration increased as more and more people, with varying degrees of success, tried to find a way to get a COVID test.

“I wanted to visit my family and when I tried to book one I was only able to do it for two weeks,” said Clare Fonstein of Walnut Creek. “The ones that were quick and available now had to pay you, so it was quite difficult to figure them out.”

Dave Jah visited the Bay from Los Angeles. He recently had the stress of getting a test to see his brother.

“Both in San Diego, where he goes to school, and in LA, we can’t find any tests within five miles,” he said.

Back in San Francisco, the health department had previously announced that it was suffering from a labor shortage related to an increase in Omicron cases among employees, forcing the department to temporarily reduce working hours at four test sites.

Health officials said the short-term reduction would result in about 250 tests being lost per day. The current 7-day average at SFDPH-affiliated locations is 6,000 tests per day.

“(The) SFDPH-affiliated test sites will experience temporary reduced hours due to COVID-related staffing shortages and due to an increase in test result turnaround times given the high demand for laboratories across the country,” health officials said in a press release.

One of the locations, the Southeast Health Center, will only see a reduction in opening hours on Monday and then resume normal operating hours on Tuesday.

The other three websites affected were:

• Ella Hill Hutch – a three hour reduction in the afternoon – new opening hours: 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Alemany – a two-hour reduction in the evening – new opening times: 8 am-6pm
• SOMA (7./Brannan) – shortened by three hours in the morning from Tuesday – new opening times: 12 noon-6 p.m.

Given a steep spike in the demand for tests since early December, the number of tests being done at the sites has doubled, according to the San Francisco health authorities.

“We want to emphasize that we are assuming that this is a temporary period and that the sites will continue to operate well beyond their intended capacity,” officials said in the press release. “In addition, SFDPH is working to minimize the impact of this temporary reduction by allocating additional resources to increase capacity, including over 150,000 rapid tests that will arrive earlier this week.”

The SFDPH-affiliated sites currently account for approximately 60% of the tests conducted at on-site sites across the city.

Over the weekend, Dr. Susan Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer Zuckerberg San Francisco General, said her emergency room was overwhelmed with people checking for COVID tests.

“We have never seen anything like this in previous surges,” she said. “So please don’t call 911, don’t go to an emergency room either because you want a COVID test or because you have mild COVID symptoms.”

“Most cases of COVID are mild and you can stay home,” added Ehrlich. “If you have symptoms, when you feel sick, you should stay at home, take care of yourself, and try to stay away from other people as much as possible.”

MORE NEWS: COVID: Policy change creates confusion for employers and workers in the Bay Area

Betty Yu contributed to this report

The post Laptop Points Shut Down COVID Testing Websites in San Francisco, Hayward – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – After opening hours at several COVID test sites in San Francisco were temporarily reduced due to staffing problems, nationwide computer problems forced health authorities to completely close six test centers on Monday afternoon.

The computer difficulties weren’t limited to San Francisco.

CONTINUE READING: Contra Costa County inmate killed in Sacramento State Prison; Cellmate suspected

The San Francisco Department of Public Health tweeted at 1:30 p.m. that the city of Color’s COVID-19 test partner’s computer problems resulted in a number of locations being closed.

The test locations that closed were Alemany, SOMA (7th / Brandan), Southeast Health Center, 20 Norton, Ella Hill Hutch, and Bayview Opera House.

UPDATE: Due to a nationwide computer problem at our COVID-19 test provider @Color, 6 test locations will be closed today: Alemany, SOMA (7./Brannan), SEHC, 20 Norton, Ella Hill Hutch and Bayview Opera House. Please do not visit these pages for testing at the moment. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/SyoT3DTo07

– SFDPH (@SF_DPH) January 10, 2022

“We’re working with Color to accommodate those who had appointments today,” read a subsequent tweet. “We’ll provide updates as soon as we learn more and have the next steps.”

Local residents were advised to refer to an online list of other test locations in San Francisco.

Color, a company based in Palo Alto, shared the following statement about the outage:

“We have temporarily suspended service at our test locations in San Francisco until the end of today to ensure that people don’t have to wait unnecessarily. We manage intermittent outages that have impacted our patient registration and sample collection software, and our team is actively working to resolve this situation. We will restore service to these locations as soon as possible. For those whose dates have been postponed today, Color will be in touch with alternative test options. Please do not access these websites for testing at this time. Don’t call 911 or go to the emergency room unless it’s a medical emergency. We apologize for the stress and inconvenience this caused. “

The issues also emerged in Hayward, another city that has partnered with Color for their COVID test locations.

Problems started around 9:00 a.m. Monday morning at the Cherryland COVID testing facility on Mission Boulevard in Hayward when nurses noticed a slowdown in the computer system. The check-in process, which can usually be completed in seconds, took more than ten minutes per patient.

The Hayward site also took advantage of color labs, whose website repeatedly froze and became unresponsive on Monday morning.

The system worked intermittently before staff decided to close the site around 1 p.m. early Monday afternoon.

“We did it! Thank you God!” exclaimed McGee. “They said they would cancel everything. We weren’t happy about that. “

At 1 p.m., nonprofit service provider La Familia – who runs the website – shut it down and told the hundreds of people in line to go home. Aaron Ortiz, CEO of La Familia, said the site had similar problems last week.

“We need to have a meeting with the state lab and we need to have a meeting with the county to see what the next steps are,” he said. “We just can’t keep allowing this to happen to the church. Or I have to see if I can switch to another laboratory. “

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Rosa Cruz waited several hours for a test before she was rejected. Her employer requires a negative test before she can go back to work.

“We can not do anything. So we won’t be available to go to work, ”said Cruz.

Ortiz said that despite the increased demand for testing, Color should be able to perform its services as promised.

“I understand we have an uphill climb and the system is overloaded,” said Ortiz. “But if you want to do this job, you have to be ready and willing to take on this kind of load at the same time.”

Back in San Francisco, the health department had previously announced that it was suffering from a labor shortage related to an increase in Omicron cases among employees, forcing the department to temporarily reduce working hours at four test sites.

Health officials said the short-term reduction would result in about 250 tests being lost per day. The current 7-day average at SFDPH-affiliated locations is 6,000 tests per day.

“(The) SFDPH-affiliated test sites will experience temporary reduced hours due to COVID-related staffing shortages and due to an increase in test result turnaround times given the high demand for laboratories across the country,” health officials said in a press release.

One of the locations, the Southeast Health Center, will only see a reduction in opening hours on Monday and then resume normal operating hours on Tuesday.

The other three websites affected were:

• Ella Hill Hutch – a three hour reduction in the afternoon – new opening hours: 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Alemany – a two-hour reduction in the evening – new opening times: 8 am-6pm
• SOMA (7./Brannan) – shortened by three hours in the morning from Tuesday – new opening times: 12 noon-6 p.m.

Given a steep spike in the demand for tests since early December, the number of tests being done at the sites has doubled, according to the San Francisco health authorities.

“We want to emphasize that we are assuming that this is a temporary period and that the sites will continue to operate well beyond their intended capacity,” officials said in the press release. “In addition, SFDPH is working to minimize the impact of this temporary reduction by allocating additional resources to increase capacity, including over 150,000 rapid tests that will arrive earlier this week.”

The SFDPH-affiliated sites currently account for approximately 60% of the tests conducted at on-site sites across the city.

Over the weekend, Dr. Susan Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer Zuckerberg San Francisco General, said her emergency room was overwhelmed with people checking for COVID tests.

“We have never seen anything like this in previous surges,” she said. “So please don’t call 911, don’t go to an emergency room either because you want a COVID test or because you have mild COVID symptoms.”

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“Most cases of COVID are mild and you can stay home,” added Ehrlich. “If you have symptoms, when you feel sick, you should stay at home, take care of yourself, and try to stay away from other people as much as possible.”

The post Laptop Points Shut Down COVID Testing Websites in San Francisco, Hayward – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – San Francisco is taking steps to keep essential services up and running amid the surge in Omicron-fueled COVID cases, Mayor London Breed told Tuesday.

During a virtual press conference Tuesday morning, Breed said the city’s health department is expanding COVID testing to more than 25,000 tests per week, almost double the capacity three weeks ago. During the tests, disaster service employees and symptomatic persons as well as first aiders and the most vulnerable persons such as residents and employees of qualified care facilities are prioritized. The tests will arrive in weekly deliveries from mid-January.

“Right now we are learning to live with COVID,” said Breed. “The consequences today are not catastrophic. The good news is that this variant is much less dangerous than Delta, but much more contagious. “

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According to Breed, 81% of San Franciscans are vaccinated and 54% are vaccinated. While all city workers are vaccinated, the Omicron variant leads to breakthrough infections, increasing the likelihood that those working for essential city services will be infected and have to stay at home.

“It affects our workforce, especially among the frontline workers,” said Breed. “We saw this before our New Years Eve event, which we had to cancel because we didn’t have enough security … San Francisco’s workforce is well protected. We prioritize essential urban services. The transit will operate, but we ask for your patience. We don’t close anything. We don’t close stores. That’s not 2020. “

While the city’s hospitalization rates are expected to be lower as the omicrones rise, the sheer number of new infections means demand for hospital beds is rising even at a time when health care workers are becoming more infected due to its high prevalence in the community.

We’re in the middle of an Omicron spike in SF, with our average cases more than doubling than last winter.

Our hospital admissions are on the rise, but they are below previous levels and we have the capacity to handle the expected increase.

Here we are. pic.twitter.com/V9UUtsHiuy

– London Breed (@LondonBreed) January 4, 2022

The city’s health director, Dr. Grant Colfax, said the next few weeks would be crucial in limiting the impact of the recent COVID surge and urged the San Franciscans to reduce their risk of exposure to help protect critical infrastructure.

“We are going to see major outbreaks and many people we know and love are getting COVID. However, it is in our control to limit the damage, Colfax said. “And then a hopeful hint, in these cases we expect a peak relatively quickly. Again, our projections show these situations where cases will peak within the next two weeks.

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“Let yourself be improved – it’s not too late,” said Colfax. “And for God’s sake, get vaccinated if you haven’t already.”

People are also encouraged to update their masks, work from home whenever possible, and limit the time they spend in crowded indoor spaces.

On December 27, an average of 829 San Franciscans contracted COVID-19 per day, more than twice as many as last winter with 373 cases per day. Meanwhile, 186 San Francisco police officers – including 167 sworn officers – along with 135 fire fighters and 85 SFMTA employees are in quarantine on Tuesday after being exposed to COVID. These departments prioritize essential operations and create contingency plans to minimize service disruptions.

Further measures required by the city:

• Have anyone aged 5 and over have their COVID-19 vaccine and a booster vaccine if they are eligible.
• Anyone developing symptoms of COVID-19 should isolate themselves and get tested as soon as possible.
• Get retested before you travel, when you return, and 3-5 days later.
• Take advantage of quick and easy home test kits available from pharmacies and stores.
• Outdoor gatherings are safer than indoor gatherings. Limit the number and size of indoor gatherings.
• Take all precautions, including vaccinations, booster vaccinations, and testing, when meeting with others without a mask – especially the elderly or immunocompromised, and those who have not been vaccinated or have not yet received their booster.
• Wear a well-fitting mask indoors and in crowded areas. For optimal protection, wear an N95 or double mask with a cloth mask over a surgical mask to improve the seal. If possible, avoid wearing just a cloth mask during this climb.
• Unvaccinated adults should avoid travel and gatherings outside their home.
• Wash hands or use hand sanitiser frequently.

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The post San Francisco Expands COVID Testing, Urges Residents To Restrict Danger In Effort To Preserve Providers Working – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY (CBS SF) – Citing the Omicron variant, Contra Costa County officials are requiring first responders and homeless shelters to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster or undergo weekly tests.

The order, which comes into effect January 10, applies to law enforcement agencies, firefighters, emergency medical personnel who work or respond to calls in “high-risk facilities” such as hospitals, prisons, care or community facilities. Workers in homeless shelters are also covered by the requirement, as are rescue workers who transport patients in the facilities mentioned above.

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Workers who have not received a booster by the deadline must undergo a weekly PCR or antigen test.

Contra Costa County’s new booster need comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases believed to be driven by the fast-spreading variant. Health officials said the average daily number of new cases discovered in the county rose about 156% over the past week to 313 new cases per day.

The first cases of the variant in the district were only confirmed by health authorities a week ago.

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Meanwhile, many residents of the county have not yet received their booster vaccinations, with only 36% of people aged 16 and over receiving the third vaccination.

“The Omicron variant is much more contagious than previous COVID-19 strains,” said Health Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano on Monday in a statement. “Boosting is necessary for the best protection against Omicron infection and transmission. Our hospitals run the risk of being overwhelmed when a large number of our vulnerable residents fall ill. “

Last week the state required all healthcare workers, home care workers, and community care and detention center workers to receive their vaccinations.

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For more information about the booster and upcoming vaccination clinics, visit the Contra Costa Health Services website or call 1-833-829-2626.

The post Contra Costa Requiring Boosters Or Weekly Testing For First Responders, Homeless Shelter Staff Due To Omicron Considerations – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) – As COVID cases increase, more people are realizing they need to get tested. In fact, every Bay Area County health department is seeing significantly higher demand for testing, and officials don’t want community testing sites to be overwhelmed.

“We have already decided not to reduce some of the test sites that we were considering. As demand changes, we will consider opening additional test sites, ”said Dr. Chris Farnitano from Contra Costa Health Services.

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Sam Levin has been trying to get tested for days after being exposed to a close family member who tested positive.

“It’s hard to get tested now that it was at the real peak,” said Levin.

He finally got an appointment online but spent an hour one way just to get to this test site and isn’t sure how long it would have taken if he tried a walk-in.

“It’s not an easy process. For me, I’ve never tried to stop by so I don’t really know, ”said Levin.

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Gone are the mass test sites and many of the walk-ins. The majority of the remaining listed by the San Francisco Department of Health are by appointment only.

“We continue to test at full speed before we see an increase in test demand,” said Dr. Naveena Bobba of the San Francisco Department of Health.

“We are also seeing increasing demand for testing in Marin County,” said Dr. Lisa Santora of the Marin County Department of Health.

Almost every Bay Area County Health Department is currently looking into expanding their opening hours and possibly opening additional locations.

“The city of Berkeley is also seeing an increasing demand for tests and we are working with our test partners,” said Dr. Lisa Hernandez of Berkeley Public Health.

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Public health officials encourage people to check with their health care providers first, as they don’t want city or municipal websites to be cluttered with requests for testing.

The post Spike In Instances Triggers Extra Demand For Testing, Longer Wait Instances – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.