Latest updates:
Nurses say UC Davis Medical Center is overwhelmed: Registered nurses at UC Davis Medical Center held a virtual press conference on Wednesday to raise awareness around critical staffing and patient safety issues at the hospital intensified by the delta COVID surge. “Yesterday when we were three nurses short, no one wants to come in extra,” Jenny Managhebi, a registered nurse who works in cardiology, told KCRA. “Every department is sending out text messages and emails. Nurse managers are saying, ‘Call staffing. Come in help us. We’re short.'” A hospital spokesperson told the station UCDMC is meeting staffing standards set by the state and has increased hiring through the pandemic.
Team USA issues vaccination mandate for athletes and employees: The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said Thursday it will require all employees, athletes, contractors and others to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to accessing its facilities and training centers, unless they obtain a medical or religious exemption. The mandate goes into effect on Nov. 1. A month later, the mandate will expand to all members of Team USA who hope to compete in future games, including the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Piedmont school board approves vaccine mandate: The Piedmont Unified’s school board voted unanimously Wednesday to require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The mandate will go into effect Nov. 17, with exemptions for medical reasons, said Brian Killgore, a spokesperson for the school district. Religious or other exemptions will not be accepted. Vaccines have been approved under emergency use for children ages 12 and older in the U.S. Killgore said kids who turn 12 this year will have eight weeks from their birthday to provide proof of vaccination
Top California health official says state is mulling vaccine requirements for kids: Mark Ghaly, California’s Secretary for Health and Human Services, said on a press call Thursday that the state is considering requiring vaccine for school kids. “That conversation is part of what we’re considering as a state but no definitive active decision is being made at the moment.” Ghaly said California officials are watching how such requirements play out in some districts that have adopted them. Read the story here.
U.S. awaits vaccine booster details from CDC: Advisers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were expected to meet Thursday to clarify what people will be considered high-risk for serious illness from a COVID-19 infection from their occupation and those under age 65 who will be considered “high risk,” the Washington Post reported.
‘All these rules in San Francisco’ — Here’s why some city residents are getting vaccinated now: Many people who’ve waited to get their COVID-19 vaccine in San Francisco cited the city’s first-in-the-nation requirements for joining in public life and returning to work — and because of growing social pressure to not be that person who infects others with a debilitating or lethal disease. Read the story here.
Why California probably isn’t done with COVID surges, even as delta wave subsides: The worst of California’s summer COVID-19 surge is likely over — but with the highly contagious delta variant, that might mean leveling off at higher case rates than after previous surges, according to experts and Bay Area health officials. Read the story here.
S.F. property owners sue city over pandemic rent relief law: Two organizations representing San Francisco property owners sued the city over a law that gives businesses an excuse to not pay back rent if they were fully shut down during the pandemic. Read the story here.
Why Andrew Wiggins’ decision to forego vaccination gives Warriors reason to worry: There’s increasing concern among the Warriors about the early-season availability of starting small forward Andrew Wiggins, who has declined to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to NBA sources. Read the story here.
Chez Panisse delays reopening its dining room until next year, citing COVID concerns: Seminal Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse won’t reopen its dining room to customers until early next year, the restaurant announced in a post on Instagram Wednesday. Read the story here.
Oakland school board becomes first in Northern California to require vaccination for students: The Oakland Unified School District will require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the school board decided Wednesday night, making it the first in Northern California to impose a student mandate. Read the story here.
Case rates continue to fall in California: During the week of Sept. 5-11, the average case rates among unvaccinated Californians 16 and older was 63 per 100,000 per day, down from 71 per 100,000 per day the previous week. For vaccinated Californians, the rate was 8 per 100,000 per day, down from 9 the previous week. California continues to have the lowest case rates in the country. This article explains why.
Teachers shortages felt statewide: The teacher shortage worsened by the pandemic is hurting school districts across California. The Chronicle has reported on the crisis throughout the Bay Area, with schools in low-income urban communities seeing a disproportionate shortage. The Associated Press reports the state’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified with 600,000 students, has more than 500 teacher vacancies, a fivefold increase from previous years, and substitutes also are in short supply. Only about a quarter of the pool of 1,000 qualified substitutes is willing to work in Fresno Unified, officials said.
Three less variants to worry about: The World Health Organization has reclassified three varians of the coronavirus, downgrading the threat they pose. Eta (B.1.525), Iota (B.1.526) and Kappa (B.1.617.1) are now listed as “former” variants of interest by WHO. “While all three variants carry mutations with suspected and/or established phenotypic impacts, the number of reported detections of these variants have decreased over time at the global, regional and country levels,” said WHO’s weekly report. The revised list of variants of interest now includes Lambda and Mu, “both circulating in Latin America, where the Delta variant has begun to circulate but has not yet become dominant.”
Despite progress in California, COVID deaths on the rise in the U.S.: California is seeing lower coronavirus transmission than other states as virus cases and hospitalizations for COVID-19 decline following a summer surge, but the rest of the United States is still deep in the grips of the pandemic, the Associated Press reports. Deaths in the U.S. have climbed to an average of more than 1,900 a day for the first time since early March, with experts saying the virus is preying largely on a distinct group: 71 million unvaccinated Americans. New cases of the coronavirus per day in the U.S. have dropped since the start of September and are now running at about 139,000. But deaths typically take longer to fall because victims often linger for weeks before succumbing.
