Even as indoor mask orders in Santa Cruz County and across the state are set to expire next week, health officials are still encouraging people to wear masks while transmission rates are up.
COVID Today
Posted inK-12 Education
As mask mandates ease, should California schools be next?
The next step for schools is under discussion as indoor masking is set to ease on Feb. 15 in many settings in California.
Posted inCOVID Today
New COVID sick leave would leave out at least 1 in 4 California workers
California lawmakers plan to bring back COVID supplemental paid sick leave, but it won’t cover small business workers.
Posted inCOVID Today
Ready for another pandemic malady? It’s called ‘decision fatigue’
Living through the COVID-19 pandemic has come with a barrage of daily choices that have many of us complaining of a sort of brain freeze. That exhaustion is real, and it’s got a name: “decision fatigue.”
Posted inCOVID Today
Santa Cruz County, health officials confident a district will save Watsonville Community Hospital
Watsonville Community Hospital is at risk of closing after years of financial struggle. Santa Cruz County and health care officials hope that a health care district, a government entity with a complicated and not always successful history in the state, will prevent that.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
‘I don’t have a life’: Parents struggle to get home nurses for medically fragile kids
California families have long had difficulty getting home nursing care for medically fragile children. The problem has persisted with the arrival of COVID-19.
Posted inCOVID Today
Statewide mandate for indoor masking to sunset on Feb. 15, but Santa Cruz’s guidelines still uncertain
Whether or not Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel lifts the mask mandate will depend on what she sees. “She’s going to base it off data like case rates, testing positivity, and effective reproductive number,” said county health spokesperson Corinne Hyland.
Posted inCOVID Today
New COVID-19 sick pay for California workers approved by lawmakers
The policy allows workers at businesses of 26 or more employees to take paid time off to recover from COVID-19, care for a family member, or get a vaccine.
Posted inCOVID 2022
Data confirms county’s Omicron impact: Quarter of all known cases occurred within last 21 days
A jump in COVID cases over the past two days or so to 10,143 was a result of the backlog. County public health officials were aware of the issue but said it did not impact their response. And the best news: The positivity rate continues to remain on the decline in Santa Cruz County.
Posted inCOVID Today
COVID remains the most formidable, frightening foe at Beijing Olympics
Olympic athletes are coping with intense anxiety over COVID test results, with positive results a constant threat to knock them out of competition.