COVID-19

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Officials at Pacific Coast Manor have reported that 61 of their residents and 37 staff members have tested positive for Covid-19. Four residents of the skilled nursing facility in Capitola have also died of Covid-19 complications, the facility reported Wednesday. Sixteen of the...

SACRAMENTO—Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that the state will provide temporary tax relief for eligible businesses that have been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. Under the plan, taxpayers filing less than $1 million in sales tax receive an automatic three-month income tax extension. It also...

APTOS—The performing arts sector has taken a major hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Large gatherings—especially those indoors—are discouraged in order to slow the spread of the virus, and as such theaters and other venues have been forced to remain closed. The Cabrillo College Theater...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—At least nine Santa Cruz County Jail correctional officers have tested positive for Covid-19, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office announced in a press release Monday. All nine are now off work, and six officers have been quarantined based on contact with infected...

WATSONVILLE—For 10 years, Youth N.O.W. has tutored and empowered hundreds of students throughout the Pajaro Valley, providing an essential outlet for those struggling to pick up various subjects in class or finding a safe space to study after the bell rings. Now, after a sudden...

WATSONVILLE—A family of a man who died from Covid-19 at Watsonville Post Acute Center (WPAC) has sued the facility. Donald Wickham, 94, died on Oct. 10. He was one of 16 residents who died after contracting the virus. According to the lawsuit filed Nov. 10 by...

APTOS—Two weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday rolled around, Twin Lakes Church Pastor Rene Schlaepfer and Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) CEO Willy Elliott McCrea were worried. The church’s annual food drive, which typically raises thousands of dollars for the food bank’s holiday, was falling short,...

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced that starting Saturday all non-essential businesses, travel and gatherings will be subject to a month-long curfew. Counties in the “Widespread,” or purple, tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan, will have to close all non-essential businesses and cease all...

WATSONVILLE—After Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday moved most counties in California into the “Widespread” or purple tier of Covid-19 restrictions—saying he was pulling an “emergency brake” on efforts to reopen the state—school districts across the state followed suit. Pajaro Valley Unified School District was planning...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County has moved to the “Widespread,” or Purple, tier of state’s Covid-19 reopening plan, which carries with it the most serious restrictions on businesses and services, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in a lunchtime press conference Monday. The increased restrictions mean that...