COVID-19

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to require all of 2,400 County employees to either take the Covid-19 vaccine or submit to weekly testing. Employees who refuse both risk termination, or being put on leave without...

WATSONVILLE—A group of about 30 nurses at Watsonville Community Hospital held a demonstration Wednesday asking that management keep nurse-to-patient ratios at their present level. The demonstration came five days after the California Department of Public Health sent a memo to the state’s general acute care...

WATSONVILLE—The city of Watsonville hired Katie Nuñez in March of last year to supervise the Watsonville Senior Center. Her tasks then were to bring the community hub into the 21st century, and create a slew of programs for the area’s older adults. But just two...

CENTRAL COAST—The Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas (CSVS) is now hosting a pop-up Covid-19 testing site every Saturday at Las Lomas Market, bringing a much-needed resource to the small rural community in the northern reaches of Monterey County. The pop-up site is one...

WASHINGTON—El plan de estímulo económico de 1,9 billones de dólares del presidente Joe Biden tendría efectos de largo alcance en la sociedad ahora que el país trata de superar una pandemia que ha cobrado la vida de más de medio millón de personas en...

Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said that residents should try to move away from using single-layered cloth face masks and instead seek out medical or surgical masks that have been more effective in slowing the spread of Covid-19. This includes N95, KN95...

SANTA CRUZ—In an effort to meet public transit safety standards set during the Covid-19 pandemic, officials at Santa Cruz METRO at a Wednesday press conference showcased the safety and precautionary measures they have put in place. Santa Cruz County Supervisor John Leopold and METRO Board...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—County health officials announced Tuesday that seasonal cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and the flu have been reported earlier than usual this year, and are on the rise, causing increased hospitalizations for children. Covid-19 is also experiencing an uptick locally and in...

The Santa Cruz County Public Health Division is monitoring confirmed reports of Covid-19 cases involving variants found in Santa Cruz County, spokesman Jason Hoppin said in a press release Monday. Two cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, known generally as the U.K. variant, have been identified...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—More than one million people have so far received a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control.  These “frontline” workers in tier 1a of the state’s protocol include health care workers, first responders and other people who interact directly with patients.  In...