COVID-19

MONTEREY COUNTY — A new community program called VIDA (Virus Integrated Distribution of Aide) was announced with a formal name during the March 31 press briefing for Monterey County, in which the City of Gonzales is a founding partner group. The formal start to the...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Since launching in March 2021, the Rent and Utility Assistance Program through the County of Monterey in partnership with United Way Monterey County has provided nearly $34 million to help keep residents in their homes during the pandemic. The program used state...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Board of Supervisors has voted to suspend the masking requirement of its indoor face covering ordinance, effective immediately. “This means while wearing face coverings in indoor public settings remains strongly recommended, it is no longer required,” according to Maia Carroll,...

Well, the moment many of us have been waiting for has arrived: Californians 50 and older will be eligible to be vaccinated starting April 1, and residents older than 16 will be eligible starting April 15, state officials announced Thursday, in an effort to...

KING CITY — Monterey Bay Aquarium has loaned a freezer capable of reaching sub-zero temperatures to Mee Memorial Healthcare System in an effort to help the South Monterey County hospital administer Covid-19 vaccines in the area. “While vaccines remain in short supply in Monterey County,...

CALIFORNIA — Facing swelling political pressure and numerous lawsuits by businesses forced to shut down, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Monday lifted a strict stay-at-home order and handed to local authorities greater control over whether restaurants, hair salons and other commerce could reopen. The...

KING CITY — Monterey County has started the process of demobilizing Operation Oasis, its isolation housing program that assisted more than a thousand residents during the Covid-19 pandemic. As of June 24, referrals are no longer being made to Operation Oasis and assigned staff have...

CALIFORNIA — Before state officials announced that 40% of California's new vaccine doses would go to low-income communities, leaders were struggling to make good on promises to prioritize vulnerable Californians in the vaccine rollout. As my colleague Miriam Jordan recently wrote, farmworkers were among those...

GONZALES — Registered and vocational nursing students from Hartnell College recently went to Taylor Farms in Gonzales to present information about Covid-19 vaccines and answer questions regarding the process of getting immunized. “The purpose is to be here to give presentations on the importance of...

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a two-month extension of the Paycheck Protection Program, which offers loans for small businesses struggling with the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden signed the extension in the Oval Office alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Isabella Casillas...