COVID-19

WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took a major step Tuesday toward coaxing Americans into a post-pandemic world, relaxing the rules on mask wearing outdoors as coronavirus cases recede and people increasingly chafe against restrictions. The mask guidance is modest and carefully...

SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey County residents were able to get vaccinated with six sessions of a mass Covid-19 vaccination effort last weekend at Greenfield Memorial Hall and Soledad Community Center. A total of 3,000 vaccine doses were distributed at the events, which were separate from...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County’s state-supported Covid-19 testing sites located in Seaside, Salinas and Soledad are expanding hours in response to an increase in demand for testing. The community testing sites will be adding additional days and appointment times as a result, announced Monterey County...

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,...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno said the county continues to make Covid-19 vaccines available and is looking toward younger demographics to raise vaccination rates during a press briefing on June 9. Of county residents age 12 and older, 63% have...

SACRAMENTO — For the first time in more than a century, California recorded a net loss in population last year, a demographic reversal caused by the deadly toll of the coronavirus and declining immigration and birthrates. The small but startling 0.46% drop — a decline...

SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey County health officials have been working with agricultural companies and have reiterated safety plans with the onset of the new growing season, with the goal of keeping ag workers safe and the food supply network stable. “With the start of the...

As soon as the first U.S. case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus was reported in San Francisco, California officials began sounding the same message: Don’t panic. “We are not surprised by this. This was predictable. This was predicted,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in...

SOLEDAD — A small group of about a dozen family members and activists protested Saturday outside the entrance of Salinas Valley State Prison and Correctional Training Facility in Soledad. Their goal was to raise awareness of the increasing Covid-19 infections and deaths inside the facilities,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — New claims for unemployment fell last week, the government reported Thursday, the latest sign that the labor market’s recovery, however slow and unsteady, is continuing. “The numbers look encouraging on the face of it,” said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford...