COVID-19

Last week, President Joe Biden signed into law a wide-reaching $1.9 trillion stimulus package aimed at throwing a lifeline to Americans struggling through the pandemic. In California, the news has come as a particular relief. Many businesses here have been closed or restricted for a year....

Americans who are fully vaccinated can travel “at low risk to themselves,” both within the United States and internationally, but they must continue to take precautions like wearing a mask in public, avoiding crowds, maintaining social distancing and washing hands frequently, federal health officials...

State prison systems across the United States have begun allowing visitors for the first time since the pandemic started, presenting challenges for facilities that want to balance much-needed contact between inmates and their families with the need to limit the spread of COVID-19 in...

GREENFIELD — Community members who registered for a Covid-19 vaccine at McDonald’s in Greenfield recently were able to get a free Big Mac. The two-day event was held Aug. 6 and 7 in partnership between McDonald’s and Virus Integrated Distribution of Aid (VIDA) Monterey County,...

SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey County companies, organizations and agencies have partnered to host mass vaccination sites weekly, with the latest having taken place at the Salinas Valley Fairgrounds in King City last Saturday. Two mass clinics had already taken place earlier this month in Salinas,...

MONTEREY COUNTY — A new Covid-19 variant has been detected in several California counties, including Monterey County, according to the California Department of Public Health. CDPH announced Jan. 17 that a 452R variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, was identified using genetic sequencing...

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...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Health Department announced Tuesday that it would move into the Yellow Tier of the State of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy this week after meeting the requirements. Beginning Wednesday, June 2, all activities authorized under the state’s Yellow Tier...

MONTEREY COUNTY — While the state of California lowered the tiers of multiple counties to the most restrictive tier (purple) earlier this month, Monterey County has never left the purple tier since the new system was implemented this summer. The latest restrictions also come...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County is making good on its commitment to invest up to $1 million to secure more Covid-19 rapid tests for the community, with the first direct purchases from this effort arriving last week. About 750 test kits were delivered last Wednesday,...