COVID-19

We’ve been waiting for this week for a long time. After more than a year of complex, evolving rules governing where Californians can go and what we can do, on Tuesday, nearly all of them will go away. California, the nation’s most populous state, will be...

SALINAS — Northwest Laboratory will open and operate a new drive-thru Covid-19 testing site in Salinas starting March 3. “Our organization has worked closely with the communities across the U.S. since this pandemic began, providing laboratory analysis for multiple community testing programs,” said Jennifer Bull,...

California is opening up eligibility for booster coronavirus vaccine shots to include anyone 18 or older, making it at least the second state to expand official eligibility beyond older adults and people in high-risk circumstances. Colorado took a similar step this week. California’s vaccination sites...

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...

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...

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...

In a sharp turnabout, federal health officials Thursday advised that Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus may stop wearing masks or maintaining social distance in most indoor and outdoor settings, regardless of size. The advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

MONTEREY COUNTY — In order to support small businesses facing financial impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Monterey County Workforce Development Board, in partnership with the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, has established the Covid-19 Microbusiness Grant fund. The fund will provide grants to eligible...

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...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County continues to invest in bringing Covid-19 testing supplies to the community for local distribution. Covid-19 home antigen test kits are available to local organizations and community groups that can distribute them to their members and clients. In addition, organizations can request...