COVID-19

MONTEREY COUNTY — Reopening blueprint metrics have Monterey County in the Orange Tier, but the vaccination rates continue to climb. County Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno said on April 14 that 48% of the county’s populace age 16 and older have received at least one...

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...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno said in an Aug. 18 press briefing that the county continues to have higher case rates of Covid-19 from the Delta variant, and that data is backing up the effectiveness of vaccines. “In Monterey County,...

MONTEREY COUNTY — After several weeks of discussion, Monterey County Board of Supervisors has approved a countywide indoor face covering ordinance that could begin in late October if certain criteria are met. Last week the Board delayed final approval of its mask mandate until Tuesday...

SALINAS VALLEY — Schools throughout Monterey County began coordination with local hospitals, clinics and pharmacies to prepare for March 3, when educators and child care workers became eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Among them was Gonzales Unified School District, which partnered with Walgreens for...

As of Thursday, every Californian age 16 and older is officially eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. That doesn’t mean it will be easy for everyone get a shot right away. The vaccine rollout has been chaotic, according to various news reports and hundreds of emails...

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...

SALINAS VALLEY — Free pop-up Covid-19 testing sites have been emerging lately in South Monterey County as part of an effort to increase testing access after a new site was added to Castroville to the existing lineup of Salinas and Seaside. When available, local residents...

Today, we’re starting with some big news: There will be no green tier after all. In fact, very soon, we’re set to say goodbye to the purple, red, orange and yellow tiers that have for months dictated so much about our lives. California plans to...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Three residents have been infected with Covid-19 that was caused by the Delta variant, confirmed Monterey County Health Department on Thursday. According to Public Information Officer Karen Smith, the Health Department has been monitoring the emergence of variants of the virus that...