COVID-19

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,...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Elementary schools in Monterey County may begin planning to reopen after the Feb. 16 announcement that the county’s adjusted case rate has fallen to 24 infected per 100,000 residents. The school grades affected would be pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Schools wishing to...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo submitted a pandemic economic recovery ordinance for the county on Feb. 3, aimed at recalling laid-off county hospitality, restaurant and travel workers when the economy re-opens.  The ordinance would request those recalls based on greatest length of...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Health Department’s Public Health Bureau has launched an updated Covid-19 data dashboard to further improve accessibility to data for residents and stakeholders. The dashboard displays data on Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, fatalities and outbreaks, as well as community testing and vaccination...

MONTEREY COUNTY — More Covid-19 vaccines have arrived in Monterey County as planning begins for the next priority tiers for vaccinations, including those who are age 65 and older as announced by the state this week. On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is...

CALIFORNIA — Outdoor amusement parks in California counties in the red tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan will be allowed to welcome back customers next month, the California Department of Public Health announced Friday afternoon. Live outdoor sporting events and performances will, too, be...

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...

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...

UNITED STATES — States have continued steadily lifting restrictions, despite warnings from top federal health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci that new coronavirus cases in the United States have plateaued at a very high level after their drastic drop has stalled and that the...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County will lift its indoor mask requirement Monday for all county facilities except those that are covered by ongoing state mandates like jails and health care facilities. The county said in a statement that it will lift mask requirements and health...