COVID-19

Local business owners and city officials are bracing again for a prolonged stay-at-home order, which was indefinitely extended by state officials over the weekend as the Bay Area’s hospital capacity remains dangerously low.

California will reopen on June 15 without any capacity limits or physical distancing requirements for businesses or events, the state's Health and Human Services secretary said Friday. Gov. Gavin Newsom last month announced the expected June 15 reopening date, which state officials on Friday confirmed...

Santa Clara County officials announced a number of new restrictions Nov. 28 that they hope will rein in the record-setting Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. Beginning Nov. 30, stores and other facilities open to the public will be limited to 10 percent capacity indoors. Grocery stores,...

The rate of positive Covid-19 cases among the unvaccinated in Santa Clara County is about 25.3 per 100,000 residents, according to a new data dashboard released this week by county officials. By contrast, fully vaccinated residents are testing positive at a rate of 6.8 cases...

Santa Clara County will close its mass Covid-19 vaccination and testing sites by the end of the month as they are no longer essential to the county’s pandemic response, officials said Feb. 1.  While county health officials emphasized that the pandemic is not over and...

California lifted most of its Covid-19 restrictions and officially reopened Tuesday, marking the moment with state-subsidized vacation giveaways and $15 million in vaccine lottery prizes as it emerged from the pandemic politically divided but economically formidable. One of the last U.S. states to reopen, California...

A coalition of Bay Area health officials urged residents across the region Friday to resume wearing a mask indoors regardless of vaccination status following an uptick in Covid-19 cases.  Officials in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties and...

By Patricia Cohen, @nytimes 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...

New state and federal Covid safety guidelines that reduce the recommended minimum distance between students from 6 feet to 3 feet should make it easier for California schools to return students to classrooms full time, but most districts are not likely to make the...

California will restore an indoor mask mandate this week in the wake of a recent increase in Covid-19 cases, one of the state's top health officials said Monday. State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said the state will reimplement an indoor mask...