Sacramento County COVID-19 Digest

CSU and UC employees and students will be required to have boosters in order to come onto campus, it has been announced. Deadline is Feb. 28.

Governor Newsom has expanded state COVID testing hours and availability as Omicron continues to tear through California.

Sacramento County has confirmed the first two cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant. The extremely contagious strain’s first U.S. cases were detected in California.

With the first Omicron cases hitting U.S. soil, there are things we do and do not know about this new variant.

Governor Newsom is warning that pandemic precautions will need to continue through the winter as Sacramento health officials anticipate another case surge due to poor vaccination rates.

As Sacramento County begins to vaccinate children aged 5-11 against COVID-19, many parents have a lot of questions.

The rate of COVID-19 vaccination is at 79 percent among Sacramento city workforce, with the fire and police departments carrying some of the lowest rates.

While the capital experienced a barrage of thousands of parents against the school vaccine mandate, Galt had its own protest on Oct. 18 as approximately 100 people lined C Street.

Natomas is enjoying a steady decline of positive COVID-19 cases, as numbers have dropped 30 percent since July.

Some Sacramento parents pulled their children out of school today to protest the upcoming vaccine mandates for school-aged children.

Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen is making person-to-person contact with local business owners, encouraging them to apply for a city grant. The funds, generated by the American Rescue Plan Act, are disbursed by Elk Grove to its residents.

Bret Daniels, a member of the Citrus Heights City Council, drafted a plan at the most recent meeting to prohibit vaccine mandates and passports for the city's residents.

Sacramento State University officials have reported nearly 100 percent compliance with the school’s student COVID-19 policy, with 85 percent of students vaccinated and 11 percent pledging to not return to campus.

In a landmark announcement, Newsom has ordered COVID vaccines for students throughout California as the shots become FDA-approved for younger age groups.

Children aged 12-19 are one of the least vaccinated demographics in Sacramento, which is of concern to health officials as these young people are attending in-person school again.

The Sacramento County Grand Jury recommended last week that all K-12 schools mandate vaccinations for its employees and eligible students. COVID-19 vaccines are currently not required, but could be soon.

More than 4,300 students at Cal State Sacramento couldn’t go on campus after they failed to meet the school’s deadline for submitting proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

In a 4-1 vote, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to share and promote information about COVID-19 only from credible sources based on science.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has tested positive for COVID-19. He is vaccinated and experiencing minor symptoms.

Some key indicators of COVID-19 spread have been declining in the Sacramento region, an encouraging sign that the worst of the current surge may have subsided, though transmission rates remain elevated compared to spring.

Angelique Ashby of the Sacramento City Council has taken on some big challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the continued expansion and development of Sacramento.

The Black community in Sacramento remains one of the groups with the highest unvaccinated rate. Area pastors have stepped up, working to ensure that the congregations and communities they serve have access.

Federal unemployment benefits are ending, and officials announced that the state will not continue them. State unemployment insurance, disability insurance and paid family leave programs will not be affected.

Over the Labor Day weekend, festivals throughout Sacramento provided incentives to encourage vaccinations among the city's vulnerable populations. Rapid testing was also onsite.

A majority of Californians supports requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination before entering large outdoor gatherings or certain indoor spaces such as restaurants, bars and gyms, according to a new poll.

Sacramento-area health offices this week reported backlogs totaling at least a couple of thousand COVID-19 cases spanning much of August, attributed to a technological issue involving one of Northern California’s biggest health providers.

The Los Rios Community College District has received an influx of fake students as a result of a potentially statewide COVID relief scam.

California has some of the most extensive workplace vaccine requirements in the nation, but they don’t cover every industry. Some advocates say the state should expand its vaccine mandates to certain industries.

With the upcoming start to the school year, the Sacramento City Unified School District announced it’s providing COVID-19 testing at every school site for the school year.

A Harvard University study found evidence linking smoke from wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington in 2020 to rising COVID cases and deaths. They said that fine particulate matter acts as a vehicle for spreading infection and makes existing cases worse.

The Sept. 1 deadline for Sacramento city employees has been postponed to an undetermined later date, and the news was welcomed by the Sacramento Firefighters Union, among others.

A growing number of children are being affected by the coronavirus Delta variant, to the point of being admitted to the hospital. More than 40 children in the Sacramento region have been hospitalized in less than a month.