COVID-19

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 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 — A new community program called VIDA (Virus Integrated Distribution of Aide) was announced with a formal name during the March 31 press briefing for Monterey County, in which the City of Gonzales is a founding partner group. The formal start to the...

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 companies, organizations and agencies have partnered to host mass vaccination sites weekly, with the latest having taken place at the Salinas Valley Fairgrounds in King City last Saturday. Two mass clinics had already taken place earlier this month in Salinas,...

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...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Health Department announced earlier this week that “sufficient progress” has been made vaccinating Phase 1a health care workers, and that providers may now begin to offer Covid-19 vaccine to residents age 75 years or older in Phase 1b, Tier...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday formally endorsed the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 through 11, a move that will buttress defenses against a possible surge as winter arrives and ease the worries of tens of millions of pandemic-weary...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County added 3,304 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Friday, the highest number of coronavirus cases reported in a single day so far. The massive increase, however, is being attributed to a backlog of cases. "Today's Covid-19 data refresh shows the highest single...

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a two-month extension of the Paycheck Protection Program, which offers loans for small businesses struggling with the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden signed the extension in the Oval Office alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Isabella Casillas...