COVID-19

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—At least 5,600 doses of vaccinations for the novel coronavirus have been distributed throughout Santa Cruz County, a number that county health officials at a Friday press conference said has been significantly impacted by plodding distribution from the state. Overall, the county has...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday issued long-awaited guidance to Americans fully vaccinated against Covid-19, freeing them to take some liberties that the unvaccinated should not, including gathering indoors with others who are fully vaccinated without precautions while still adhering to...

Reagen Stanger entered the world during the most challenging time her family has known. Born on Sept. 2, 2020, the now 6-month-old baby took her first breath as the CZU August Lightning Complex fires forced mass evacuations locally and Covid-19 cases raged around the...

Santa Cruz County’s adjusted case rate recently fell below the state’s threshold (28 per 100,000 per day) needed to reopen in-class instruction for grades K-6, health officials announced at a press conference on Feb. 4. That means local school districts could start applying to the...

By Juan Reyes, Staff Reporter The wait for most youth sports just became a lot shorter as the California Department of Public Health released an updated version of its guidance, meaning that schools and privately organized clubs or leagues could begin full contact practice and...

Some services, such as outdoor dining, can resume Outdoor dining and other services can resume after Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 25 ended the state’s regional stay-at-home order based on intensive care unit (ICU) capacity.  In its place, the state has returned to the Blueprint for...

Santa Cruz County is moving to the red tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan starting Wednesday, as predicted last week.  That means several indoor business operations can reopen starting Wednesday, including indoor dining, aquariums, museums, dance studios, gyms and movie theaters, all of which have...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to require all of 2,400 County employees to either take the Covid-19 vaccine or submit to weekly testing. Employees who refuse both risk termination, or being put on leave without...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Office of Education (COE) has launched a dashboard that summarizes Covid-19 testing results across schools countywide. The dashboard is a partnership with school districts, Inspire Diagnostics and the Santa Cruz County Department of Public Health, COE spokesman Nick Ibarra...

Late January the Vine Hill elementary PTA announced an online auction beginning Feb. 5 and continuing until the PTA’s first-ever virtual live auction on Feb. 20, hosted by Robert Aldana, Bobbie Ward and Garvin Thomas.  These two events form a part of the PTA’s fundraisers...