covid-19 - SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports

Stanford Upholds Its Conservative Bona Fides, Hosts Symposium For COVID Skeptics and Anti-Maskers

"What's happening at Stanford?" writes one medical school dean on social media, regarding the Pandemic Policy symposium at Stanford University today, featuring a number of Fauci-hating anti-maskers who took constroversial stances on public health policies during the pandemic.

Business & Tech

Zuckerberg Once Again Capitulates to Conservatives Over COVID Misinformation, Hunter Biden Laptop

Faced with right-wing criticism that taking down false posts somehow “censored Americans,” Facebook-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg threw in the towel and said that his social media companies will be more hands-off with misleading posts.

Marin County Sees Spike In COVID Deaths; Health Officer Recommends Vaccine Boosters For Those Over 65

This summer's COVID surge is proving to be worse and worse, and with the significant uptick in cases across the Bay Area, Marin County is reporting a rise in severe disease and COVID-related deaths that's worse than the county saw last winter.

Current COVID Uptick Appears to Be Coming With New Symptoms, Like Stomach Issues

California is experiencing much the same summer COVID upturn as the rest of the nation, and there’s some evidence that the symptoms of the new virus variants now include gastrointestinal issues too.

COVID Outbreak at SF County Jail, More Than 40 Prisoners Infected

Another COVID-19 outbreak in the correctional system, as SF County Jail is seeing a spike with 42 prisoners currently infected, though the highest numbers of infections are being reported at the County Jail No. 3 facility which is in San Bruno.

Yet Another COVID Uptick Hitting California, and the Bay Area Is Seeing the Worst of It

The dread “two red line” COVID test results are showing up at rates we haven’t seen since January, as the new FLiRT variants and a surge in travel are creating another summer increase in COVID-19 cases.

Arts & Entertainment

Another Planet Entertainment Loses Court Battle With Insurance Company Over COVID Losses

The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously today in favor of an insurance company in a case involving pandemic-related closure orders and whether property loss insurance could be applied to address economic losses from a virus.

Day Around the Bay: New COVID Variants Could Mean Possible Summer Surge

Yet another tax code change could be headed for SF's November ballot; a large house fire displaced seven people near Oakland’s Laney College; and some new COVID variants might show up to spoil the summer.

COVID Hospitalizations Hit Historic Low In California

Given how life has been going the past few years, it would be unwise to declare anything with certainty like, "The pandemic is finally, truly over." But the hospitalization stats in California show that COVID isn't what it used to be.

FEMA Tries to Renege on $114M In Reimbursements to San Francisco For Homeless Hotel Rooms

The federal government appears to be trying to get out of a large chunk of its promised reimbursements to California cities for shelter-in-place hotels that were rented out to house the unhoused in the first two years of the pandemic.

Monterey Chef Indicted For $4 Million In COVID Relief Fraud Scheme

A chef and caterer based in Monterey is in hot water with the feds over an alleged $4 million that he bilked from the government during the pandemic, which prosecutors say he used to buy real estate in Belize and fund a new business venture.

COVID is Basically Everywhere in the Bay Area, But Hospitalizations, Deaths Not as High as in Previous Surges

Wastewater levels show the Bay Area (and the whole country) are in the second-largest COVID surge of the pandemic, but we’re not seeing near the same levels of deaths or hospitalizations that have characterized the other previous surges.

Bay Area Wastewater Shows Rising Levels of COVID, Flu, and RSV After Holidays

Yet another new COVID variant called JN.1 is fueling yet another surge in COVID transmission according to wastewater data, while flu and RSV cases are also showing a sharp rise in the wake of holiday gatherings.

Day Around the Bay: COVID Swell Appears to Have Peaked In California

All signs point to COVID cases declining in the Bay Area and CA; Gov. Newsom announced new sweeping home-insurance regulations; and Justice Elena Kagan is calling for an ethics code for SCOTUS.

Dr. Bob Wachter Recovers From COVID and Gruesome Trash Can Injury, Jokes About It on Podcast

After a bout with COVID and a nasty collapse onto a trash can, UCSF COVID sage Dr. Bob Wachter is almost as good as new, and yukking it up over the whole ordeal on a new podcast.

SF's Pandemic Response Praised In New Study Showing Low Number of COVID Deaths

The choice was basically more freedom or less death after COVID arrived three years ago. Places like Florida and Texas chose freedom, California chose less death. And San Francisco in particular spared a lot of lives.

Dr. Bob Wachter Contracts COVID, Collapses and Suffers Nasty Head Wound

We’re all wishing a speedy recovery to UCSF’s cult-hit COVID sage Dr. Bob Wachter, who contracted the virus himself this week, then collapsed in the shower and suffered bleeding around the brain and a neck fracture.

Dr. Bob Wachter Ends His UCSF 'Grand Rounds' YouTube Forum Stressing COVID Is Not Fully Behind Us

Three years and three months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF Dr. Bob Wachter has done his last "Grand Rounds" forum on YouTube, but he stresses that the novel coronavirus and its variants will remain very much a part of our lives.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

Data Shows San Franciscans Still Aren't Going Out as Much as They Did Pre-Pandemic

Y'all are still sitting home, watching Hulu, and feeding your sourdough starters like it's May 2020 — or at least some of you are. And some new data shows that while spending on restaurants and entertainment has fully rebounded from the pandemic in other parts of the country, it still hasn't in SF.

Business & Tech

Meta Is Abandoning Their COVID-19 Misinformation Policy on Facebook and Instagram

Great news for your crazy uncle: Facebook and Instagram will no longer remove posts with COVID misinformation in countries that no longer have a COVID-19 public health emergency declaration, which is basically most of the world.

SF Agrees to Pay Hotel Whitcomb $19.5 Million for Shelter-In-Place Damages, In Largest Hotel Settlement Yet

Who says SF hotels can’t make money these days? The still-shuttered mid-Market Hotel Whitcomb was just awarded $19.5 million in a damage settlement over the facility’s use as a shelter-in-place hotel.

New Study Estimates 28 Million Americans Permanently Lost Some Sense of Taste or Smell From COVID

It may still be a few years before the clearest picture of the pandemic's impact on our health emerges. But one new study focuses on the not-often-discussed group of people who never regained, or only partially regained their sense of smell and taste after having COVID.

SFO Will Be First In U.S. to Test Planes’ Wastewater For COVID Variants

International arriving flights at SFO will have their wastewater tested for the emergence of new COVID-19 variants, the airport announced Tuesday, making it the first U.S. airport that's doing so.

Friday Morning Constitutional: WHO Declares COVID Emergency Over

Three years and two months in, the WHO has declared the global COVID emergency over; the body of an Oakland man missing since Dec. 2021 was found in a barrel outside the city; and we can expect some more rain tonight into Saturday.

Shady COVID Street Testing Sites, Offering $5 Cash Per Test, Appear Unlicensed

A slew of very informal-looking COVID-19 testing sites, paying people $5 a pop to take tests, is drawing another round of scrutiny for their lack of licensed staff and apparent flouting of public health protocols.