City Of Berkeley: With Unprecedented Spread Of COVID-19, Up The Tools For Your Pandemic Game

Press release from City of Berkeley:

Friday, January 07, 2022

Berkeley, California (Friday, January 07, 2022) - You may just feel like you have the sniffles or a common cold, but you should treat it as COVID-19: stay home unless you get a negative test, isolate as required locally and notify those you may have seen recently.

For the rest of us, blunting Omicron's spread and severity requires upping our game with the tools we're already familiar with. Use boosters to stay up to date with vaccination. Double mask or, better, use an N95 or KN95. Meet outdoors with others and keep indoor spaces well ventilated. Budget your risk knowing that risk is extremely high.

These steps now take on greater importance as the hyper-infectious Omicron variant tears through our community, doubling the cases of even our highest previous spike. While these acts help protect you and those you love, they are particularly important for the vulnerable among us, such as the elderly or immunocompromised.

"We are fortunate over 90 percent of our residents have gotten fully vaccinated and at least 40 percent have gotten boosters - our most powerful tools in this pandemic," said Dr. Lisa B. Hernandez, the City Health Officer. "Our community's embrace of vaccination and simple pandemic-response tools has guided us thus far, but Omicron now requires us to ramp up our COVID-response game to another level."

Once you feel symptoms, isolate until you can get tested

Know when, how to use testing

• Kaiser: e-visit platform for COVID-19 concerns; and positive COVID-19 Home Test E-visit
• Sutter Health: Online symptom screener for testing and resources

Improve your mask - and do it to protect yourself as well as others

Stay up to date on vaccination

• 6 months have passed since your second dose of Moderna (for 18+)
• 5 months have passed since your second dose of Pfizer (for 12+)
• 2 months have passed since your Johnson & Johnson Dose (for 18+)

Minimize your risk

Links

• Guidance for Local Health Jurisdictions on Isolation and Quarantine (CDPH)
• Schedule your vaccination, booster or flu shot (MyTurn)
• Local Vaccination Clinics (City of Berkeley)
• Testing Resources:
  • Kaiser: e-visit platform for COVID-19 concerns; and positive COVID-19 Home Test E-visit
  • Sutter Health: Online symptom screener for testing and resources
  • Stanford Health Care
  • City of Berkeley
  • Alameda County
  • Pharmacies: CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid

This press release was produced by City of Berkeley. The views expressed here are the author’s own.