COVID-19

While California K-12 students will still be required to wear masks once the state's indoor mask mandate ends this week, one of the state’s top health officials said Monday that a decision on in-school mask requirements could be made by the end of the...

Nearly every county in the greater Bay Area will lift their indoor mask mandates next week, aligning them with the state's plans to lift its mask requirements.  San Benito will join Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sonoma and...

Federal regulators issued their full approval Jan. 31 of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, the second approval of a Covid vaccine outside of its emergency use authorization.  The FDA issued its full approval of the vaccine after considering data from roughly 14,000 vaccine recipients and 14,000...

As the county and state continue to experience an unprecedented surge in demand for Covid-19 testing, San Benito County officials this week sent out a lengthy informational update in recognition of limited test availability and longer-than-expected testing turnaround times.  “We understand the challenges these issues...

Covid-19 hospitalizations among California's children—especially those too young to go to school—are the highest they have been since the pandemic began. Chalk it up to the highly contagious omicron variant, kids exposed during in-person instruction at school and other public places, and infants and preschoolers...

Courtesy of the Hollister School District  The Hollister School District has distributed KN95 masks to all staff members as an additional safety measure in the wake of the surge in Covid-19 cases. The district distributed close to 3,700 of the masks this week to staff members....

Recent “pop-up” Covid-19 testing sites in San Benito County and elsewhere in California may be fraudulent, and authorities are warning the public. The county’s Public Health Services sent out a press release Jan. 13 stating its staff has been made aware of the temporary testing...

The OptumServe Covid-19 testing site in Hollister will no longer accept walk-in appointments, until further notice, according to San Benito County staff. The site is located at the Hazel Hawkins Community Health Center building, 930 Sunset Drive in Hollister. Due to limited staffing and testing supplies,...

San Benito County faces another rising surge of Covid-19 cases, driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant of the virus, according to authorities. The wave of new cases hasn’t resulted in a major strain on the local hospital or healthcare providers—largely because Omicron doesn’t appear...

With recent reports that the highly contagious Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus has reached San Benito County’s neighbor to the north, authorities are reminding local residents of the importance of seeking vaccinations and booster shots, as well as taking other measures to prevent...