COVID-19

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...

California will restore an indoor mask mandate this week in the wake of a recent increase in Covid-19 cases, one of the state's top health officials said Monday. State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said the state will reimplement an indoor mask...

The power of community outreach support between the San Benito Health Foundation and Youth Alliance is having a positive outcome in their outreach for a healthier community.  The ongoing vaccine outreach movement is a commitment to bettering the community by investing time and resources in...

The San Benito County Department of Public Health Services will host a virtual town hall on “kids and Covid-19 vaccines” on Dec. 14, says a press release from the county. The online session will take place on Zoom from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. County Health Officer...

Covid-19 vaccine boosters are available to all adults 18 years and older who qualify based on the timing of their previous doses of the vaccine, according to San Benito County health officials.  Anyone in a higher-risk group—including seniors 65 and older, people with underlying medical...

San Benito County health officials this week hailed the recent approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children who are 5 to 11 years old. “As a parent and a physician, I know that parents, caregivers, school staff, and children have been waiting for today’s...