Weekly Roundup for May 6, 2022
Published: May 06, 2022
This week the California Department of Public Health, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced a new program to provide free at-home COVID-19 tests to summer camps and schools serving K-12 students. Weekly requests are due at noon on Fridays through June 17.
The federal government selects which groups receive the tests. You should hear from CDPH within 5-7 business days. Test delivery typically takes another 3-7 business days.
Camps and local education agencies can learn more and apply here:
https://labsupport.powerappsportals.us/cdcotc/
Questions regarding this program may be sent by email: schoolOTC@cdph.ca.gov.
There have been 6,207 student cases of COVID reported in the county since August and 666 staff cases.
Today’s digest provides helpful and important updates on the following:
- Local COVID-19 vaccine and testing opportunities
- May 9 deadline for student vax video contest
- Other County of Sonoma news of note
Local Vaccine & Testing Opportunities
Vaccination and testing clinics are being held throughout the county to serve people who do not have convenient or affordable access to healthcare providers.
As of Wednesday, 1,059,926 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Sonoma County residents with over 80 percent of the eligible population now fully vaccinated. The county is averaging about 1,726 COVID-19 tests a day, which does not include all at-home rapid tests.
There were 20 COVID-related hospitalizations in the county as of Monday. Four of those COVID patients were in ICU beds. There have been a total of 490 COVID-related deaths reported here since the start of the pandemic.
People who are unvaccinated in Sonoma County are 3.2 times as likely to be infected, 18.8 times more likely to be hospitalized if they get COVID and are 12.8 times more likely to die than those who are vaccinated.
Visit the Sonoma County Office of Education to learn about clinics for students and families:
https://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/school_staff_immunization.html
View the county’s vaccine clinics and appointment page here:
https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/vaccine-information/clinics/
Testing appointments are still recommended but more testing sites now can accommodate walk-ins.
For details or appointments at COVID-19 testing clinics, including a pop-up testing calendar, please visit:
https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/testing-and-tracing/
Residents who test positive using an at-home antigen test are urged to report the result by calling the county’s COVID hotline at (707) 565-4667 (4701 in Spanish). Anyone who needs help making a vaccination or testing appointment may also contact the hotline.
Vax Video Contest Deadline May 9
Sonoma County students in the sixth through 12th grades are invited to create a 30 to 60 second video that addresses the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines.
Cash prizes donated from community groups will be awarded to the top three videos in each of two categories, sixth to eighth graders and ninth to 12th graders.
- First place: $1,500
- Second place: $1,000
- Third place: $500
Each team will create and submit a 30 to 60 second video not to exceed 300MB for uploads. Original video files must be in .MP4 .MPEG, .MOV, .AVI, or .WMV format (.MP4 is preferred).
Winning students or teams for each category will be selected by a panel of judges chosen by the Sonoma County Office of Education. Entries will be judged on the following: effectiveness of the message, accuracy, quality, entertainment, originality/creativity.
Release and Consent Forms, Entry Form, and final video files must be submitted by May 9 at 5 p.m. A virtual Vax Vid Video Contest ceremony will be livestreamed on the County of Sonoma social media channels on May 20.
More information about the contest can be found here:
https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/vaccine-information/vax-vid-video-contest/
Check out a promo video here:
https://youtu.be/sof6XPjHK3E.
Other County of Sonoma News
Immigration status no longer limits scope of Medi-Cal benefits for adults 50 and older
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/immigration-status-no-longer-limits-scope-of-medi-cal-benefits-for-adults-50-and-older
RFP for Behavioral Health Adult Outpatient Services
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/rfp-for-behavioral-health-adult-outpatient-services
aha! announces nonstop flights to Santa Rosa from Reno-Tahoe hub
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/aha-announces-nonstop-flights-to-santa-rosa-from-reno-tahoe-hub
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https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Newsroom/SoCo-Correspondent/