Please see the complete weekly update on the EBGTZ website and highlights below. Click here to download the PDF version.
The National Ryan White Conference is this week, with the clinical conference finishing up today and the HIV care conference ongoing through Friday. HRSA, CDC and NIH leadership voiced commitment to funding innovative models to address disparities including telehealth, home/self-testing, point-of-care testing, rapid ART and technology access. This morning our HIV ACCESS Rapid ART initiative was featured in a national rapid ART session, including how we’ve sustained rapid access during the pandemic. Thanks to all who have worked hard to provide rapid ART in the East Bay! Slides from the clinical conference plenaries can be downloaded here.
East Bay COVID-19 updates
Last Friday Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, announced that the undercount of COVID-19 cases starting on July 25 were due to two reasons. First, a server outage that created delays in lab results coming into the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange known as CalREDIE. Second, a certificate with Quest Diagnostics lab wasn’t renewed at the end of the month, preventing lab results from flowing into the system. Hospital data was not impacted. Despite the data issues, Ghaly stated California is seeing cases and hospitalizations decline.
Hospitalization rates in Alameda County suggest that trends flattened in late July and are starting to decline after 2 months of increases. While we await updated case numbers, Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties remain on the California State Data Monitoring List.
Alameda County:
The current transmission rate (Rt) is now estimated to be about 0.78, down from 1.28 in mid-June. Cases and deaths should decrease if we can keep it <1.
On August 12, there were 13,664 reported cases (undercount) of COVID-19 and 205 deaths.
Contra Costa County: On August 11, there were a total of 9,787 reported cases (undercount), 104 hospitalized and 146 deaths.
Solano County: On August 11, there were a total of 4,338 reported cases (undercount), 37 hospitalized and 41 deaths.
Wondering which types of masks are the most effective? A new study from Duke U. (Fischer, Sci Adv) compares how well 14 different commonly used mask and covering types block the number of droplets expelled while people are talking. Here’s an infographic summarizing the top 6 masks they tested that blocked the best, starting with the non-valve N95 mask “gold standard” which blocked the most droplets. The good news is that homemade 2-layer cotton masks blocked nearly 90% of the droplets that the N95 mask blocked:
Bandanas only blocked about half the droplets, and fleece gaiters (neck warmers) resulted in more droplets, possibly by breaking up larger droplets into smaller ones. Given these findings, you may want to avoid using gaiters, and avoid using bandanas especially when you may be around many others or may not be able to maintain distance.
More COVID-related updates and new studies:
A new contract tracing grant opportunity for agencies in Alameda County who want to provide COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing services is now available and due on August 21 (first round): Request for Qualification (RFQ) No. HCSA-900420, Emergency COVID-19 Case Investigation and Contact Tracing Services Vendor Pool.
Leadership changes at the state: California’s public health director Dr. Sonia Angell resigned on Monday, August 10. Her role will be filled by Sandra Shewry as the acting director of the Department of Public Health, and Dr. Erica Pan, the former chief health officer of Alameda County, as the acting state public health officer.
Leadership changes in Alameda County: Dr. Nicholas Moss, Alameda County Interim Health Officer, will be on parental leave at the end of August. Dr. Kathleen Clanon, Director of Alameda County Care Connect and Dr. Michael Stacey, Chief Medical Officer of LifeLong Medical Care will cover Health Officer responsibilities while Dr. Moss is on leave. COVID-19 rates are 3x higher in health care workers: A new study from the COVID Symptom Study (Nguyen et. al. in Lancet) including over 2 million community members and nearly 100k health care workers in the US and UK in March and April describes how health care workers were over 3 times as likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 after adjusting for increased testing and selection bias. Inadequate PPE increased risk. Black, Asian and other “minority ethnic” health care workers also had disproportionate risk.
Aerosols (tiny droplets) have been found to contain viable SARS-CoV-2 in a hospital room 16 feet away from COVID-19 patients in a new study from U. Florida (Lednicky, medRxiv preprint). This data suggests that we wear masks when around others even when 6 feet apart, especially indoors.
AIDS 2020: Virtual content now available free and on-demand. You can now access the sessions from the 23rd International AIDS Conference via the conference website.
Oakland LGBTQ Center: Please save the date for a virtual 3-year anniversary celebration and tour of the newly expanded center on September 7, 2020. For more, please visit the Oakland LGBTQ Center website at oaklandlgbtqcenter.org
OAVoice Newsletter: The State Office of AIDS August newsletter is now available. Click here to access it. You can also access previous newsletters here.
Covered California has again extended the deadline to enroll, now to the end of August. If you or someone you know is uninsured, we encourage you to check out Covered California and explore the health plans offered, as well as the availability of financial help.
Roots Health Centers are going live on Facebook every Tuesday at 10am Tune in, to “The People’s Health Briefing” for data and perspective from experts on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis.
Crushing the Curve is a campaign supported by 4 Bay Area counties that helps young adults and their families stay healthy and connected during the Covid-19 pandemic.
PAETC is offering a webinar on HIV Pharmacology to be held Monday, August 24th at 1:30pm. Register here.
California Prevention Training Center (CA PTC) is hosting a CA STD Expert Hour webinar tomorrow 8/13 from 1-2pm PDT about Delivering Sexual Health Services in the Time of COVID-19 with Drs. Ina Park and Rosalyn Plotzker. Register here.
You are always welcome to go to the EBGTZ website for detailed updates (usually posted Wednesday evenings). Please follow and share our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Thank you for all that you do for our communities!
Sophy and Yamini
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Sophy S. Wong, MD, Director
Yamini Oseguera-Bhatnagar, Program Manager East Bay Getting to Zero
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