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Santa Clara County is adding scores of permanent workers who can focus on delivering COVID-19 aid to residents amid an ongoing pandemic. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to pay for 251 disaster service worker positions. Most of these positions will be added to the County Executive Office and Office of Emergency Management, and...
Silicon Valley transit workers upset over COVID vaccine policy
Outraged VTA employees are taking their leaders to task over a mandate requiring them to get vaccinated for COVID-19 by the end of April. Santa Clara County public transit workers flooded Thursday’s virtual board meeting to express displeasure with the vaccine policy issued last week. Many are members of VTA’s largest union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265. They...
Santa Clara County COVID spike, rent evictions equal double whammy
As COVID-19 infections spiked across Silicon Valley over the winter, evictions continued to pile up in Santa Clara County Superior Court. The combination is posing challenges for in-person court hearings. There were 234 residential evictions filed in Santa Clara County from December through Jan. 26, as well as 40 commercial evictions. Tenant defense attorneys say the...
Santa Clara County workers disciplined for lack of COVID shots
A little more than 200 Santa Clara County employees are being disciplined for failing to comply with a county COVID-19 health order that targets high-risk workers. County officials told San José Spotlight on Wednesday that 209 employees are subject to discipline for failing to get vaccinated or a booster shot for COVID-19. The health order...
San Jose college teachers upset over lack of COVID vaccine oversight
As West Valley-Mission Community College District students return to in-person learning, faculty are petitioning for safe working conditions. Teachers distributed a resolution in late January stating the school district’s COVID-19 implementation plan is outdated, and the district is failing to verify student vaccine status. Kate Disney, president of the West Valley Mission Federation of Teachers, said...
Santa Clara County revises COVID-19 testing health order
COVID-19 testing requirements are changing in Santa Clara County, but not drastically. On Monday, county officials announced changes to an ongoing health order allowing health care providers to use antigen testing instead of just PCR testing, and shifting the responsibility of testing and vaccinations back to providers instead of the county. “The update doesn’t make radical changes,”...
Silicon Valley transit agency adopts COVID vaccine policy for workers
Amid increasing COVID-19 infections, VTA will require all 2,000 of its employees and contractors to be fully vaccinated by April 29. The public transit agency, which hinted a vaccine policy was in the pipeline last week, announced the mandate Thursday. Employees who get an approved medical or religious exemption must test negative each week in order...
COVID order poses staffing challenges for San Jose, county firefighters
With a countywide COVID vaccination deadline looming next week, local firefighters are bracing for more overtime demands and staffing challenges. Last month, Santa Clara County ordered workers in high-risk settings to get both COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots by Jan. 24. Workers who don’t comply with the order may no longer work in high-risk settings...
Little known about new COVID variant detected in Santa Clara County
A new strain of the omicron variant of COVID-19 has been detected in Santa Clara County, but details about its transmissibility are scarce. Santa Clara County officials confirmed a strain known as BA.2 has been found in two people in the county. In a video shared with San José Spotlight, Deputy Public Health Officer Dr. George...
Where can you find at-home COVID-19 tests in Santa Clara County?
With the widespread outbreak of the omicron variant, at-home COVID-19 tests are vital but hard to locate. To help meet this need, Santa Clara County will start distributing 60,000 COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits Saturday at four drive-through locations: Hellyer County Park, Martial Cottle Park, Vasona County Park and Foothill College. Dr. Jennifer Tong, associate...