Bay Area
Oakland Healthcare Unions Denounce CDC and California’s New Guidelines
While federal and California state guidelines now allow healthcare workers who test positive for COVID-19 to return to work without quarantining as long as they are asymptomatic until at least February 1, it’s unclear what this will mean for several Oakland healthcare facilities.

By Zack Haber
Two unions representing healthcare professionals have denounced recent moves by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and The California Department of Public Health that have eased, or in some cases temporarily eliminated, quarantining guidelines for those who have tested positive for COVID-19 or been directly exposed to the virus.
“Part of why there’s this rise in transmission is that people aren’t quite well and they’re able to come out and mingle with the public,” said Zenei Triunfo-Cortez in an interview. Triunfo-Cortez has worked as a registered nurse for 42 years, and she’s the president of National Nurses United (NNU), a registered nurses’ union with over 175,000 members.
On December 22 of last year, as news that the CDC was considering shortening their COVID-19 quarantine duration guidelines from 10 days to five days was spreading, the NNU published an open letter to the director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, that urged her to maintain the 10-day quarantine period.
“Weakening COVID-19 guidance now, in the face of what could be the most devastating COVID-19 surge yet,” the letter reads, “will only result in further transmission, illness and death.”
On December 23, the CDC changed their guidelines for healthcare workers. To address staffing shortages, the new guidelines stated that medical facilities could have both vaccinated and unvaccinated healthcare workers who test positive for the virus return to their jobs immediately without quarantining in certain crisis situations as long as they were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic.
On December 27, the CDC changed their guidelines for the rest of the population, shortening the quarantining period from 10 to five days. The new guidelines stated that as long as a COVID-positive person has no symptoms or their symptoms are resolving and they don’t have a fever, they can end their quarantine on the sixth day.
“The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of [COVID-19] transmission occurs early in the course of the illness,” reads a statement from the CDC about the reduced quarantine guideline, “generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and 2-3 days after.”
In their letter, the NNU pointed to the extremely contagious Omicron variant, and warned “Now is not the time to relax protections.” They mentioned pressure from businesses to maintain profits “without regard for science or the health of employees or the public” as the primary motivation for shortening the quarantine time. The letter included a link to a story about Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian asking the CDC to consider such a change.
Data from Alameda County, and California show that after the Omicron variant of COVID-19 began to become widespread in mid-December, local and statewide cases surged. By late December, average daily case rates were higher than they ever had been before.
Hospitalizations also rose sharply. Then cases and hospitalizations continued to rise through early January and have continued to rise. At the time of publication, information on recent COVID-19 deaths is unclear as the county and the state are updating that data.
“It’s stressful because some of our co-workers might be coming into work sick,” said Sonya Allen-Smith in an interview on January 7 about working under the new guidelines. She’s been an X-ray technologist at a Kaiser Permanente facility in Oakland for 13 years and is a member of the SEIU UHW union for healthcare workers.
“We think about if we’re going to take it home to our families,” she said. “My husband’s immune system is compromised. If I bring it home to him, he definitely will not make it.”
The Oakland Post obtained a flow chart Kaiser e-mailed to their employees on January 7 that guided them through the quarantine process the company required them to enter into if they tested positive for COVID-19.
It showed Kaiser employees had to quarantine for five days and could return on the sixth day if they tested negative for the virus with an antigen test. Allen-Smith said she felt the quarantine period was too short.
“We’re not giving people enough time to heal or recover,” Allen-Smith said. “Weakening the guidelines is not going to stop the staff shortage. It may increase it because people will spread it.”
In an e-mail, Kaiser Permanente’s media team wrote that they’re “implementing CDC and CDHP guidance and isolation with considerations to vaccination status and staffing levels.” It also stated that “all employees coming back or continuing to work, wear the appropriate PPE and follow all infection prevention measures.”
On January 8, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) decided to temporarily adopt the guidance for healthcare workers the CDC had released on December 23 to address staffing shortages at healthcare facilities.
“From January 8, 2022 until February 1, 2022, healthcare professionals who test positive for [COVID-19] and are asymptomatic,” reads their statement announcing the new guidelines, ”may return to work immediately without isolation and without testing.”
The statement also said such returning employees would have to wear N95 masks while working and that these new guidelines could again change as information becomes available.
Both the NNU and the SEIU-UHW unions immediately denounced CDHP’s decision.
“For healthcare workers on the frontline it is very disappointing to see the State of California bypass common sense safety measures,” said Gabe Montoya, an emergency room technician, in a statement SEIU-UHW released. “No patient wants to be cared for by someone who has COVID-19 or was just exposed to it.”
While federal and California state guidelines now allow healthcare workers who test positive for COVID-19 to return to work without quarantining as long as they are asymptomatic until at least February 1, it’s unclear what this will mean for several Oakland healthcare facilities.
When asked for a statement about their Bay Area healthcare facilities, Sutter Health’s media team wrote an email stating: “Consistent with CDC contingency tiered guidelines released in late December, and in response to critical staffing conditions, we have revised our process for how employees who work at patient care sites return after they have been sick with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. It’s important to note that symptomatic employees are not returning to work until their symptoms improve.”
When asked directly if asymptomatic COVID positive employees were currently returning to work, Sutter Health’s media team did not respond.
When asked about their current COVID-19 quarantine policies, Alameda Health System’s media and communications manager Eleanor Ajala wrote “Alameda Health System is reviewing guidance” and that they planned to attend a meeting with the state to discuss the issue.
On January 11, Allen-Smith said she hadn’t heard of any change to Kaiser Permanente’s quarantine policy, but that she knows three co-workers sick with COVID-19 who had just returned after five-day quarantines.
In an e-mail, Kaiser Permanente’s media team wrote that to address staffing shortages they were “employing traveling nurses, adjusting elective and non-urgent surgeries and procedures as needed, and offering our industry-leading telehealth capabilities in addition to in-person care.”
The media team did not directly answer when asked if Kaiser was allowing asymptomatic COVID positive employees to return to the job at Bay Area healthcare facilities.
Allen-Smith is unhappy about the guidelines changing and is unsure if Kaiser’s policy will further change in the near future due to CDHP’s recent announcement.
“A lot of us are confused and sad and just don’t feel safe in the workplace,” she said.
Bay Area
Spring Fling & Art Stroll readies for return to ‘The Point’

By Kathy Chouteau
The Richmond Standard
Signaling that better weather is around the corner, Point Richmond’s “Spring Fling & Art Stroll” is returning to downtown Sat., April 8 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Held the day before Easter, the second annual event will see Park Place closed to traffic as children’s activities (11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.), a DJ (11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.), dancing, fashion show, street vendors, Easter Bonnet Contest and an egg hunt get underway.
“Wear a hat and enter the Easter Bonnet Contest, activities and Easter Egg Hunt for kids, new round of outdoor art banners, browse sidewalk art vendors, view exhibitions in six local galleries, dine in local restaurants and more,” said organizers.
One artist who will be showcasing his collaborative artwork at the event is Steve Zwetsch of Cigar Box Kitchen Guitars. Zwetsch—who has been profiled as one of the Standard’s “Fave Things”—will preview his “one-of-a-kind” art creations with nine of 13 local artists on cigar box guitars and ukuleles as part of the Local Artist Guitar Series.
Zwetsch said that the artists “painted, collaged or otherwise decorated” the guitars and ukuleles he made, with some of the materials—such as a folding chess board and drawer pulls—found at the El Cerrito Recycling Center, where he is currently the artist in residence. He said the works collectively took six to eight weeks to complete.
The following artists worked with Zwetsch on guitars/ukes that will be on display at the Spring Fling & Art Stroll, with “a portion of the proceeds [going] to local charities chosen by consensus of the artists,” per Zwetsch: Kaci Smith; Brian Mcgilloway; Laura Thiessen; Torreyanna Barley; Malik Seneferu; Dee Bell; Marvin Mann; Chris Morgan; and Gail Zwetsch.
He said 13 additional cigar box guitars are also currently being made as part of this series.
“This project has been really interesting and fun,” said Zwetsch about the endeavor. “Meeting all these talented artists and collaborating on one-of-a-kind pieces of playable art has been very fulfilling. I look forward to continuing this project through the rest of 2023 and into 2024.”
The Spring Fling & Art Stroll is hosted by a partnership among Arts of Point Richmond, Point Richmond Neighborhood Council and PRAM. Learn more at https://www.artsofpointrichmond.com/events/second-annual-spring-art-stroll.
Bay Area
Richmond to Train Community Members to Respond to Low-Level 911 Calls
Trained community members could begin responding to certain low-level 911 calls in Richmond, as well as to calls into the non-emergency number, as part of a new program being developed by residents and officials. The city has released a survey (take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RichmondCrisisResources) to help design Richmond’s so-called Community Crisis Response Program.

The Richmond Standard
Trained community members could begin responding to certain low-level 911 calls in Richmond, as well as to calls into the non-emergency number, as part of a new program being developed by residents and officials.
The city has released a survey (take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RichmondCrisisResources) to help design Richmond’s so-called Community Crisis Response Program. The new community-based response system will focus on harm reduction strategies that better serve residents in need and enable traditional emergency responders to focus on violent crimes and serious crises.
Urban Strategies Council (USC), a nonprofit research and social justice organization, is supporting the effort by learning from Richmond residents’ experiences with the emergency response system, community crises, and community needs.
The need for a better emergency response in the community comes in the wake of actions by the Richmond Progressive Alliance-dominated City Council to defund the Richmond Police Department. From 2014 through last year, the RPD saw a 26% reduction in sworn officers.
Bay Area
New Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez – History Making Latina
Supporters celebrated the victory of new Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez in the Berkeley Hills on Sunday, March 12, at the home of Berkeley City Councilmember Sophie Hahn. “She stepped up for all of us,” Hahn said. “She stepped up for Alameda County. She stepped up for our values.”

By Carla Thomas
Supporters celebrated the victory of new Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez in the Berkeley Hills on Sunday, March 12, at the home of Berkeley City Councilmember Sophie Hahn.
“She stepped up for all of us,” Hahn said. “She stepped up for Alameda County. She stepped up for our values.”
Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arguin, the first Latino mayor of Berkeley, said he was Sanchez’s first supporter and called her a change agent.
“Representation does matter,” said Arguin. “It’s important that the people who hold these positions come from the county and represent the diversity of the county. She was the only one that had the courage to go against Sheriff Ahern.”
The meet-and greet-event gave Sanchez an opportunity to discuss her new role and hear from the community on the changes they wish to see within the department internally, and externally throughout the community.
“I know the damaging effects that poverty and lack of access to resources and support systems can have on communities and how that impacts crime and safety,” Sanchez said. “I am committed to leading the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office with the utmost integrity, serving the community equitably and inclusively, and making sure the agency ensures safety in the community by investing in it.”
Sanchez plans to transform the system by implementing partnerships that can provide transportation, housing, and resources for the re-entry population. She also plans to strengthen access to public health care and mental health resources within the jails.
“This is more than a job, it’s a mission,” said Sanchez who sees transformation for now and the future. “The younger generations can now see what’s possible.”
In June 2022, then-Deputy Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez surprised many by her outright win in a three-way race against a well-entrenched incumbent to become Alameda County’s next sheriff.
Sanchez actually raced against her own boss and won. Risking her career and livelihood, Sanchez credits hard work, prayers, and God for such a victory.
Once Sanchez took her oath on January 3, she became the first Latina and woman to ever hold the office, making history.
Retiree Dawn Sullivan who worked as a detective under Sanchez said she was a great supervisor and Sanchez’s rise was no surprise to her.
“I’m so proud of her, she had the courage to run against her boss,” said Sullivan. “She’s already done a lot, but the changes she will make will be great for so many in the department and the community.”
Born in Hayward, and currently living in Livermore with her husband, Todd, Sanchez says she is a proud stepmom of three daughters. She’s also proud to be a Latina with southern and Mexican roots. Sanchez says her mother moved from Texas to California and her father immigrated from Mexico.
“My family shaped my core values of integrity, respect, accountability, transparency and openness,” she said.
By the age of 14, Sanchez’s parents had divorced, lost their home, and she her siblings worked to “help mom make ends meet.”
At the age of 18, Sanchez says she worked three jobs until she got an entry-level role of Sheriff’s Technician within the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
In the Sheriff’s Office, Sanchez rose through the ranks for over 20 years, serving as Deputy Sheriff, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain at the (North County Jail), and the Glenn E. Dyer Detention Facility (GEDDF). Before her election, Sanchez’s most recent role included Division Commander, managing the Santa Rita Jail facility in Dublin.
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