Bay Area

Doctors at Roots Community Health Center Provide Straight Forward Information on COVID Risks for Oakland Families

So far in Alameda County, there were 99,681 recorded COVID-19 cases, more than 2,500 more cases than last week, and 1,291 COVID deaths.

Published

5 years ago

August 13, 2021

Isabelle Price

Roots Community Health Center offers free testing.

Roots Community Health Center is presenting weekly health briefings

The Roots Community Health Center, located at 9925 International Blvd. in Oakland, is hosting an online weekly People’s Health Briefing on Facebook, offering straight-forward information about what parents, families, teachers and school staff need to know to stay safe as the Delta variant surges to extreme levels in East and West Oakland.

Presenting the health briefing this week, “A Parent’s Guide to School Reopening, were Dr. Noha Aboelata, MD, founder and CEO of the health center, and Dr. Aisha Mays, MD, the center’s director of adolescent and school-based services. The briefing is available online at www.facebook.com/rootsempowers/videos/719407845555581

Roots serves some of the people most vulnerable to catching COVID-19.

So far in Alameda County, there were 99,681 recorded COVID-19 cases, more than 2,500 more cases than last week, and 1,291 COVID deaths.

Overall, the county is doing well with vaccinations: 85.7% of those who are 12 and up have received at least one dose of the vaccine; and 72.4% are fully vaccinated, though rates vary in different neighborhoods.

However, children under 12, who are ineligible for vaccination, make up 15% of the total population.

Alameda County hospitalizations continue to rise. There are now 208 individuals in hospitals, compared to 179 last week.

Dr. Mays discussed the danger of COVID-19 for children. As of August 5, 4.3 million children in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, she said. While many children have milder symptoms or no symptoms, some have gotten very sick and some have died, including infants under the age of one and children and youth with health conditions such as heart disease, asthma, sickle cell anemia and diabetes. Only 30% of children eligible to receive the vaccine have been vaccinated in the U.S.

Some parents are still trying to decide whether to send their children to in-person or distance learning, said Dr. Aboelata. “We know that no matter what we do we are going to be sacrificing something. This is about laying out the risks of each of our choices.”

With in-person schooling, parents worry their children might catch COVID, whether they might become seriously ill or might spread the infection it to someone in the home or family.

Distance learning risks include the danger of parents or caregivers losing income, increased screen time for children and doing poorly academically, as well as socially and emotionally.

A group of physicians and community leaders recently got together to express their concerns and make recommendation to the superintendent and school board of the Oakland Unified School District. See these recommendations in the Oakland Post, “Medical Professionals Call on Oakland School Leaders to Increase COVID-19 Protections.”

One central issue is whether students are vaccinated. Of course, everyone under 12 years old is unvaccinated, and no vaccine will be likely available for them later this year, according to Dr. Aboelata.

Young people who catch COVID generally do better than adults though that is not always the case.

Young people are also present the danger of infecting others. In California, 590,000 senior citizens live with school-age children. “This is more likely to be the case in households of color and can exacerbate the disparities that are already a reality of this pandemic,” she said.

Already, African Americans in Alameda County are dying at about double the rate of other residents and since April, African Americans account for the highest number of new COVID-19 cases. “This is a disparity that continues to widen,” she said.

To understand exactly how the pandemic is unfolding and to respond to it, officials must have routine testing or surveillance at each school, “which is not being implemented at any of the (district’s) school sites, ” said Aboelata.

Since there is no school site data, the best way to look at the risks is to examine community case rates. “If community transmission is high, then students and staff are more likely to come to school while infectious,” she said.

The county average of positivity case rates is 5%. There are four Oakland zip codes with extremely high positivity rates of between 9% and 12%: 94607 in West Oakland, and 94605, 94621 and 94603 in East Oakland. “94603 is the highest with a 12% positivity rate,” she said.

“We’d like to see a positivity rate of under 5% to be safe for in-person activities, “ she said. “(But) these decisions are being made on a county-wide and city-wide basis,” and ignore the great variation in case rates in different parts of the city that impact the number of cases that are potentially brought into a school.

If officials know the vaccination status of teachers and staff, the school can require an N95 mask and routine testing for unvaccinated teachers and staff in order to protect unvaccinated students, she said.

Vaccination rates in Oakland are extremely variable depending on the neighborhood but are generally 3 percentage points behind the county. About 69% of the people who are eligible are fully vaccinated in Oakland, but in some census tracts, rates are as low as 38%.

And then there is the issue of physical distancing. “We understand that it is not a requirement for OUSD to have distancing, but it is important to have the maximum distancing possible,” she said. “Distancing is most important to prevent droplet transmission. If schools “are trying to get too many people into an enclosed space … we become much more concerned about aerosol transmission, which is the main way that COVID-19 is spread,” she said.

If too many people are packed into a room, that could overwhelm the ventilation strategy, including the use of windows, doors and commercial air purifiers.

Testing is also a serious issue. “Per OUSD, all testing is optional or simply recommended,” she said. “This is most problematic when it relates to anyone with symptoms. We believe that testing should absolutely be required for anyone with symptoms that could be COVID-19.”

“If you have symptoms that could be COVID-19, you have no business setting foot on a school campus until you’ve proven that it is not COVID-19. Children who have symptoms that could be COVID-19 if possible, should take a test that shows all possible viruses that are now circulating in the region, not just COVID, she said.

Lastly, “we are concerned about how potential outbreaks will be managed,” she said. “We are concerned that the capacity for contact tracing in the county may not be sufficient for current volume let alone let alone if there’s an outbreak at a school.”

She pointed out that the Berkeley Unified School District has online data available of positive cases by date at every school. This is the kind of transparency that OUSD should consider, she said.

The Oakland Post’s coverage of local news in Alameda County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support community newspapers across California.

Isabelle Price

Posts by Isabelle Price

Up Next

County Board of Supervisors Seeks Public Input in Spending $324 Million of Federal Funding

Don't Miss

Oakland Post: August 11th – August 17th, 2021

Isabelle Price

Click to comment

Activism

Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

1 week ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of February 18 – 24, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 18 – 24, 2026

Published

2 weeks ago

February 20, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Bay Area

CITY OF SAN LEANDRO STATE OF CALIFORNIA PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT ENGINEERING DIVISION NOTICE TO BIDDERS FOR ANNUAL STREET OVERLAY/REHABILITATION 2019-21 – PHASE III

WORK DESCRIPTION: The work to be done consists of roadway paving, base cement stabilization, concrete curb ramps, driveways, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, traffic detection loops and pavement striping, and doing all appurtenant work in place and ready for use, all as shown on the plans and described in the specifications with the title indicated in Paragraph 1 above, and on file in the office of the City Engineer. Reference to said plans and specifications is hereby made for further particulars.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 20, 2026

Oakland Post

PROJECT NO. 2020.0050

BID NO. 25-26.011

BID OPENING: The bidder shall complete the “Proposal to the City of San Leandro” form contained in the Contract Book. The proposal shall be submitted in its entirety. Incomplete proposals will be considered non-responsive. Sealed bids containing the completed Proposal Section subject to the conditions named herein and in the specifications for ANNUAL STREET OVERLAY/REHABILITATION 2019-21 – PHASE III/PROJECT NO. 2020.0050 addressed to the City of San Leandro will be received at City Hall, 835 East 14^th Street, 2^nd Floor San Leandro at the office of the City Clerk up to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at which time they will be publicly opened and read.
WORK DESCRIPTION: The work to be done consists of roadway paving, base cement stabilization, concrete curb ramps, driveways, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, traffic detection loops and pavement striping, and doing all appurtenant work in place and ready for use, all as shown on the plans and described in the specifications with the title indicated in Paragraph 1 above, and on file in the office of the City Engineer. Reference to said plans and specifications is hereby made for further particulars.
OBTAINING THE PROJECT PLANS AND CONTRACT BOOK: The project plans and Contract Book may be obtained free of charge from the City’s website at:https://www.sanleandro.org/Bids.aspx Bidders who download the plans are encouraged to contact the City of San Leandro Public Works Department Engineering division at 510-577-3428 to be placed on the project planholder’s list to receive courtesy notifications of addenda and other project information. Project addenda, if any, will be posted on the website. A bidder who fails to address all project addenda in its proposal may be deemed non-responsive.Bidders may also purchase the Project Plans and Contract Book from East Bay Blueprint & Supply Co., at 1745 14^th Street, Oakland, CA 94606; Phone Number: (510) 261-2990 or email: ebbp@eastbayblueprint.com.
PRE-BID CONFERENCE: A mandatory pre-bid conference will be held on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 2:00 PM and on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 10:00 AM as follows:
Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 2:00 PM
Zoom Meeting ID: 883 8752 6074
Passcode: 502955
Zoom Link: https://sanleandro-org.zoom.us/j/88387526074?pwd=hZ5rjB8AWdLAUem3CtByFiZxqKarHj.1
And
Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 10:00 AM
Zoom Meeting ID: 898 2672 0472
Passcode: 091848
Zoom Link: https://sanleandro-org.zoom.us/j/89826720472?pwd=JgZX2nXMpLSRM5xDPr7EJUxl7QIznr.1The information presented at the conferences will be identical, all bidders must attend one of the pre-bid conference and sign the attendance sheet. A firm that didn’t attend the pre-bid conference isn’t qualified to bid on the project.Questions regarding the plans and specifications may be submitted in writing to the project engineer until 5:00 p.m. five (5) days before, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays, bids must be received by the City. The City will not respond to oral questions outside of the pre-bid conference. The response, if any, will be by written addendum only. Oral responses do not constitute a revision to these plans or specifications.
VALUE OF WORK: The Engineer has estimated that the value of work is between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000.
SAN LEANDRO BUSINESS PREFERENCE AND PARTICIPATION GOALS: The work performed under this contract is subject to Section 1-6-225 of the San Leandro Municipal Code regarding local business preference and participation. A list of companies that hold a San Leandro business license is located on the City webpage under the finance department, here: https://www.sanleandro.org/340/Business-License
SAN LEANDRO COMMUNITY WORKFORCE AGREEMENT: The work performed under this contract is subject to the Community Workforce Agreement adopted by City Council Resolution 2015-104. Contractors attention is directed to Section 10.