COVID-19

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Massage therapy, nail salons, tattoo parlors and other personal services can reopen in Santa Cruz County on Friday, the county announced Monday. The county said those businesses should follow state guidance released by the California Department of Public Health June 12 which requires...

WATSONVILLE—The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday updated its recommendations for personal and social activities, giving people a brief playbook of how they can lessen their chance of contracting the novel coronavirus while dining at restaurants, using gyms and attending gatherings. Though health...

Faith and community leaders with the California Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) celebrated a victory Tuesday after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a budget which includes an expansion of the California Earned Income Tax Credit (Cal EITC) to undocumented workers with young children. While not a full...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County health officials identified 37 new Covid-19 cases—the county’s largest single-day jump since the virus started its spread—on Monday, increasing the number of new cases over the last eight days to 142. There are 216 active cases in the county, and...

WATSONVILLE—Eight people at the Salvation Army Shelter in Watsonville tested positive for Covid-19 last week, forcing the site to temporarily close for cleaning Friday.  Santa Cruz County health officials were notified that a resident of the Salvation Army Shelter on Union Street tested positive for...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County is days away from being placed on the California Department of Public Health’s Monitoring List and facing further economic restrictions, County Health Officer Gail Newel said at Thursday morning’s press conference. With 531 active Covid-19 cases as of Thursday—and more...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a temporary ordinance that will allow law enforcement officials to issue tickets to people violating county health orders, including not wearing a face covering where it is required. Under the new county...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A Santa Cruz METRO employee has tested positive for Covid-19. The information surfaced in local media Friday and marks the first positive case in METRO’s staff of around 300 people. “Out of respect for the employee's privacy, we are not disclosing anything other than...

SANTA CRUZ—Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday pulled Santa Cruz County off the state Covid-19 watchlist, a move that could allow the easing of some restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the virus. Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel in a Monday...

SANTA CRUZ— The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an $874 million budget for the coming year that includes cuts and position reductions to every department in the county. According to County Budget Manager Christina Mowrey, the reductions include furloughs of 5-10%,...