COVID-19

WATSONVILLE—Facing declining revenues, Watsonville Community Hospital has laid off about 10 employees, a little more than 1 percent of its workforce, Halsen Healthcare CEO Dan Brothman confirmed Wednesday. Brothman said the move was in response to a decline in elective surgeries, and to emergency room...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Officials at Pacific Coast Manor have reported that 61 of their residents and 37 staff members have tested positive for Covid-19. Four residents of the skilled nursing facility in Capitola have also died of Covid-19 complications, the facility reported Wednesday. Sixteen of the...

WATSONVILLE—In the days after California began to offer Covid-19 vaccines for children 12 and older, thousands across the state lined up for their turn. In Santa Cruz County, a total of 1,200 young people got their vaccines at Scotts Valley High School, Dominican Hospital’s Employee...

Kaiser Permanente is opening a Covid-19 vaccination hub Thursday at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz for eligible members and others in the community, the health care provider announced in a press release Wednesday. Dependent upon vaccine supply, the site is expected to operate seven...

By Jazmin Juarez, special to the Pajaronian WATSONVILLE—During the coronavirus outbreak, several people have gone shopping for food in large quantities without realizing the impact it can have on their neighbors. Around 5,000 people in Watsonville rely on the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC), whose...

WATSONVILLE—With the Covid-19 pandemic—and the restrictions on businesses that have come with it—sticking around for the foreseeable future, the City of Watsonville is hoping a new program will allow restaurants and shops to better handle the hurdles currently in front of them. The Parklet Program...

WATSONVILLE—Starting this month, most employers will be required by law to report workplace Covid-19 outbreaks to county health departments thanks to Assembly Bill 685. Reported outbreaks, defined as three or more cases at one address over a 14-day period, will then be public information published...

SACRAMENTO—Gob. Gavin Newsom ordenó el Lunes un cierre estatal de los servicios interiores en restaurantes, teatros, bodegas, museos, zoológicos, salas de juegos y centros de entretenimiento familiar. Newsom tambien dijo que las cantinas deben cesar todas las operaciones. Además, 30 condados en la Lista de...

WATSONVILLE—Working as an Environmental Services Aide at Watsonville Community Hospital, Benjamin Lamsen cleans rooms in the Emergency Department and the Intensive Care Unit. That work has been challenging, he says, since the Covid-19 pandemic began its spread across the globe. In addition to increased...

ROYAL OAKS—Congressman Jimmy Panetta was on the Central Coast Thursday, touting two pandemic assistance programs he helped pass that will benefit agriculture workers and the industries that employ them. The Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant Program will provide $650 million in grants to food...