As of late afternoon yesterday, the Alameda Public Health Department released some data on the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19, disaggregated by city and gender. The total number of cases in Alameda County is now 671 with 16 deaths. Oakland has 149 positive COVID-19 cases. However, the county has not yet released any data by race or ethnicity, which many people have been calling for. (Please note, according to the county health department, that “The counts likely reflect more the availability of testing than the actual disease burden.”)
Places such as Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin have released data specific to race and ethnicity, showing an alarmingly high rate of deaths of African Americans due to COVID-19. Yesterday morning, Oakland Voices Coordinator Rasheed Shabazz published an op-ed entitled “Alameda County must publish racial, city-level data for COVID-19 cases and deaths.”
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Oakland Voices Correspondent Markaya Spikes shares her experience of being unhoused during COVID-19.
“The challenges I face as a curbside Oakland resident during the pandemic are being able to acquire the income needed for daily living, having no work available and not knowing when it will be available. It is a challenge not being able to take my child to school if I was able to get work for the day.” Read about her experience here.
Oakland Voices Share Neighborhood Experiences during shelter-in-place
Sheltering-in-Place in the Laurel District – by Bill Joyce
Tuesday night neighborhood concert with Grammy Award-Nominated Latin Jazz artist in Oakland during shelter-in-place – by Katharine Davies Samway
Oaklanders Share Passover Meaning during Coronavirus Pandemic
The meaning of Passover during the COVID-19 Pandemic – as told to Rasheed Shabazz
Oakland Jews celebrate Passover amid coronavirus – by Rasheed Shabazz
Oakland Food Businesses Stay Busy, Give Back
Oakland restaurateurs have been actively giving back to first responders since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place order. Yesterday, AlaMar began serving free hot meals to those working in the restaurant world. Last week, bbq pittmaster Matt Horn of Horn Barbecue cooked and gave away free meals. Cafe Gabriela has continued to cook meals and offer them, along with fruit and staples, for free to those in need. Birria taco truck La Santa Torta is also giving away free meals. The Lede in Old Oakland has been providing meals to frontline workers.
In addition, many Oakland restaurants such as Tay Ho, Daughter Thai, Tacos Sinaloa, Hopscotch, AlaMar, Brown Sugar Kitchen, and others have participated in East Bay FeedER, started by Berkeley author Ayelet Waldman. The funds from East Bay FeedER go toward paying restaurants to prepare meals for healthcare frontline workers including Kaiser Oakland, Highland Hospital, and more.
Support For Local Food and Service Workers
Berkeleyside recently created a central location to find all the East Bay fundraising efforts for restaurant workers and more. “Pitch in for Local Workers,” based on fundraising efforts started by local restaurants, salons, and more, includes many Oakland businesses. While restaurants have either shuttered or laid off workers, owners are also trying to fundraise for their workers. Many undocumented workers also may not quality for the various federal benefits.
Phat Beets, Mandela Food Cooperative, Community Food Market offer 50% off for EBT/SNAP Recipients
Some additional resources are being offered to those on CalFresh/EBT/SNAP recipients during these dire times. All of the above mentioned: Phat Beets CSA, Mandela Food Cooperative, and Community Food Market are offering 50 percent off for those on food stamps.
CalFresh, California’s food stamp program, is open for applications and can provide up to $194 per household member to use toward groceries each month.
Follow Oakland Voices COVID-19 Updates and Resources Page here.
Momo Chang is a freelance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the Oakland Voices Co-Director. Her work focuses on healthcare, immigration, education, Asian American communities, food and culture. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune. Momo has received journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for investigative reporting and the Asian American Journalists Association, among others. Her work has appeared in the East Bay Express, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, and The New York Times. Momo is primarily a print journalist who also produces audio and visual stories for documentary film and radio. She is a Senior Contributing Editor for Hyphen and formerly the Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).
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