COVID-19 cases still rising in Oakland, as people protest police killings

As protests surged in Oakland and across the country in response to the most recent police killing, COVID-19 cases continued to rise in Oakland.

Oakland now has 1,229 cases of COVID-19. Alameda County has 3,470 cases and 96 people have died, according to the Alameda County Public Health Department. Twelve weeks into shelter in place and the number of coronavirus cases does not appear to be letting up, despite the recent relaxation of restrictions. 

Oakland grocery workers test positive for COVID-19

At 12 workers at Cardenas grocery store in East Oakland have tested positive for COVID-19. According to the East Bay Times, 12 people at the High Street store have the coronavirus. Fruitvale is Oakland’s epicenter of the coronavirus. City Councilman Noel Gallo downplayed the pandemic on Tuesday, Jaime Yassin reported, saying “I’m not worried about the virus, that’s the last thing in this neighborhood that we’re worried [about].” After news broke about Cardenas on Thursday, he told the East Bay Times, “It’s alarming that we allow activity to continue when employees are testing positive. If Cardenas is experiencing this, I’m sure other businesses are going through it too.”

There are 331 COVID-19 cases in the 94601 zip code in East Oakland. Last week Oakland hit 1,000 COVID-19 cases.

Oakland protests for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor

This weekend Oakland was the site of multiple protests related to the recent killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police. 

Some protesters did not wear face masks, others did. And there is a lot of conversation about some of those who were wearing masks.

We’ll have more coverage about the protests this week.

In case you missed it, unhoused Oakland residents that moved into RVs have complained about the conditions there, KQED reports.

Every Monday and Thursday, Rasheed Shabazz and Momo Chang produce the Oakland ‘Rona Roundup, COVID-19 related stories impacting the Town.

Author Profile

Rasheed Shabazz

Rasheed Shabazz is a multimedia storyteller, urban planning historian, and youth development professional based in the Bay Area. He is co-director of Oakland Voices. He recently completed his Masters of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley.