COVID-19 Omicron Variant

San Francisco on Thursday announced that it would again allow people to remove their face masks indoors, reinstating the exemption that was in place before the omicron surge, public health officials said.

The California Department of Public Health confirmed that there are 11 cases of the new omicron subvariant in the state.

One person, who was arrested, has been charged with 31 hate crimes, making up half of last year's cases.

Infectious disease experts say the hope is that COVID-19 will turn into something akin to the common cold or flu.

The Oakland Unified School District and the Oakland Education Association, which represents teachers, held negotiations late Friday night, hoping to beat a midnight deadline set by the union to avoid a strike vote.

After a recent surge of COVID-19 cases in San Francisco caused by the omicron variant, the number of cases in the city are starting to decline, Mayor London Breed announced Thursday.

Almost every day for the past three weeks, Ata Mahmoud has been volunteering her time to offer free COVID-19 testing services at her own makeshift testing site in Oakland, she's said, as a service to help her community.

New cases of the omicron variant are overwhelming hospital emergency rooms across the state.

With the rapid spread of the omicron variant, data shows 10,000 California nursing home workers are infected right now, with roughly 800 new cases of COVID-19 tallied each day. The state is allowing health care workers who test positive and are asymptomatic to continue coming to work.

Sonoma County's first full weekend of stepped up COVID rules and prohibitions of certain activities has led to some confusion about what really is and is not off limits until February 11.  

The 20th annual SF Sketchfest has been rescheduled for 2023 due to safety concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers announced on Friday. 

San Francisco Unified School District on Thursday announced they have reached a tentative agreement with several teachers' unions over COVID health and safety protocol. 

Governor Gavin Newsom sat down with KTVU political reporter to talk about his new budget proposal, the future of the state's COVID plan and more.

The ports remain jammed, so much so, that products keep arriving late. Now, Bay Area air quality officials want the diesel-powered container ships anchored in the Bay to go out to wait at sea instead of idling in the bay. 

National Nurses United registered nurses held a national day of action Thursday to demand that hospitals invest more in safe staffing.

Around the city, there are many empty streets and traffic is noticeably light. People expressed frustration and fatigue that despite vaccinations and masking, the pandemic is still not over.

A new health order in Sonoma County, is being viewed as another potential blow to the area’s tourism industry, particularly for businesses behind the region’s larger events.