Alameda County Coronavirus: Still On Unlocked Watch List

ALBANY, CA — For weeks the California coronavirus Watch List maintained by the state has been locked, no counties on or off, because of problems with testing data. The issues have been resolved and the Watch List unlocked. Alameda County is still on the list.

Santa Cruz and San Diego counties have been removed from the list. Newly added: Mendocino, Calaveras, Sierra, Amador, and Inyo. About 40 counties are one the list, representing some 95-percent of the state's population.

Getting off the list is important for reopening schools for in-class teaching, and for reopening more businesses.

The Watch List monitors six data points centered around testing, new cases, and hospitalizations. Alameda County's problem areas are Case rate per 100,000 over a 14 day period, and the percentage change in the 3-day average of coronavirus hospitalized patients.

The latest data from the county shows 15,836 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, and 228 deaths. There are 205 people currently hospitalized for complications from COVID-19, caused by coronavirus, with 69 people in intensive care.

In Hayward, a testing center was closed because of wildfire smoke.

Here in Albany, there have been 41 confirmed cases.

Full coronavirus coverage: Coronavirus In California: What To Know