L.A. and Oregon disclose workplace outbreaks. Most Bay Area health officers won t. Why?
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A Safeway distribution center in Tracy experienced an outbreak in April. California does not require public disclosure of such incidents.Daymond Gascon / The Chronicle 2020
Is it safe to go to the grocery store? Why did that restaurant close its doors for a day?
A year after officials identified the first case of the coronavirus in the Bay Area, local health departments mostly aren’t saying which businesses have seen infections at work. A patchwork of rumor, employee notifications and media reports have taken the place of the systematic reporting seen elsewhere.
Bay Area transit operators raise alarm about virus cases, some threatening to stop work
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A Valley Transportation Agency bus stops to pick up riders on First Street in San Jose. A South Bay bus drivers union is sounding the alarm about rising coronavirus infections.Jessica Christian / The Chronicle
Transit operators are sounding the alarm about rising coronavirus infections among their ranks and asking for stricter safety measures, with some South Bay bus and train drivers threatening to stop work because of what they deem unsafe conditions if their demands are not met.
Infections among 2,100 employees at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority had jumped to 149 since the beginning of the pandemic, rising at a rate of around 40 employees a month for the past three, spokesman Ken Blackstone said. Its largest union puts the count higher at 162 since March, said John Courtney, the president of ATU Local 265, which represents around 1,500 mechanics, drivers