California’s community college enrollment plummeted during the pandemic. Here are the stories of some of the students who left.

BART reversed itself to reinstate masks, even though the California Department of Public Health also announced last week that it would align with the CDC and drop its own mask requirement for public transit and transit hubs like bus stations and airports.

California Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower cited Foster Farms, LLC, Foster Poultry Farms, Viking Staffing CA LLC, Human Bees Inc. and Marcos Renteria Ag Services. Inc. for failing to pay workers when they sick with COVID-19.

Criminal charges were announced against a man and a woman in Santa Cruz County and three other Californians, as well as owners and executives of medical businesses, physicians and manufacturers of fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards with losses greater than $149 million.

The state Department of Public Health notified diagnostics company PerkinElmer that its no-bid contract worth as much as $1.7 billion to operate the Valencia Branch Laboratory for Covid tests would end on May 15, months ahead of schedule.

World-renowned food festival, plagued by the Covid-19 pandemic, continuing lawsuits over the 2019 mass shooting, financial losses and new insurance requirements by the City of Gilroy, will be dramatically scaled back this year and in years ahead.

Airlines, airports and other transportation agencies, including BART and Caltrain. had followed suit in making masks optional.

Of those sampled in the Bay Area Council poll, 49% said they were very or somewhat concerned about contracting the virus, and . 59% said the same about a family member contracting COVID. 

While the state and Santa Clara County lifted indoor mask requirements in mid-February and early March, San Jose had continued to require them in public places like grocery stores and restaurants.

Income inequality grew in California during three of the last four recessions before the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers are trying to figure out if the same happened in 2020.

The county's seven-day average of new Covid cases has held below 550 for six consecutive days. 

Local jurisdictions are free to impose their own requirements, but all students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, will no longer be required by California to wear a mask indoors at schools and child care facilities starting March 12. 

Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said state indoor masking requirements would still apply for unvaccinated individuals and in schools and other settings regardless of vaccination status.

A top state health official provided little new information on Monday about lifting mask mandates in schools, as public health experts say it might be time to take more steps towards normalcy in schools.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law this week that requires large employers in California to offer workers up to 80 hours of COVID-related paid sick leave. But there’s a catch: The bill, which the Legislature passed on Feb. 7, doesn’t apply to small employers with 25 or fewer workers.

Public health officials announce local indoor masking requirements will remain in place, despite the state's announcement lifting some mask rules Feb. 16.