California’s Department of Public Health announces first-in-the-nation rules to stop the spread of COVID-19, effective Aug. 12.

The new vaccination requirements are part of the state's push to get more people vaccinated as a wave of new cases, spurred by the ultra-contagious delta variant and cases among unvaccinated people, threatens to halt the state's progress in mitigating the virus' spread.

Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, whose planned departure was announced at the June 22 Board of Supervisors, says he is making his “second attempt at retirement” this week.

The new ordinance “is critical to deal with the significant volume of complaints,” County Counsel James Williams told the Board of Supervisors.

Testing can identify Covid-19 before a person feels unwell or before they spread it to another individual with potentially deadly consequences.

The sites use a system in which people are assigned a testing time later in the day; all slots are often claimed within hours of availability.

County data show that testing increased significantly in the month following a June 10 order for private healthcare systems to step up.