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Oakland Curbs Lake Merritt’s Huge Parties As COVID Cases Spike

Large gatherings, like the huge Lake Merritt parties of recent weeks, blamed as Alameda County surpasses 10,000 COVID cases
By - posted 7/27/2020 No Comment

Thanks to CBS Bay Area for letting us know that health officials are saying that large gatherings at Lake Merritt have led to spiking COVID-19 cases in Oakland.

UPDATE: Roots Community Health Center says that while cases are spiking due to large gatherings and parties, they have not connected the spike specifically to Lake Merritt events.

“Roots data is consistent with the PHD data that an increasing % of positives are coming from parties and gatherings compared to before. No one ever connected the data to the Lake. And I’m even more concerned about gatherings in enclosed spaces than the lake. But I am concerned about all of it.” – Dr. Noha Aboelata, CEO of the Roots Community Health Center

And we’re not just talking about a few people gathering for a BBQ. Videos of recent weekends show hundreds of people in and around cars blocking traffic along Lakeshore creating giant block parties with vendors and food trucks with few masks and virtually no social distancing.

“I see folks not wearing masks at all, sharing drinks, sharing food, sharing smokes. Oakland we got to do better than that” – Dr. Noha Aboelata, CEO of the Roots Community Health Center

East Oakland has some of the highest per capita COVID-19 rates in the region and Alameda County just surpassed 10,000 confirmed cases. Roots Community Health Center Report reports that 40% of the recent rise in COVID cases can be traced directly to large gatherings and parties.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that after police patrols increased dramatically, Lake Merritt was mostly quiet this past Sunday afternoon.