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Sean Penn’s nonprofit Core Response is testing for Covid-19 in Oakland

by Lynda Carson (tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com)
Coronavirus Covid-19 Testing In Oakland:
sm_49534865371_7219ecfbcd_k__1_.jpg
Sean Penn’s nonprofit Core Response is testing for Covid-19 in Oakland

By Lynda Carson - May 31, 2020

Oakland - In the midst of the protests against police brutality occurring presently, Oakland remains the hot spot for Covid-19 in Alameda County, with 1,183 known Covid-19 cases as of earlier today.

Thanks to actor Sean Penn’s nonprofit organization he co-founded called ‘Community Organized Relief Effort’ (CORE a.k.a. CORE Response), they recently opened a Covid-19 testing site in Oakland to help people find out if they have been infected with the coronavirus Covid-19 virus. A test would help people to find out if they have the virus, and may help them to avoid infecting others with the disease that has killed over 100,000 people all across the nation.

Reportedly, CORE Response has helped to open free Covid-19 testing sites they are assisting in Los Angeles, Malibu, Oakland, Bakersfield and Napa County.

You may learn more about the good work Sean Penn and his organization CORE is doing in response to the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic from a recent interview of actor Sean Penn on the Jimmy Kimmel show by clicking here.

Oakland certainly needs the help that Sean Penn and CORE can offer to the city for Covid-19 testing. Oakland has many known Covid-19 cases occurring at different locations in the city including at a local McDonalds, the Cardenas Market, and several skilled nursing facilities where some of the residents have died at.

As of today, Alameda County has 3,390 known Covid-19 cases, and 96 deaths reported so far.

I am grateful for the good work of Sean Penn and his organization that is being done in Oakland, and believe that he deserves some recognition for helping people out during the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic that seems to have no end in sight, and is devastating to our country.

I met Sean Penn one evening at the Broken Drum in San Rafael. One evening on October 12, 2001, Sean Penn and his friend Lars Ulrich, drummer and co-founder of the band Metallica, joined Berkeley’s famed maverick film maker Rob Nilsson, and Rob’s film group called the Tender Action Group/Tenderloin yGroup for the premiere showing of the film called Scheme C6 at the Mill Valley Film Festival.

After the film Scheme C6 played at the Mill Valley Film Festival, we all went next door to the Broken Drum for some food, drinks, and a good time. We had lots of fun that evening, and it was real cool to have actor Sean Penn and musician Lars Ulrich join us for the evening to hang out with us and celebrate the premiere showing of film Scheme C6. I was a member of Rob Nilsson’s group known as the Tenderloin Action Group/Tenderloin yGroup, and I have many great memories and experiences from being a member of the improv film group for a number of years.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsule [at] yahoo.com

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§AC Alert Sunday May 31st, 2020 :: 08:15 p.m. PDT
by Posted by Lynda Carson
AC Alert Sunday May 31st, 2020 :: 08:15 p.m. PDT

By Lynda Carson

For what it's worth: It's worth noting for the sake of recording what is happening where I reside in Oakland, and my present state of mind, I received the following message further below on my telephone advising me to stay indoors due to police action and civil unrest occurring near where I reside.

This may help to put things into perspective for the moment as a reminder someday of what was going on as I was writing the above story about the great works of Sean Penn and his organization in assisting with the Covid-19 testing in Oakland.

In all honestly, it seemed pretty spooky to answer my phone earlier, and hear a recording that advised me to stay at home because of all the police actions happening nearby and civil unrest. It caught me by surprise somehow, even though I had my fill of the news broadcasts and all the protests occurring around the nation, and was riveted to the boob tube as the revolution was being televised.

The more that I believe that I have adjusted to the shelter-in-place orders due to the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, and the ensuing madness that came with the virus, the more that I realize that I am always underestimating what is going on around me in the past few months.

I have resided in Oakland since around 1984, and I know what it is like to be cruising in a car with a friend in East Oakland and run into some police action on the streets. Large areas will be blocked off by the cops, and we would have to turn around and drive around the area that is under lock-down because of some shootings, or lord knows what else just occurred.

In my neighborhood, I have had to walk around sections of whole blocks that were under lock-down at times when heading to the local Lucky grocers around 7 to 8 blocks away from where I reside, because of shootings. The cops had the streets blocked as a normal procedure.

I have even pulled up to the apartment building where I reside with my old friend Jimmy, and one day as we were about to enter the building, a squad car pulled up across the street, and 2 cops leaped out of a squad car, pulled out their guns, and ran towards the building I reside in.

What a rush....

Jimmy and I ran into my apartment real fast, and we wondered what we should do in a situation like that? We did not do anything to warrant the cops coming towards us with guns pulled out of their holsters... This is crazy...

I have even seen snipers on the roof of the three story building building I reside in, as the cops were hanging out up there looking for someone they were chasing on foot in the neighborhood. A pretty crazy scene at times, and life in Oakland definitely has it's exciting moments when I have heard gun shots late at night, and hit the floor in fear that bullets may come whizzing through the walls, or the windows of my apartment.

There have even been some suicides where I reside, and one tenant dove to his death from the roof top one morning back in 2008, and the cops were pounding on our doors to ask us what happened to him?

But earlier on Sunday evening, it was the first time that I received an ALERT phone message from Alameda County advising me to remain in doors because of all the police action and civil unrest that has been occurring nearby.

Its been getting pretty crazy in the last year or two. Between the phone ALERTS that PG&E sends out claiming that they are going to cut the power off for a few days because of wild fires, the shelter-in-place orders we are under presently because of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, the wild protests taking place lately against police brutality and killer cops, and action ALERTS I receive by phone telling me to stay home to avoid police actions because of civil unrest, I am definitely getting the feeling at times that the sh%t is hitting the fan for some reason.

What a world...

See the phone message alert I received earlier below...

-Lynda Carson

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Full Notification

AC Alert
Sunday May 31st, 2020 :: 08:15 p.m. PDT

Advisory
AC Alert Advisory

All Alameda County residents are advised to stay home due to the civil unrest reported throughout Alameda County and the greater East Bay Area.  Unless personal travel is necessary, we are recommending residents stay home due to the high number of police actions. Currently there are multiple reports of large, mobile groups of rioters and looters traveling throughout the East Bay Area.  Travel on highways and freeways may be difficult or restricted as multiple road and freeway exit closures are expected.   

Address/Location
AC Alert
 4985 Broder Blvd
Dublin, CA 94568

Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1 
Non-emergencies: 925-803-7800

https://local.nixle.com/alert/8026904/?sub_id=1888726

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