Coronavirus central: Santa Clara County records 50 deaths from COVID-19

Latest updates:

NEW COVID-19 CASES, DEATHS: As of Friday, Santa Clara County reported a total of 1,484 people with the coronavirus, 42 of which were new and 185 of whom are hospitalized. Three more people have died of the disease, raising the death toll to 50. New data also shows Palo Alto has 57 cases and Mountain View has 31. San Mateo County had a total of 638 cases of the coronavirus, five of which were announced Thursday. The death toll stands at 21. View our interactive charts on the number of cases and deaths.

NURSING HOME CASES: Nursing homes in Santa Clara County have 164 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among its staff and residents as of Thursday, the county’s Public Health Department announced Friday. Of the 164 people, 50 are staff members.

REDUCING THE JAIL POPULATION: The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office plans to release approximately 100 inmates in the next several days “due to increased COVID-19 restrictions,” according to a press release issued Friday.

LOOKING OUT FOR SENIORS: The state announced new actions to support seniors who have contracted the virus, including using eight sites to isolate and care for them, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a Friday press briefing.

REPORTING CHILD ABUSE: Santa Clara County has urged to public to contact a 24/7 line if they see a child potentially in danger or being neglected, which could result from the current public health crisis, Daniel Little, acting director of the Department of Family and Children’s Services, said Friday. Reports can be made to 833-SCC-KIDS (722-5437).

WEEKEND OPEN SPACE CLOSURES: The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District will close all of its open spaces in San Mateo County on weekends starting this Saturday. Read more here.

Below is comprehensive coverage of the Midpeninsula’s response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and Almanac in chronological order. For coverage by subject — how the virus is affecting public health, residents, schools, cities, businesses, nonprofits, arts groups, etc. — please go to our Wakelet page.

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Santa Clara County’s total of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,484 on Friday, 42 of which were new. Of the total people with the coronavirus, an estimated 757 are male, roughly 712 are female, around 10 were of an unknown gender and about two were categorized as “other.”

The county’s death toll from the virus reached 50 on Friday, 33 of whom were men and 17 of whom were female. The county has also published data on the cases and deaths by age group, and deaths by race and whether the individual had pre-existing conditions, which can be viewed here.

New data also shows one more case in Mountain View, which brings the city’s total to 31 and makes up 0.04% of the city’s population. Palo Alto’s total remains at 57 cases as of Friday, representing 0.09% of the city’s population. San Jose, which has most of the county’s residents, has a large bulk of the region’s cases with 986, an increase by 29 from the day before. The virus has struck 1% of the city’s population.

Since Thursday, the county has seen 100 fewer COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of the 185 people hospitalized with the virus, 99 are in acute hospital beds and 76 are in intensive care beds. Another 818 acute beds and 123 ICU beds are being used by patients without the virus. The county has 771 acute beds and 104 ICU beds available as needed.

Eighteen surge beds are occupied (another 1,511 are ready as needed) and 194 ventilators (with 503 more available). The county data doesn’t divide the total between COVID-19 patients and those hospitalized for other reasons.

Hundreds of more people have undergone testing for the virus in the county, where the total rose to 14,135 and the test positivity rate slightly dipped to 10.5%. Of the total, 1,484 tests were positive, 12,400 were negative and 251 are pending results.

More than 150 COVID-19 cases found in nursing homes

Nursing homes in Santa Clara County have 164 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among its staff and residents as of Thursday, the county’s Public Health Department reported Friday. This includes “long-term care facilities” such as licensed skilled nursing, assisted living, independent living and board and care facilities.

Of the 164 people, 50 are staff members, the county department said in a press release.

To reduce the spread of the coronavirus among the most vulnerable individuals, the department said that it is “actively investigating and responding” to the concentration of cases in those nursing homes.

The agency will provide testing within facilities where there may be COVID-19 outbreaks, and “aggressive interventions” will be implemented in locations where the virus may have spread. In addition, disaster service workers and other health care professionals will be deployed to support any facilities that are understaffed. Workers in long-term care facilities can also visit sccgov.org for more guidance.

Reducing the jail population

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office plans to release approximately 100 inmates in the next several days “due to increased COVID-19 restrictions,” according to a press release issued Friday.

Maguire Correctional Facility, which has a maximum capacity of 684 inmates, had a population of 486 as of Feb. 29 and is down to 356 as of Friday. Maple Street Correctional Center, which can hold 832 inmates, had 483 inmates as of Feb. 29 and is now down to 302, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Santa Clara County also plans to release inmates and place them in involuntary home detention in an effort to reduce the jail population and lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus across the county’s jail facilities.

California looks out for seniors

California is prioritizing some of its resources, including the USNS Mercy hospital ship docked in the Port of Los Angeles, to care for its seniors — one of the most vulnerable groups of people to contract the coronavirus.

In addition to the hospital ship and seven unspecified sites that will be used to isolate and care for older adults, Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a Friday press briefing that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will support struggling local restaurants by having them deliver three nutritious meals daily to isolated, homebound seniors.

Part of the initiative is to relieve the current strain on the Meals on Wheels program, which distributes around 50,000 meals each day, according to Newsom.

“This state has a disproportionate number of aging and graying individuals, and we have a unique responsibility to take care of them,” Newsom said. “Meals on Wheels alone can’t do what is required to protect and meet the needs of our seniors.”

Nursing homes have become a hot spot for positive COVID-19 cases. According to Newsom, out of the 1,224 “skilled-nursing facilities in California,” not including the 7,461 facilities licensed through the Department of Social Services, the state is closely monitoring 191 locations where a total of 1,266 patients and staff tested positive for the coronavirus.

And within the 7,461 smaller nursing facilities, Newsom said 94 locations are being monitored because 370 patients and staff members contracted the virus.

Licensed vocational nurses and certified nursing assistants are also getting a small boost from the state. Using the $25 million donation from Facebook previously announced on March 31, Newsom said LVNs and CNAs can soon receive $500 stipends to stay in hotels and properly isolate themselves if necessary.

In addition, state Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly explained how social distancing measures helped slightly flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases. Without strong interventions, California quickly could have been on its way to 700,000 hospitalizations by around May. Currently, Ghaly said the state is on a good track and doing better than expected projections, even when factoring in the interventions.

But he emphasized that there can be a strong peak in hospitalizations at any moment if current measures are loosened.

Reporting child abuse

In observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month in Santa Clara County, acting Director of the county’s Department of Family and Children’s Services Daniel Little spoke briefly at a Friday press conference on what to do if residents see a child potentially in danger or being neglected.

“With this current public health emergency we know there’s additional burdens and stressors placed upon children and placed upon families,” Little said.”And we want to make sure that as a community that each and every one of us understands our part in ensuring the safety and well being of all the vulnerable populations within our county.”

Emergency response social workers are available 24 hours a day at 833-SCC-KIDS (722-5437). Additional resources can be found at the county’s Child Abuse Prevention Council’s website.

San Mateo County open spaces to be closed on weekends

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District will close all of its open spaces in San Mateo County on weekends starting this Saturday.

The closures, which apply to all district open space areas in the county, are in response to a request by San Mateo County Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow, according to the district.

The weekend closure announcement comes on the heels of many local park closures that have been implemented as park rangers in the area report visitor numbers to be higher than average and some instances where social distancing protocols are not being followed.

Read more here.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: APRIL 9

On Thursday, Santa Clara County unveiled more detailed data that shows how its total 1,442 cases — 62 of which are new — distribute across its 15 cities. Palo Alto has 57 cases, translating to 0.09% of the city’s population with the virus, and Mountain View has 30, which makes up 0.04% of the city’s population. San Jose has the most cases in the county with 957, which makes up 0.09% of the city’s population.

“With various levels of testing in different communities, the city-level data do not necessarily represent the level of spread in these cities,” said County of Santa Clara Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody. “Whether there are three confirmed cases or 100 hundred confirmed cases in any given city, we must behave as if the virus is everywhere, because it is.”

Out of the total cases, about 735 are male (or 51%) and 692 are female (or 48%). Exactly 285 people are hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, 189 of whom are in acute beds and 84 of whom are in intensive care. Another 754 acute beds and 105 ICU beds are available in the county.

The county’s hospital data shows 205 ventilators and 18 surge beds are in use, with another 493 and 1,511, respectively, on hand as needed. The information doesn’t differentiate between those with COVID-19 and other patients.

The county also debuted data on deaths by race. Of the 47 people who have died of the disease, 36.2% were Latino/Hispanic, 34% were white, 23.4% were Asian, 4.3% were African American and 2.1% were identified as other. The total also breaks down to 33 men and 14 women.

Records show 13,360 people have tested for the virus, of which 1,442 returned positive, equal to a 10.8% positivity rate; 11,667 returned negative; and 251 are pending.

San Mateo County has reported a total 638 cases, 5 of which were announced Thursday. Of the total, 350 are female and 288 are male. The county’s death toll stands at 21.

The county also reported 86 people with the virus were hospitalized as of Thursday. Twenty-seven of those patients are in intensive care unit beds, with another 32 being used by non-COVID-19 patients and 32 others available in the county. The county’s hospitals are using 97 surge beds (with another 330 more available) and 53 ventilators (with another 159 available). The county’s data doesn’t divide the total of people using surge beds and ventilators between patients with and without the virus.

Ready for an expected surge

Paul Lorenz, CEO of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, assured residents on Thursday that the county’s health care system is well prepared for the expected surge of COVID-19 patients.

Even as the pandemic continues, visits to the hospitals’ emergency rooms are down to 33% of the typical volume, going from a high of about 600 to 650 individuals to between 150 and 200 currently, Lorenz said at the county’s daily morning briefing. Of the visitors, roughly a quarter have influenza-like illnesses and, of those, between 10% and 15% test positive for COVID-19.

The county has also recently acquired two community hospitals – O’Connor Hospital in San Jose and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy – acquisitions that allow the system to add 340 beds, including 200 that would be ICU-ready, Lorenz said.

He credited the county’s shelter-in-place order issued on March 16 with containing the number of cases and giving county hospitals adequate time to prepare for a possible surge.

“The time that the public health officer has given your public health care system has been invaluable,” Lorenz said.

California offers hotel rooms, flights for traveling health care workers

Health care workers and caregivers responding to the pandemic can receive vouchers, stipends and, for any low-wage workers, full reimbursements for hotel stays throughout California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a Thursday press briefing that the state has been able to acquire over 150 hotels as part of a “bulk-purchasing” program through the state’s Department of General Services.

“Some of the nicest and finest hotel chains in the world are participating in this program, providing deep discounts to the state of California,” Newsom said. “And we will extend those deep discounts to our caregivers and, in other cases for low-income workers, we’ll provide 100% reimbursements so that they’re allowed to stay closer to their patients.”

The program will also allow workers not to worry about potentially spreading the coronavirus to their families, said Newsom.

Interested health care workers can view the list of participating hotels at caltravelstore.com.

Airlines have also stepped up to aid potential out-of-state health care workers participating in the state’s Health Corps initiative Newsom announced on March 30. United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines have offered fully reimbursed, round-trip flights into California for any out-of-state health care employees who have signed up for the program that was created to relieve California’s health care system.

As of Thursday afternoon, 86,516 people have signed up through healthcorps.ca.gov.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: APRIL 8

Santa Clara County has a total of 1,380 cases of the coronavirus, 95 of which were announced Wednesday. Of the total patients, about 704 are male (or 51%) and roughly 662 are female (or 48%). Here’s a breakdown by age group:

• 20 years old or under: 3.1%.

• 21 to 30 years old: 12.3%.

• 31 to 40 years old: 18.3%.

• 41 to 50 years old: 18.6%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 18.2%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 13.3%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 9%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 4.4%.

• 91 years old or over: 2%.

• Unknown: 0.8%.

New data released Wednesday showed 278 COVID-19 patients are in the hospital, 168 of whom are in acute beds and 89 of whom are in intensive care. Another 736 acute beds and 100 ICU beds remain available in the county. The hospital data dashboard also showed 18 surge beds and 195 ventilators are in use, while another 1,511 and 422, respectively, are on hand. The information doesn’t show how many are being used by COVID-19 patients.

The total of county residents who have tested for the virus climbed to 13,008 on Wednesday, 1,380 of which returned positive (which shows a 10.6% positivity rate), 11,404 of which were negative and 224 of which are pending results.

A 25-year-old man who was taken to the Main Jail in San Jose on Monday tested positive for COVID-19, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday. The inmate, who is homeless, informed deputies while he was getting booked that he was exposed to the virus through a friend.

The man was transferred to an infirmary where he remains isolated while medical staff continues to monitor his condition. The initial arresting officer or officers from San Jose police were informed of the possible exposure, the sheriff’s office said.

The first inmate who tested positive for COVID-19 last month has since recovered and was released from custody, according to the agency.

The Sheriff’s Office has started screening new arrestees in the sally port area outside of the jail, where health care staff are checking for dry cough, shortness of breath, fever and whether the individual was exposed to someone with the virus.

Three more people have died of the disease, raising the death toll to 46, 32 of whom were male (or 70%) and 14 of whom were female (or 30%). When it comes to pre-existing conditions, 80% had one or more, 8.7% had none and 10.9% were unknown. Here’s a breakdown by age group:

• 21 to 30 years old: 2.2%.

• 31 to 40 years old: 2.2%.

• 41 to 50 years old: 8.7%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 10.8%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 15.2%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 28.3%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 28.3%.

• 91 years old or over: 4.4%.

On Wednesday, San Mateo County reported a total of 633 cases, 344 of whom are female and 289 of whom are male. Residents between 31 and 41 years old made up 116 of the total, the largest age group infected with the virus. The death toll stands at 21, 11 of whom are were male and 10 of whom were female.

The latest hospitalization data for the county showed 76 people with the coronavirus were hospitalized as of Wednesday. Fifty-six COVID-19 patients were in intensive care (with another 35 ICU beds available). The numbers provided by the state showed 103 surge beds and 52 ventilators were in use, though the information doesn’t show how many are being used by COVID-19 patients. Another 160 ventilators and 324 surge beds are on hand as needed.

Out of 5,919 people who have tested for the virus, 644 returned positive (indicating a 10.9% positivity rate), 5,182 returned negative and 93 are pending results. It takes an average of 2.2 days for results to return, according to the county.

County asks residents to hand over protective equipment

Santa Clara County issued a new order on Wednesday requiring all residents, organizations and businesses with personal protective equipment and other critical items to treat COVID-19 patients, such as ventilators, to report their inventory to the county.

Any individual or entities with more than 5,000 nitrile or vinyl gloves, 500 N95 masks as well as surgical or procedure masks, 500 hair-covering bonnets, 500 shoe coverings, 100 containers of sani wipes and cloths, 100 safety goggles, 100 face shields, 100 long-sleeved protective gowns and coveralls, 10 large or gallon-sized containers of hand sanitizer (or 100 small or medium containers greater than 8 oz.) and any number of ventilators must disclose that information in a one-time online survey at sccphd.org/cv19ppe. The results will be kept confidential.

Dr. Jennifer Tong of the Santa Clara County hospital surge capacity team said at a Wednesday press briefing that local hospitals have the supplies they need to address the current number of hospitalized patients with the coronavirus (as of Tuesday, there were 277 COVID-19 patients in the hospital). But to prepare for a possible surge of local COVID-19 cases, she emphasized that the county cannot exclusively depend on state and federal support for protective equipment and ventilators.

“This is a unique situation in which the disaster is so widespread across our state and across our country that we can’t rely solely on our state and federal government,” Tong said. “We really have to turn locally to see what capacity for inventory exists here in our county.”

Mike Wasserman, vice president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, added that the county expects a shortage of equipment assuming the current rate of cases continues and no additional equipment enters the local health care system.

A specific number for the amount of protective equipment needed can’t be quantified, Tong said. The need continues to evolve based on many factors, including the volume of patients entering the hospital, the varying ways medical workers expend these resources and how often they reuse protective equipment in a given week, he said.

For those who want to donate protective equipment, visit vmcfoundation.org.

State invests over $1 billion for protective equipment

California will invest over $1.4 billion to purchase and distribute more personal protective equipment to medical workers and essential employees such as grocery store clerks, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

To meet the state’s goals of acquiring more personal protective equipment, including 500 million N95 masks, Newsom said at a Wednesday press conference that he formally submitted a request to the state Legislature to tap into California’s Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account.

Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said that the state also will partner with nongovernmental organizations, large firms and vendors, such as Bear Mountain Development Company and JR Resources, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to acquire a steady flow of personal protective equipment.

Newsom also provided a limited portrait of the racial demographics that make up the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state. Of the 16,957 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Newsom’s office was only able to analyze 37.2% of the aggregate data, which is around 6,306 cases.

Out of the 6,306 positive COVID-19 cases, Newsom said that 30% of the people identified as Latino, 6% as African American, and 14% as Asian. Newsom did not unveil the racial makeup for the rest of the cases.

County exploring exclusive vote-by-mail general election

Due to the coronavirus crisis, the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters is examining the option of a vote-by-mail only general election later this year.

The idea, raised by Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez at this week’s board meeting, comes as many counties are voicing support for a vote-by-mail election this November, according to a press release from her office issued Wednesday.

“This is about preparing. The goal is to make absolutely certain that in sprawling and diverse Santa Clara County we are able to give every resident a way to vote in the 2020 presidential election on Tuesday November 3, 2020,” Chavez said in the release. “At this point, because of the coronavirus outbreak there are no certainties about being able to vote.”

Chavez’s recommendation, which received unanimous support from the board, also calls on the Registrar of Voters to communicate voting rights at county jails, nursing homes and senior assisted living facilities, according to the release.

East Palo Alto takes further actions in response to crisis

On Tuesday, the East Palo Alto City Council took further actions to address the coronavirus crisis in relation to its RV Safe Parking Program, planning and building entitlements and construction activities, the city outlined in a press release Wednesday.

The RV Safe Parking Program will temporarily allow participants to stay on site for up to 24 hours a day while the shelter-at-home order is in place. Prior to Tuesday’s decision, people with RVs were required to leave during daytime hours. The city is working with nonprofit Project WeHope to secure funds for other aspects of the program, such as 24-hour security and facilities for washing on-site, during the health crisis, according to the city.

The council also chose to extend current and unexpired planning approvals and building permits through Sept. 30, the press release states.

Essential construction will move forward, but the city’s Chief Building Official will also consider requests from developers seeking to continue work on their projects while the order is in effect, according to the release. Residents can pursue projects that don’t require an entitlement, such as switching to a tile floor, and are on a homeowner’s property.

New initiative for families in need

The Menlo Park City School District and Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation launched MPCSD Helps, an initiative to provide district families in need with necessities such as housing, health care, money, gift cards or food pantry staples.

“MPCSD Helps will focus much of its effort on addressing food insecurity as more and more families are laid off, experience reduced hours, or contend with rising costs brought on by the pandemic response,” according to a Wednesday, press release. “As the economic toll of the pandemic grows, we expect more families to reach out with needs.”

Gift cards can be dropped off at the district office, 181 Encinal Ave. in Atherton, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

More information on necessities that can be donated and how to donate, go here or email mpcsdhelps@mpcsd.org.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: APRIL 7

Santa Clara County has a total of 1,285 cases of the coronavirus, 61 of which were announced Tuesday. One more person died of the disease, raising the death toll to 43.

As of Tuesday, 277 people with the virus are hospitalized, 172 of whom are in acute beds (with another 748 available) and 86 of whom were in intensive care beds (with another 90 available). The county is also using 17 surge beds (with another 1,512 available) and 202 ventilators (with another 443 available. The data doesn’t distinguish which surge beds and ventilators are for coronavirus cases and other hospital patients.

The county also reported 11,782 people have undergone testing for the coronavirus, of which 1,285 received positive results (which translates to a 10.9% test positivity rate), 10,243 returned negative and 254 are pending results.

A dozen staff members at the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office have tested positive for the coronavirus. The workers have isolated themselves at home and “remain in good spirits,” the agency said in a press release issued Tuesday.

Nine of the 12 employees are deputies. One works for the patrol division and the eight others are part of the custody bureau, two of whom have recovered and returned to work.

Two employees are custody support assistants at the Main Jail in San Jose and another employee is a records technician.

The Sheriff’s Office is working with the county Public Health Department to prevent the disease from spreading to other people.

As of Tuesday, San Mateo County had a total of 617 cases of the coronavirus, more than two-dozen of which are new. Of the total patients, 330 are female, 286 are male and one was of an unknown sex. Here’s a breakdown by age group:

• 20 years old or under: 24.

• 21 to 30 years old: 75.

• 31 to 40 years old: 119.

• 41 to 50 years old: 101.

• 51 to 60 years old: 102.

• 61 to 70 years old: 95.

• 71 to 80 years old: 53.

• 81 to 90 years old: 32.

• 91 years old or over: 16.

The death toll stands at 21, 10 of whom were female and 11 of whom were male. It’s unclear whether the deceased had pre-existing conditions. Here’s a breakdown by age group:

• 51 to 60 years old: 2.

• 61 to 70 years old: 2.

• 71 to 80 years old: 4.

• 81 to 90 years old: 7.

• 91 years old or over: 6.

Santa Clara County sees slowdown in cases

Dr. Sara Cody, the county’s health officer, said Tuesday that COVID-19 cases in the county are doubling every two weeks, according to the latest counts. In early March, before the county began adopting increasingly stringent measures to mandate social distancing, cases doubled roughly every three days, Cody told the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

“The trend is exactly what we want to see: that we’re lengthening the doubling time, we’re slowing things down,” Cody said.

Read more here.

Newsom: The curve is ‘bending’

The oft-mentioned curve that doctors, researchers, government agencies and media outlets closely survey to track the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the nation appears to be “bending” and “stretching” in California, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

For the first time, the number of hospitalizations and patients in the intensive care unit diagnosed with COVID-19 increased by only a single-digit percentage, he said, citing the latest statewide numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations during his daily press conference on Tuesday.

The latest numbers show that California has 15,865 positive cases, 2,611 patients hospitalized and 1,108 patients in ICU. Those numbers reflect a 4.1% increase for hospitalizations and 2.1% increase for those in the ICU, compared to a 10.9% increase of ICU-admitted patients just last Saturday.

“That’s not to suggest by any stretch of the imagination that we’ll continue to see these declines,” Newsom emphasized. “It’s to only reinforce the importance of maintaining physical distancing and continuing our stay-at-home policy that has helped bend the curve.”

Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s secretary of health and human services, explained that the bending curve means that the peak comes down but “also goes further out.”

Newsom also outlined how the state is sending out a total of 500 ventilators at this time to east coast states: 100 to New York, 100 to New Jersey and 100 to Illinois, so far. On Monday, Newsom said that the state had 11,036 ventilators on hand, and sending 500 of those ventilators to the national stockpile would assist other states in more need. California would retain the ability to redeploy those ventilators, if necessary.

Newsom also addressed where the public can find help as the physical and mental health effects of being cooped up during the pandemic may be slowly taking its toll on some people. He said there are many hotlines, including texting services and chat lines, people of all ages can access at covid19.ca.gov for various concerns.

San Mateo County bans evictions of businesses in unincorporated areas

On Tuesday, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors banned evicting small commercial businesses in unincorporated parts of the county that can’t afford to pay rent because their business has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

The ordinance, which runs through May 31, applies to businesses that make under $2.5 million annually. It doesn’t apply to businesses in cities, but county officials noted that cities may use the county’s ordinance as a model to enact their own moratoriums on commercial evictions (the city of San Mateo already has).

Small businesses would be liable to pay back rent up to 180 days following the termination of the declared local emergency in San Mateo County.

Supervisor Warren Slocum, president of the Board of Supervisors, and co-sponsor of the ordinance, said businesses in his district have been keenly impacted by the shelter-at-home order.

“The businesses and families of North Fair Oaks work hard every day for themselves, their families and their communities,” he said in a prepared statement. “They have pride in what they accomplish, even when it is a struggle. Right now, they like the rest of us trying to make sense of this virus are struggling even more. Providing relief from the fear of being evicted because they cannot pay rent — through no fault of their own — is one concrete step my colleagues and I are proud to take.”

Light-rail service resumes Thursday

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority plans to resume light-rail service this Thursday, two weeks after trains were suspended due to a training operator who tested positive for the coronavirus.

Trains will only run on weekdays every 30 minutes on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The agency is not collecting fare for the time being.

While service was on a break, the VTA deep-cleaned the trains and replaced upholstery seats with vinyl seats, which is an ongoing project for the agency.

Federal help for small businesses, nonprofits

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, plans to hold a webinar this Thursday at 4:30 p.m. for small businesses and nonprofits in her Congressional district to learn about resources they can utilize under a $2 trillion bill to provide relief during the coronavirus crisis.

Eshoo will discuss the funding and take questions with Julia Clowes, director of the Small Business Administration’s San Francisco district office, which oversees 14 counties in northern California.

Anyone interested in joining the RSVP at eventbrite.com.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: APRIL 6

Santa Clara County has a total of 1,224 people with the coronavirus, 17 of whom were announced Monday and 276 of whom were hospitalized. Three more people died of the disease, raising the death toll to 42.

Out of the 11,607 people tested for the virus, 1,224 returned positive, showing a positivity rate of 10.6%. Another 10,175 returned negative and 208 are pending results.

As of Monday, San Mateo County had a total of 589 cases of the coronavirus. Eight more deaths have brought the death toll to 21. The county’s latest data from the state Department of Public Health also shows 159 people with the virus are hospitalized as of Saturday, 31 of whom are in intensive care. (Another 56 ICU beds are in use by other hospital patients and 40 more beds are available.) State data on the county also reported 67 surge beds in use, with another 348 available, and 63 ventilators in use, with another 111 available. The information on surge beds and ventilators doesn’t differentiate which ones are used by COVID-19 patients.

Housing the homeless

As of Sunday, Santa Clara County has added approximately 602 shelter beds for homeless individuals and families. These beds will populate sites such as the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, Parkside Hall at the San Jose Convention Center and hotels.

Half of that number will make up for the approximately 300 shelter beds that were lost in order to meet the social distancing requirements, Ky Le, director of Santa Clara County’s Office of Supportive Housing, said at a county press conference on Monday.

At the beginning of the shelter-at-home order, Le said that the county had the capacity to shelter around 2,100 unhoused individuals. However, some of that capacity was lost to comply with social distancing rules.

“We do have a net of over 300 shelter beds so far,” Le said. “We’re working to expand both congregate and non-congregate sites in the coming days.”

In addition to increasing housing efforts for the homeless, the county continues to work with the Valley Homeless HealthCare Program for outreach and educating the homeless population on the virus.

In a press release Monday evening, the county said it has found temporary shelter for another 265 people who are unhoused and at risk of severe illness if they contract COVID-19.

California locks in sites to house nearly 5,000 surge beds

California has acquired several sites to house 4,613 beds that will specifically serve patients with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19.

During a Monday press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood inside the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento — the former home of the Sacramento Kings that’s currently being transformed into an alternative care site for COVID-19 patients — to emphasize how the state is trying to meet the demand for 50,000 additional hospital beds for an anticipated surge of patients.

Around 30,000 surge beds can be housed within the state’s existing 416 hospitals, according to Newsom. But the other 20,000 beds will need to be placed in various locations of different sizes throughout the state, including Sleep Train Arena, which Newsom said can hold 400 beds and will be operational “as early as” April 20.

The state also has secured sites up and down the coast at facilities such as the Seton Medical Center in Daly City with 220 beds, hotel rooms in San Carlos that account for 120 beds, St. Vincent Hospital in Los Angeles with 266 beds, the USNS Mercy hospital ship docked in Los Angeles with 550 beds, Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa with 520 beds and Porterville Developmental Center in Fresno County with 246 beds. There also are eight medical station sites provided by the federal government that will provide space for around 2,000 beds, including ones in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

Newsom hopes to staff some of the current and future sites with medical workers recruited through the state’s Health Corps initiative announced a week ago. Newsom said 81,879 health care professionals have already signed up through healthcorps.ca.gov.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: APRIL 4-5

The coronavirus continued to take its toll on the Peninsula over the weekend, when Santa Clara and San Mateo counties together reported a collective total of 154 new cases of the coronavirus.

On Saturday, the county reported 1,148 positive COVID-19 cases, representing 11% of the total tests conducted for the virus. One more person died of the disease, bringing the death toll to 39. On Sunday, 54 more cases brought the county’s total to 1,207 and no new deaths were reported.

The virus infected 41 more people over the weeekend in San Mateo County, where the total of cases stood at 579 as of Sunday night. The death toll continues to stand at 13.

Temporary medical station welcomes first patients

A state Field Respite Center in Santa Clara opened its doors to two people with less-acute cases of the coronavirus, the county announced on Sunday.

Located at the Santa Clara Convention Center, the facility has beds, supplies and medication delivered by the National Guard and can accommodate up to 250 people. It was established with help from the state and federal governments to alleviate the volume of patients at hospitals in the area.

“Today’s patients will have the ability to recuperate in a safe setting while still sheltering in place – keeping all of our residents and essential workers protected,” county Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said in a press release.

State ramps up testing efforts

Gov. Gavin Newsom is looking to increase California’s COVID-19 testing capacity through a new task force that represents a public-private partnership.

The task force is co-chaired by Dr. Charity Dean, assistant director of the state Department of Public Health, and Paul Markovich, president and CEO of Blue Shield of California, a health plan provider.

Newsom said at a Saturday press conference that the state is currently working with University of California, San Diego, and University of California, Davis, to create a minimum of “five to seven hubs” for testing throughout the state and collaborating with various vendors to increase testing capacity.

Newsom also acknowledged Stanford University School of Medicine’s first-in-the-state efforts to produce serology, also known as blood-based tests, which can help researchers further understand the virus by examining one’s antibodies.

In addition to academic institutions, Abbott Laboratories, a company that makes medical devices, will provide 75 point-of-care testing sites, where results can be quickly produced in about five minutes, according to Newsom.

The efforts respond to the relatively low number of people within California who have been tested and received results so far. Newsom said that 126,700 people have been tested and 13,000 of those are still awaiting results.

“The issue of testing — I own that,” Newsom said. “You deserve more and better.”

Newsom also unveiled a new website, covid19supplies.ca.gov, for businesses and organizations interested in providing any critical equipment, from ventilators to viral testing media.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: APRIL 3

On Friday, Santa Clara County’s total of coronavirus cases went up to 1,094 with the announcement of 75 new cases, according to new data.

Of the total 1,094 cases, 53%, or 580, people are male and 47%, or 514, are female. Another 0.2% were identified as “other” and 0.6% as unknown. Here’s a breakdown by age group:

• 20 years old or under: 2.9%.

• 21 to 30 years old: 11.7%.

• 31 to 40 years old: 18.8%.

• 41 to 50 years old: 19.2%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 19.2%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 13.2%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 8.7%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 4%.

• 91 years old or over: 1.2%.

• Unknown: 1.1%

Two more people died of the disease, raising the death toll to 38, 27 of whom were male (making up 71% of the total) and 11 of whom were female (making up 29% of the total).

In addition, 76% had pre-existing conditions, 10.5% had none and 13.2% were unknown.

Here’s a full breakdown of the people who died by age group:

• 21 to 30 years old: 2.6%.

• 31 to 40 years old: 0%

• 41 to 50 years old: 10.5%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 13.2%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 13.2%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 31.6%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 26.3%.

• 91 years old or over: 2.6%.

Nearly 10,000 people have been tested for the virus. Out of the total 9,910 people, 1,094 received positive results, 8,609 received negative results and 207 results are pending. The testing dashboard indicates a test positivity rate of 11% and an average turnaround time of 2.4 days.

Forty-two more people have been hospitalized with COVID-19. The number of coronavirus patients in the county now stands at 287, 199 of whom are in acute hospital beds (with 767 more available in the county) and 88 in intensive care unit beds (with 95 more available in the county). No COVID-19 patients were using surge beds or ventilators according to the county’s hospital data.

Housing the homeless

To reduce the strain on homeless shelters during the statewide stay-at-home order that went into effect on March 19, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced during a Friday press conference that California is looking to secure a total of 15,000 hotel rooms in various counties as part of an initiative called, “Project Roomkey.”

California has acquired 6,867 housing units so far throughout the state to protect the homeless from COVID-19.

“It’s all around making sure that we address the most vulnerable Californians,” Newsom said.

Federal and state funding will support the new project. Newsom touted how California was the first state in the U.S. to receive support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to purchase hotel and motel rooms. FEMA will reimburse 75% of the costs to buy rooms and fund a staff that will provide security, meals and custodial services.

The rest of the funding gap, according to Newsom, will be filled through state grants. California has already provided $650 million worth of emergency grants, as well as $150 million, for local governments to use for emergency homeless aid.

Project Roomkey is reserved for a certain subset of homeless individuals — specifically those who already tested positive for COVID-19, may have been exposed to someone with the virus, or are high-risk individuals, such as people who are 65 years or older or have underlying health conditions.

Newsom said that the rooms are “noncongregant” sites that will be used to separate those who need to be isolated from those who can still use available shelters.

In addition to identifying new sites, Newsom said he hopes to use the project as a template for more long-term solutions to homelessness. In the future, the state will look into purchasing some of the properties that have month-to-month occupancy leases, with contracts that allow right of first refusal — the ability to enter into a transaction before any other party can — or at least right of first offer.

“This was the crisis we needed to address before the COVID-19 crisis,” Newsom said. “And we’re not walking away from meeting that crisis head-on as we move through this process.”

In Santa Clara County, all individuals who are homeless and tested positive for COVID-19 have now been placed in a shelter, according to a press release issued Friday from the county’s Emergency Operations Center.

The statement did not reveal the number of homeless individuals who have tested positive for the coronavirus, but did outline that an additional 174 “vulnerable community members” were housed and another 215 will be sheltered in the next few days.

The Valley Homeless Healthcare Program and Gardner Health Services helped identify those who are most vulnerable, specifically anyone who has three or more underlying health conditions identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that can be exacerbated by COVID-19.

“We have prioritized sheltering these at-risk individuals,” the statement said.

Heavy crowds lead to closure of Bedwell Bayfront Park

Menlo Park shut down Bedwell Bayfront Park at 8 p.m. Friday in response to continuous heavy crowds, the city said in a press release.

The decision was fueled by damaged signs, sports team holding practices and a jump in complaints, city officials said.

The closure will be in place until further notice. It applies to all park trails, parking spaces and the gate to the parking lot at 1600 Marsh Road, where the street crosses Bayfront Expressway, to prevent vehicles from entering the site.

The public can enjoy the city’s other parks, which remain open, to enjoy the outdoors while keeping a safe social distance from others, according to the press release.

Low volume of virus tests completed through Verily

Only 50 people per day are being tested per day at San Mateo County’s COVID-19 testing center run through Verily, which is capable of testing about 250 people, San Mateo County Manager Mike Callagy told reporters on an April 3 conference call. This is likely because of strict guidelines for who can get tested at the site, he noted. Callagy said the county is in conversations to see if rules can be relaxed.

Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet, launched an online tool to help screen patients for COVID-19 testing. The tool, called Project Baseline, triages people who are concerned about their COVID-19 risk and — if they fit certain criteria — sends them to testing sites based on their symptoms, according to an announcement by the company.

The pilot program is available to residents of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, who can take the screener survey. The program is open to adults ages 18 and older and seeks to help people who are the most vulnerable.

People who take the survey and meet eligibility requirements for COVID-19 testing will be directed to mobile testing sites based on the site’s capacity, where they have a nasal-swab test. They will be informed of the test results within a few days.

Obtaining more PPE

San Mateo County has committed $12 million to obtain personal protective gear for local medical workers, San Mateo County Manager Mike Callagy told reporters on an April 3 conference call. There is a two- to five-week lag on the products ordered though, he noted. He said the county is prepared to spend up to $30 million for medical supplies to last the next 90 days.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: APRIL 2

Santa Clara County’s total cases of the coronavirus surpassed the 1,000 mark with the announcement of 63 new cases on Thursday afternoon.

Of the total 1,019 cases, 53%, or 540, people are male and 47%, or around 479, are female. Here’s a breakdown by age group:

• 20 years old or under: 3.1%.

• 21 to 30 years old: 11%.

• 31 to 40 years old: 18.3%.

• 41 to 50 years old: 19.5%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 19.6%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 13.4%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 8.8%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 4.2%.

• 91 years old or over: 1%.

• Unknown: 1.2%

Four more people who died of the disease has brought the death toll to 36, 26 of whom were male (making up 72% of the total) and 10 of whom were female (making up 27.8% of the total).

In addition, 75% had pre-existing conditions, 11% had none and 14% were unknown.

Here’s a full breakdown of the people who died by age group:

• 21 to 30 years old: 3%.

• 31 to 40 years old: 0%

• 41 to 50 years old: 11.1%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 11.1%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 14%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 33%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 25%.

• 91 years old or over: 2.8%.

The new data published Thursday provided testing data. Out of the total 9,218 people who were tested for the coronavirus, 1,019 received positive results, 8,025 received negative results and 174 results are pending. The testing dashboard indicates a test positivity rate of 11.1% and an average turnaround time of 2.4 days.

On Wednesday alone, the county received 16 positive results and 262 negative results.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 went up from 198 to 245 on Thursday, an increase of 47 patients. Of the 245 individuals, 153 are in acute hospital beds (with 778 more available in the county) and 92 were in intensive care unit beds (with 91 more available in the county).

On Thursday evening, San Mateo County announced 33 new cases of the coronavirus, raising its total to 486. Three more people died of the disease, raising its death toll to 13.

Counties recommend face protection

On Thursday evening, Bay Area public health leaders issued recommendations for the public to wear face masks before they leave their homes as a precaution against the coronavirus.

Bay Area counties are following the state’s guidance, which does not encourage the public to purchase N95 or surgical masks.

Read more here.

Santa Clara County unveils new data on COVID-19

According to data newly published on the Santa Clara County Public Health Department’s website, 8,246 patients were tested for COVID-19, which yielded 956 positive results and 7,138 negative results — a 11.6% positivity rate — as of Wednesday.

Santa Clara County public health officials discussed the new data on the COVID-19 crisis at a Thursday press conference, including hospital capacity throughout the county and the number of people tested for the coronavirus.

“By sharing the data, in some ways, I think it will reassure people that our hospitals currently have a significant amount of remaining capacity,” said Dr. Jennifer Tong, the hospital surge capacity branch chief of Santa Clara County’s Emergency Operations Center. “Another reason for sharing the data is to highlight the importance of the social distancing order.”

The information, which will be updated daily, can be found here.

As of Tuesday, 198 people were hospitalized for COVID-19, with 108 patients in hospital beds (another 936 are available for use) and 90 patients in intensive care beds (with another 92 available for use). The dashboards on the website also reveal how many ventilators and surge beds are currently available across the county. Since Tuesday, the county has used 227 ventilators (another 392 are available as needed) and five open surge beds (another 1,456 are available as needed).

Public health officials also briefly noted their plans to increase hospital capacity by collaborating with hospitals in the area and the temporary Federal Medical Station at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

Stanford Dish to close

Due to a “persistent minority” of people not complying with public health and safety measures at the Stanford Dish, the university will close all entrances to the popular walking trail on Friday, April 3, at 5 p.m. Stanford “will be actively looking for ways to safely reopen the Dish area.”

A reprieve for small business owners

California will hold off on collecting sales taxes in order to support struggling small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday at a press conference an executive order that allows small businesses to keep up to $50,000 in sales tax, “as a loan,” for 12 months without fines, penalties and interest.

“In essence, it is a bridge loan,” Newsom said.

The new rule extends beyond a previously signed executive order in which businesses won’t have to file sales tax returns through July 31.

In addition, the state will inject $50 million into the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank to create more “microlending opportunities.” It specifically addresses small businesses that may not be eligible for programs offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration during the pandemic such as the Paycheck Protection Program, which incentives small businesses to keep employees on their payroll.

To address the current state of unemployment in California, Newsom unveiled a new website, onwardca.org, created in partnership with Salesforce, LinkedIn and Bitwise, that matches people to available jobs based on a set of 37 questions.

“Over 1.9 million Californians since March 12 have filed for unemployment insurance,” Newson said. “The economic consequences are profound.”

For more information on statewide resources, including applications for unemployment insurance, visit covid19.ca.gov.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: APRIL 1

On Wednesday, Santa Clara County announced 66 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total to 956.

Of the total cases, about 53%, or 506, people are male and roughly 46%, or 440, are female. Here’s a breakdown by age group:

• 20 years old or under: 3.1%.

• 21 to 30 years old: 11.3%.

• 31 to 40 years old: 18.8%.

• 41 to 50 years old: 19.8%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 19%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 13.3%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 8.6%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 4.1%.

• 91 years old or over: 1%.

• Unknown: 1.2%

The county also reported Wednesday that two more people died of the disease, raising the death toll to 32, 24 of whom were male (making up 75% of the total) and eight of whom were female (making up 25% of the total). In addition, 72% had pre-existing conditions, 13% had none and 16% were unknown.

Here’s a full breakdown of the people who died by age group:

• 21 to 30 years old: 3%.

• 31 to 40 years old: 0%

• 41 to 50 years old: 12.5%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 12.5%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 15.6%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 28.1%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 25%.

• 91 years old or over: 3.1%.

On Wednesday evening, San Mateo County reported 453 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 65 cases from the previous day, and the death toll stands at 10.

School closures announced in Santa Clara County, appear likely for rest of California

Santa Clara County families were informed that their students’ campuses will be closed for the rest of the academic year through a letter signed by the county superintendent and 32 district superintendents across the county.

Palo Alto Unified Superintendent Don Austin took definitive local action on Wednesday, announcing that all district schools will be closed for classroom instruction for the remainder of this school year.

Read more here.

Top California officials, including the governor and state superintendent, signaled this week that public school students won’t return to their campuses before the end of the school year.

The “expectation” is that schools will not reopen, Newsom said during a press conference at the state Capitol with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond.

Thurmond said Wednesday that he’s urging all superintendents “to proceed as if we can only educate our kids through distance learning for the remainder of the school year.”

“Quite frankly, no one knows when it’s safe enough for our students to return to campus,” he said. “We are asking everyone to accelerate their efforts to make sure our kids get a great education.”

Read more here.

Newsom: More hospital beds may be needed

California may need many more hospital beds by the end of May, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Based on the state’s modeling that monitors the spread of the coronavirus, Newsom said during a Wednesday press conference that California will need 66,000 hospital beds toward the end of May — markedly different from the 50,000 beds the state is preparing for the “Phase 1 surge.”

In addition, state Health Officer Dr. Sonia Angell addressed how face masks may provide additional protection against asymptomatic infection and an additional signal to other people to keep their distance. But she emphasized that it does not replace the importance of physical distancing.

“There may be some benefit from using these (masks), but only when they’re used well,” Angell said. “We don’t want people to have a false sense of security with these face coverings … so if you use them, make sure you maintain that physical distance.”

Retrieving ventilators remains a high priority for California. The goal is to have 10,000 ventilators in preparation for the Phase 1 surge, according to Newsom.

Since Wednesday, Newsom confirmed there are 8,155 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Sheriff’s office confirms 11 COVID-19 cases

Eleven members of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office have tested positive for the coronavirus, the agency announced in a press release.

Nine were deputies, one of whom worked in the patrol division and eight others in the custody bureau (one has since recovered and returned to work).

The deputies are under isolation at home and “remain in high spirits,” according to the release.

The other two employees are a custody support assistant at the county’s Main Jail in San Jose and a sheriff’s records technician.

The agency is working with the county Public Health Department to prevent further exposure to the virus.

San Mateo County prepares for COVID-19 patients

San Mateo County officials showed off a new treatment center for the novel coronavirus pandemic at the San Mateo County Event Center to reporters on Wednesday.

The triage center was constructed with the assistance of the California Air National Guard. It is the fourth site statewide where they’ve established such a treatment center after setting them up in Santa Clara County, Los Angeles, and Coachella.

The big challenge in getting the site up and running, if necessary, will be finding staff, said Travis Kusman, San Mateo County director of emergency medical services.

He said that how many staff might be necessary depends on need and the condition of the patients that are taken in there. No one accepted at the site will require a ventilator since it is not equipped for intensive care patients, so they would stay at hospitals while patients who are less sick would be housed at the event center.

Still, because it would need around-the-clock staffing, the facility would need substantial staff and volunteers to operate effectively.

But if residents of the county and region continue to follow social distancing guidelines, Kusman said the facility may never need to open.

“We’re hopeful this facility will never have to be used,” Kusman said.

The county is building a roster of volunteers and raising money for its response. Anyone interested in volunteering or donating can do so at smcgov.org.

Read more here.

San Mateo County report by Bay City News Service.

Virtual town hall

East Palo Alto plans to hold a virtual town hall meeting on the coronavirus this Friday when the community can ask questions, make comments and offer insights on the pandemic and its impact on the city. The meeting, scheduled for 4:30-6 p.m. via Zoom, can be found here.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: MARCH 31

The current shelter-at-home order for seven Bay Area jurisdictions has been extended to May 3, health officials announced Tuesday.

The new order builds on the “shelter-in-place” order that was announced March 16 by the seven jurisdictions, including Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, and was set to expire April 7.

The updated mandate requires all businesses that remain in operation to prepare and post a “social distancing” plan detailing the measures they are taking to ensure compliance with county guidance.

Read more here.

New COVID-19 cases, deaths

Santa Clara County has reported 42 new cases, bringing its total to 890. Two more people died of the disease, raising the death toll to 30.

San Mateo County reported four more people who died from the coronavirus in San Mateo County, where the death toll now stands at 10.

San Mateo County also released a new data dashboard on patient demographics. Of the 309 people with COVID-19, more than half are between 40 and 69 years old. Here’s a full breakdown by age group:

• 0 to 9 years old: 0.7%.

• 10 to 19 years old: 1.6%.

• 20 to 29 years old: 9.1%.

• 30 to 39 years old: 16.5%.

• 40 to 49 years old: 16.5%.

• 50 to 59 years old: 16.2%.

• 60 to 69 years old: 19.7%.

• 70 to 79 years old: 9.4%.

• 80 years old or over: 9.7%.

• Unknown: 0.7%.

On Tuesday evening, San Mateo County reported a total of 388 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 79 cases from the previous day.

All of the 10 people who died were over age 60 years old and 70% were over age 80 years old. Here’s a full breakdown of the people who died by age group:

• 60 to 69 years old: 20%.

• 70 to 79 years old: 10%.

• 80 years old or over: 70%.

The county notes in its dashboard that “due to the current testing capacity, the number of cases detected through testing represents only a small portion of the total number of likely cases in the County. This means the number of cases by age group is skewed toward those who are high risk and tested.”

Stanford University is now aware of 32 individuals connected to the Stanford community either as faculty, staff, students or postdocs and who have received positive COVID-19 test results. The university is also now asking anyone who traveled outside of California over spring break and is returning to campus to self-isolate for two weeks.

New hotline for seniors unveiled

Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a new hotline number on Tuesday aimed at helping isolated seniors in California stay connected.

The hotline number, 833-544-2374, will provide residents with the latest information on the coronavirus pandemic and services available to them, he said during a Tuesday press conference.

The governor also announced a partnership with the 2-1-1 help line center to connect Californians, on a case-by-case basis, to specific local services in their community, such as supplemental food and nutrition programs as well as shelter options. The call center is open 24 hours a day.

In addition, Newsom provided updated numbers of COVID-19 cases in the state. Since Tuesday, there have been 150 COVID-19 related deaths, 1,617 people currently hospitalized and 657 individuals in the intensive-care unit due to COVID-19.

Newsom also said that since the launch of the California Healthcorps initiative on Monday, more than 25,000 licensed health care professionals have signed up to aid the effort to relieve the current health care workforce.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: MARCH 30

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department has reported a total of 848 coronavirus cases, 202 of which were announced on Monday. The large jump is due to a reporting delay, as opposed to a one-day increase, the county wrote in an update on its new data dashboard.

Of the 848 people with COVID-19, 53%, or about 450, are male and 46%, or roughly 390, are female. A majority of the cases are people between 41 and 50 years old, which made up 20% of the total. Here’s a full breakdown by age group:

• 20 years old or under: 3.1%.

• 21 to 30 years old: 11.2%.

• 31 to 40 years old: 19%.

• 41 to 50 years old: 20.2%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 18.8%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 13.2%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 8.3%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 4.1%.

• 91 years old or over: 1.1%.

• Unknown: 1.2%

The county also reported Monday that three people died of the disease, raising the death toll to 28, 75% of which were male and 25% of which were female. Of the total, 71% had pre-existing conditions, 14% had none and 14% were unknown.

Here’s a full breakdown of the people who died by age group:

• 21 to 30 years old: 3.6%

• 31 to 40 years old: 0%

• 41 to 50 years old: 11%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 14.3%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 17.9%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 25%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 28.6%.

Also on Monday, San Mateo County announced a total of 309 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and six people who have died from the disease. On a conference call with reporters on Monday, County Manager Mike Callagy said he will share more information on the demographics of county COVID-19 patients by Wednesday. San Mateo County is working on sharing data in a similar way to Santa Clara County’s new data dashboard. Until now, the officials haven’t released ages or genders of county COVID-19 patients.

View our interactive charts on the number of cases and deaths.

Extended shelter-at-home order

The public can expect the current shelter-at-home order for seven Bay Area jurisdictions, including Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, to continue through May 1. Health officers in each of the jurisdictions expect to announce an updated order in the coming days.

The health officers had previously said their jurisdictions could see an extension to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to a joint press release from the city of Berkeley and Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo counties. The updated order is expected to be finalized in the next day or two.

Increasing health care staff

At a Monday afternoon press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the California Health Corps initiative to increase the state’s health care workforce and prepare for a surge in COVID-19 cases predicted by the state’s modeling.

Newsom cited a “universe” of 37,000 retired health care professionals or those with inactive licenses that he hopes to tap into in order to staff additional health care sites throughout the state and increase the number of medical professionals treating patients who don’t have COVID-19. Interested participants can find more information here.

The initiative calls for physicians, pharmacists, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses (RN, LVN, CNA), behavioral health professionals, respiratory therapists, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and medical assistants as well as medical and nursing students, according to the website.

To quickly meet the demands of the state’s health care system, Newsom announced an executive order that provides temporary flexibility in staffing ratios and licensing processes for retired health care professionals as well as medical and nursing students close to receiving their degree or license.

“We have an executive order that went out that will provide flexibility through June 30,” Newsom said. “This is temporary flexibility on staffing ratios (and) on scope of practice for nurse practitioners and EMTs and others.”

Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s secretary of health and human services who helped prepare the executive order and joined Monday’s press conference, said that the staffing ratios are not specifically outlined down to the number “but does give us the flexibility and room to work within reasonable measures with the current conditions we expect.”

In terms of accelerating retired professionals and students into the workforce, Ghaly did not explain what exactly that process looks like, but did provide an example of who the order addresses.

“There are a number of things that have to do with who can get licensed, how they can reinstate their license and being flexible and waiving some of those tried and true conditions that allow us to — for example, somebody who has been out of the workforce for just under five years — allow them to come in immediately to meet the surge demand,” Ghaly said.

In addition, Newsom outlined several potential “surge sites” that the state will be looking into, including the Oakland Coliseum and Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, in order to increase the available hospital beds statewide to 50,000.

San Mateo Event Center prepared to house 250 hospital beds

San Mateo County officials announced Monday that they are preparing for a possible surge of COVID-19 patients by setting up a makeshift hospital at the San Mateo Event Center.

The National Guard is delivering and staging equipment and supplies to the temporary hospital, which county officials expect to be completed on Tuesday. The hospital, which is located in San Mateo, will be jointly operated by the county, which owns the Event Center, and the state.

Officials are accepting personal protective equipment donations Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Maple Street Correctional Facility, 1300 Maple St. in Redwood City, for the hospital. These items include unused N95 respirators and surgical masks (packages can be opened, as long as they have not been used); unopened packages of disposable gloves; unopened containers of hand sanitizer; unopened containers of disinfectants and disinfectant wipes; and packaged, unused protective goggles.

“The latest projections estimate that a medical surge could push the hospitals in our county to capacity and we’ll need another location to house patients requiring particular levels of care,” Callagy said in a prepared statement. “We can’t just wait to see if this will happen. We need to prepare now so that we can be ready to care for our friends, neighbors and loved ones when they need it most.”

During the Monday conference call, Callagy said he isn’t sure when there will be a peak in the number of cases. It’s also too soon to tell if the shelter-at-home efforts have been effective at flattening the curve of the contagion, he said.

New mapping tool

On Friday, March 27, San Mateo County released a new mapping tool to help residents find open grocery stores, medical services, social services, parks and restaurants offering takeout.

Telephone town hall

A telephone town hall on the status of the coronavirus in Santa Clara County is scheduled for this Sunday, April 5, at 11 a.m. The meeting will feature Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and other health care professionals. Anyone interested in joining can call 855-866-6313.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: MARCH 28-29

The number of coronavirus cases sharply rose in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties over the weekend. As of Sunday, San Mateo County has 277 cases and six deaths. Santa Clara County has 646 cases, 72 of which were reported on Saturday and Sunday, and 25 deaths.

Santa Clara County has the most people with the coronavirus compared to the eight other Bay Area counties. The county’s 646 cases as of Sunday afternoon make up over a quarter of the region’s total cases. The county’s death count now stands at 25, five of which were reported on Saturday.

Stanford University is now aware of 29 people who are connected to the Stanford community either as faculty, staff, students or postdoctoral students and who have received positive COVID-19 test results.

State bans vehicle access at state parks

California State Parks announced on Sunday that it is temporarily closing vehicle access at all 280 state parks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The department issued the restriction following a noticeable increase of visitors at parks statewide over the start of the weekend.

“On Saturday, many state parks once again experienced visitation surges that made it impossible for the public to implement appropriate social/physical distancing practicing,” according to the announcement.

The Parks Department recommends that residents stay close to home when going outdoors. “This is not the time for a road trip to a destination park or beach,” according to the announcement.

The department said it will continue to monitor visitation at all state parks, and if the current restrictions are not sufficient to protect public health, additional measures may be taken to fully close parks, including trails, bathrooms and other amenities.

For more information about park closures, go to the State Parks COVID-19 Resource Center.

Ventilator acquisitions increase and positive cases rise

Gov. Gavin Newsom held a press conference at the Sunnyvale manufacturing plant of Bloom Energy on Saturday to highlight work the company is doing refurbishing ventilators. On March 16, Newsom called for 10,000 additional ventilators to meet a projected surge in serious COVID-19 cases. Since making the plea, the state has procured an additional 4,250 ventilators toward that goal, he said.

Bloom’s CEO K.R. Sridhar said the company shipped 80 refurbished ventilators to the state on Friday — on top of 24 it originally shipped — and was shipping another 120 on Saturday. The company expects to increase production in the next weeks to handle 250 per day.

Bloom is also refurbishing 170 broken ventilators received by Los Angeles from the federal stockpile. That shipment should be delivered on Monday, he said.

Newsom said the state had a 105% surge in the number of people in intensive care units between Friday and Saturday, more than doubling from 200 to 410 cases. Hospitalization rose from 746 to 1,034 patients — a 38.6% increase. He added that while those numbers may be startling, they are much lower figures overall than in other states.

He strongly urged the public to continue to shelter in place. It is the only way to prevent further deaths and spread of the disease and to not overwhelm the hospital system.

San Mateo County closes its parks

All San Mateo County parks have been closed until further notice due to a sharp increase in visitors despite the shelter-at-home and social distancing orders enacted to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, county officials said on Friday.

The county had kept 17 of the 23 sites it manages open before Friday.

An increase in visitors last weekend and observations of park and trail use over the past several weeks led to the closure order.

“The decision to close parks is not easy, especially now when people are looking for outdoor experiences, but the safety of San Mateo County residents must always be a priority,” said San Mateo County Parks Director Nicholas Calderon. “In that spirit we had to take this action.”

Data collected from mid-February to March 25 showed increases of 50% to 300% in park use following the shelter-at-home order.

Park staff also noticed people gathering in groups and failing to keep a safe distance, county officials said.

“We have a limited amount of time for the shelter-in-place order to truly save lives,” County Manager Mike Callagy said. “The sheer number of people crowding our parks and driving to reach them made them unsafe for our community. I appreciate the desire for our residents to get outside and enjoy our open spaces, but we cannot have them descending on our parks in large groups now.”

Entrance gates and parking lots will be locked and notices will be posted that the parks and trails are closed.

Patrol of parks will continue during the closure.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: MARCH 27

Santa Clara County now has a total of 574 cases of the coronavirus, 32 of which were announced on Friday, according to a new dashboard launched by the county this afternoon. The dashboard provides a daily count of the cases since Feb. 28 and charts of the totals cross-tabulated with age, gender and underlying health conditions.

Of the 574 people with COVID-19, 53%, or a little over 300, are male and 46%, roughly 264, are female. A majority of the cases are people between 41 and 50 years old, which made up 21% of the total. Here’s a full breakdown by age group:

• 20 years old or under: 3.5%.

• 21 to 30 years old: 9.9%.

• 31 to 40 years old: 17.8%.

• 41 to 50 years old: 21.4%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 19%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 12.4%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 9.2%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 4.4%.

• 91 years old or over: 1.2.%.

• Unknown: 1.6%

The county also reported one more person died of the disease, bringing the death toll to 20, 70% of which were male and 30% of which were female. Of the total, 75% had pre-existing conditions and 15% had none.

Here’s a full breakdown of the people who died by age group:

• 41 to 50 years old: 5%.

• 51 to 60 years old: 20%.

• 61 to 70 years old: 25%.

• 71 to 80 years old: 20%.

• 81 to 90 years old: 30%.

On Friday, March 27, San Mateo County announced a total of 239 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and six people who have died from the disease. That’s an increase of 44 new confirmed cases since Thursday.

San Jose predicts county’s total COVID-19 deaths over next three months

San Jose Deputy City Manager Kip Harkness presented preliminary data regarding the potential spread of the coronavirus in Santa Clara County during the City Council’s March 24 meeting. The city’s models estimated that between 9,000 and 19,000 people in the county of 1.9 million residents might currently be infected with the virus.

The city’s models also predicted the worst, moderate and best-case scenarios for hospitalizations and deaths and the number of people who might require life-saving ventilators. It also estimated a timeline for each scenario and the impact of each.

“We have to bend the curve now,” he said, referring to the trajectory of the contagion.

If residents do comply with the shelter-at-home order, hospitals could mostly handle the number of people needing ventilators. But under the moderate and worst scenarios, in which residents do not stay at home, the number of seriously ill people would overwhelm the system.

Even in the best-case scenario, an estimated 2,000 people in Santa Clara County could die in the next 12 weeks.

Santa Clara County public health leaders distanced themselves from the San Jose report, however. In a statement released on Thursday, they said the modeling and data had not been vetted by their department. On Friday, Executive Officer Jeff Smith said that statistical models of the future spread of the coronavirus are not what people should focus on. The only thing that matters at this point is for people to stay home and consistently refrain from being in contact with others as much as possible.

“Statistics can be misleading,” said Smith, a physician.

The county is contracting with Stanford Medicine to analyze detailed data to determine factors that cause spread of the virus so health departments can have “internal projections about what we can expect in the future,” he said.

Moratoriums on residential evictions

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed an executive order that banned evicting renters impacted by the coronavirus crisis through May 31. Under the order, landlords can’t evict tenants who don’t pay rent and law enforcement or courts can’t enforce the removal of renters.

The executive order also requires tenants declare their inability to pay rent in writing within seven days after their due date. A copy over the order can be found here.

Newsom’s order comes a day after the East Palo Alto City Council unanimously passed an emergency law that temporarily bans tenants from getting evicted as a result of the pandemic. Under the emergency law, also effective through May 31, tenants are required to provide a written notice about their inability to pay rent within 30 days. More information on the moratorium can be found here.

Known cases of COVID-19 in California sharply rise

Confirmed cases of the coronavirus rose 26% in one day, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Friday. Statewide, there are 746 hospitalizations, 200 of which are in the intensive-care unit, 3,180 positive cases and 78 deaths.

Newsom said the figures are the result of additional testing, which has been lagging since the pandemic reached California in January. The state has now recorded 88,400 tests, including testing by private, state and county laboratories. Newsom said the results of those tests are coming in too slowly, however, with some patients waiting six days or more to learn if they have the disease.

Speaking in front of the federal hospital ship the USNS Mercy, which is docked in Los Angeles, Newsom said that the city saw a 50% surge in cases in two days. At that rate, the city could reach similar numbers of positive cases as New York City in a week and the state could match New York in 12 days. He urged everyone to stay inside and continue to respect the shelter-at-home order as the only way to flatten the curve of the contagion.

The state has ordered 98 park facilities, mostly on the coast, to shut their parking lots to prevent people from gathering.

JCC suspends most operations

The Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto has decided to suspend most operations starting this weekend as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which has left “an insurmountable financial impact,” CEO Zack Bodner said in an email addressed to the community. The community center has also placed most of its staff on furlough and some remain hired at “significantly reduced compensation.”

The JCC is continuing to offer programs and resources through its virtual hub.

Students map COVID-19 cases, free meal distributions

Two Palo Alto High School students, Jonathan Kao and Victor Lin, have created a real-time website with coronavirus data provided by counties across the nation, according to a post by Kao on neighborhood social network Nextdoor.

Users can search for information on their county by searching their ZIP code or county and sign up for daily emails updates on new data from their county. View the website at clearcov19.com/.

A group of Stanford University students, in partnership with local school districts and nonprofit organizations, have created a digital map with detailed information about where local children can access free meals during the school closures in 10 Bay Area counties. View it here.

PREVIOUS UPDATE: MARCH 26

Santa Clara County recorded 83 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday and two more deaths from the disease. The new cases represent the second-highest one-day jump nearly two months since public health leaders announced the first local COVID-19 patient.

The county provided a breakdown of the age ranges for the total 542 people in the county with the coronavirus. A majority of the cases are people between 41-50 years old.

• People 20 years old or under: 19.

• People between 21 and 30 years old: 48.

• People between 31 and 40 years old: 99.

• People between 41 and 50 years old: 115.

• People between 51 and 60 years old: 104.

• People between 61 and 70 years old: 68.

• People between 71 and 80 years old: 51.

• People 80 years old or over: 30.

• People of unknown age: 8.

The county’s total represents nearly half of the cases reported in the Bay Area, which has 1,322 cases.

No further details on the two deaths. The county plans to release a new website with “additional aggregate data” on its cases.

A sixth sheriff’s deputy has tested positive for the coronavirus, the sheriff’s office announced Thursday evening. The employee, assigned to the custody bureau, is in isolation at home and is one of three deputies who the agency determined was possibly exposed to the disease.

The sheriff’s office is working to identify other staff members and inmates possibly exposed to the coronavirus.

In San Mateo County, 195 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and five people have died from the disease as of Thursday, March 26. That’s an increase of 30 new confirmed cases over the last 24 hours.

Transit

A light-rail operator trainee for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing the transit agency to suspend light-rail service until further notice, a VTA spokeswoman said Thursday.

Six light-car trains were running when service was suspended at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. Agency personnel checked train platforms to make sure no riders were left stranded, according to spokeswoman Brandi Childress.

Light-rail trains will stay at the VTA’s operating division and “undergo thorough cleaning,” in addition to the operating division, Childress said.

Read the more from the VTA’s Headways blog, which can be found here.

Starting Monday, Caltrain will reduce weekday service indefinitely. The rail commuter service will run 42 trains instead of 92, according to a press release issued Thursday. The trains will make all stops between San Francisco and San Jose about every 30-60 minutes. Limited and Baby Bullet has been temporarily shut down until further notice. An updated schedule can be here. The agency’s weekend service will remain normal.

Donation drive

A group of Stanford School of Medicine students is holding donation drives for personal protection equipment this Friday, March 27, from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, March 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. outside of the Stanford Shopping Center.

They plan to set up in the parking lot just north of the Neiman Marcus department store. Donations can be opened or unopened but must be new. If items are open from the packaging, they must be placed in plastic zip-close bags. The group plans to safely sanitize any items before they are given away. Read more here.

Telephone town hall

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, plans to discuss new federal funding to address the coronavirus crisis and available community resources at a telephone town hall meeting on Thursday, March 26, starting at 7:35 p.m. Those interested in joining can register here.

PREVIOUS UPDATE: March 25

The latest Santa Clara County total of 459 coronavirus cases released Wednesday shows nearly half of the people presumably caught the disease within the community.

Of the 459 cases, 217 are presumed to have been community transmitted, 137 people are hospitalized and 88 are close contacts of known cases, according to the Public Health Department. No information was provided on cases associated with international travel.

The county also reported one more person died of the disease, bringing the death toll to 17.

A fifth Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy has tested positive for the coronavirus, the agency announced on Twitter. The individual, assigned to the custody bureau, is in isolation at home. Four of the five deputies worked on the same team.

In San Mateo County, 165 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and five people have died from the disease as of Wednesday, March 25. That’s an increase of four new confirmed cases and four more deaths over the last 24 hours.

Stanford University announced that it’s aware of 24 individuals who are connected to the Stanford community either as faculty, staff, students or postdocs, who have tested positive for COVID-19. They are living in the Bay Area and beyond, Stanford said. The university had previously reported one on-campus case involving a student who is self-isolating on campus. The new count “should not be considered comprehensive, given that it is partly based on self-reporting to the university … and given the quickly changing nature of the COVID-19 spread,” Stanford said, it is encouraging its community members to report test results to the university. Later on Wednesday, the university learned of two more people who have tested positive for COVID-19, raising the total to 26 individuals.

Social media giant’s contribution

Facebook contributed $250,000 to the Sequoia Union High School District to give 2,000 students access to Wi-Fi hotspots for distance learning. High school district officials had reached out to Facebook because they anticipated the need for tech support for many of its families.

“We’re proud to partner with the District and contribute $250,000 to ensure 2,000 SUHSD (Sequoia Union High School District) students — who would normally not have access to reliable internet at home — can access their online schoolwork from home,” said Chloe Meyere, a Facebook spokesperson. “We’re grateful for the District’s leadership on this critical issue, and will continue to support our neighbors struggling with the impact of COVID-19.”

Transit service

On Wednesday, SamTrans implemented a new practice, having riders board at the rear of busses with multiple doors, to follow social distancing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Passengers with disabilities or in need of assistance will be exempt from the practice. The agency is calling on patrons to stay 6 feet apart as requested by the CDC. Rides are currently free until further notice.

SamTrans has seen its weekday ridership drop 65-70% and expects to see lose $1.3 million in monthly revenue fare.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority plans to reduce service on its bus, light-rail and paratransit services starting Monday, March 30. The agency aims to prioritize service to hospitals, food banks and shelters.

“We find ourselves in an unprecedented situation of balancing how we provide that service amid a health pandemic in which ridership is extremely sparse,” spokesman Ken Blackstone wrote on the VTA’s “Headways” blog.

The changes include cutting down light-rail service frequency to every 30 minutes; ending bus and light-rail trips after 9 p.m., with the exception of Route 22 (which will continue to run 24/7 between the Palo Alto Transit Center and San Jose’s Eastridge Transit Center); and adjustments to the Express 181 bus to coincide with BART’s reduced service schedule.

A map of the reduced service changes can be found at vta.org.

PREVIOUS UPDATE: March 24

On Tuesday, Santa Clara County joined six other Bay Area jurisdictions in issuing new reporting requirements for laboratories testing for the new coronavirus, the county said in a press release.

The county, along with the city of Berkeley and Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties, are seeking more detailed information to help health leaders understand the rate of infection and possibly identify areas of dense infection.

Altogether, the jurisdictions have reported 930 confirmed cases, which makes up over half of the state’s total, and 19 deaths. (Those numbers have since changed since Santa Clara County announcements of additional cases and deaths on Tuesday afternoon.)

Under the order, labs not only need to report positive results, which has prevented public health leaders from knowing the total number of people tested, but also negative and inconclusive readings. The test results for residents in each jurisdiction must be sent to the health care provider seeking the test and appropriate state and local authorities.

Public health labs are limited in the number of tests they can run compared to the commercial and academic labs, where testing is more readily available, according to the Santa Clara County press release.

“Receiving this critical information from those labs will help local health departments respond to COVID-19 during this unprecedented time,” Dr. Sara Cody said in the press release.

Read the Santa Clara County order here.

Shelter-at-home order could last 12 weeks

Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Tuesday, March 24 that a shelter-at-home order would last through April and as long as 12 weeks. Newsom said Californians have much to do to flatten the curve to levels where contagion of the COVID-19 virus would be greatly reduced.

Newsom’s comments made over Facebook Live are at odds with those of President Donald Trump, who wants the country to get back to work by Easter, April 12. Newsom said it’s “misleading” to think the state could reduce its stay-at-home order by that date.

“April, for California, would be sooner than any of the experts that I talk to would believe is possible,” he said.

Newsom said the next six to eight weeks will be pivotal. California couldn’t make any potential adjustments to the order for at least six weeks. In eight to 12 weeks “we will be in a very different place,” he said.

He noted that people must do more to heed the shelter and social distancing order, and the impact of the disease on younger people can’t be underestimated. Disproportionately, 50% of the positive coronavirus cases are among people ages 18 to 49, he said, although the majority of hospitalizations and deaths are still among people ages 60 and older. A teenager in Lancaster, a city about 70 miles north of Los Angeles, has died from the disease, he said.

New COVID-19 cases, deaths

Santa Clara County reported 54 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday. The county now has a total of 375 cases, 125 of which are people hospitalized, 91 of which are presumed to have been community transmitted; 82 of which are close contacts of known cases and 30 of which are associated with international travel.

The county also announced three more deaths from the disease, raising its death toll to 16. Further details on the new deaths weren’t released.

San Mateo County added 19 cases to its total, which is now 161 as of Tuesday morning, March 24.

Fourth deputy has COVID-19

A fourth Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy has tested positive for the coronavirus, the agency announced on Twitter. The employee works at the custody division and is under quarantine at home. The sheriff’s office announced its three other cases on Monday.

Federal Medical Station

A temporary Federal Medical Station that Santa Clara County is setting up in collaboration with the U.S. Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response will serve less-acute COVID-19 cases, the county clarified on Tuesday in a press release. The county had previously said the station wouldn’t care for coronavirus patients.

The station will be set up at the Santa Clara Convention Center to accommodate up to 250 people. It will also care for short-term inpatient patients with subacute medical, mental health or other needs. The station will be supplied with beds, supplies and medicines, the county said. More information on the stations can be found at cdc.gov.

Food closet

Downtown Street Team’s food closet located at All Saints Episcopal Church in Palo Alto is staying stocked with fresh groceries to help a community in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the organization’s senior manager David Vyfvinkel, the downtown food closet has received two to three times more fresh produce than it usually serves thanks to donations from various retails and organizations such as Trader Joe’s and Second Harvest Food Bank.

And besides a few newcomers coming in from the South Palo Alto Food Closet at Covenant Presbyterian Church, which is currently closed, the team is serving fewer clients than usual.

“We usually have about 60-75 people on any given day,” Vyfvinkel said. “Now we’re getting 40 to 45.”

The three volunteers, including Vyfvinkel, who were operating the food closet on Tuesday wore masks and gloves to protect themselves while they handled food. To keep 6 feet of distance from the public, as recommended by public health officials, Vyfvinkel said they now make visitors wait outside while the team fills people’s grocery bags with food and brings it outside.

The food closet is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m.; and Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

PREVIOUS UPDATE: March 23

Santa Clara County has reported a total of 321 cases, 19 of which were announced on Monday. Of the 321 cases, 116 people are hospitalized, 91 presumed to have been community transmitted; 77 are close contacts of known cases; 28 are associated with international travel; and 13 people have died, according to the county’s public health department.

Also on Monday, the county started releasing data on the people who have died. Of the 13 deaths, nine were men and four were women. The county also reported age ranges for the deceased:

• One person was between 41 and 50 years old.

• Two people were between 51 and 60 years old.

• Four people were between 61 and 70 years old.

• Two people were between 71 and 80 years old.

• Four people were between 81 and 90 years old.

Also, eight of the deaths involved people with pre-existing conditions and the remaining five had no pre-existing conditions.

San Mateo County now has 142 coronavirus cases, 25 of which were reported Monday morning, and one death.

At a press conference on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California needs 50,000 hospital beds, up from 20,000, in response to the coronavirus after the state recalibrated its needs based on updated modeling. The increase means the state will seek to identify places to establish an additional 17,000 net new beds to add to its existing stock.

Coronavirus testing

On Monday, March 23, Santa Clara County issued an update on local testing for coronavirus. It has tested 1,044 samples for 647 patients as of Sunday, March 22.

The county noted that its public health laboratory can only run up to 100 tests daily through kits provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The lab is neither able to run tests at the high rates of private, commercial labs nor structured to handle such a volume. Its current focus is to test hospital patients; people living or working in high-risk places, such as long-term care facilities; health care professionals; and first responders.

In light of these limitations, the county has called on large commercial laboratories to report all positive and negative results for COVID-19 tests, plus other key information, according to the update. The details would allow the county to determine which parts of the community are seeing “more intense transmission.”

Read the rest of the statement here.

State parks, beaches ‘soft’ close

Following a weekend of packed beaches despite a state order to shelter at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Newsom ordered parking lots at most state parks and beaches to close. Newsom called the move a “soft closure” to discourage people from overcrowding the open spaces. Park rangers would also enforce the 6-foot-distance rule between people. All campgrounds are closed. Locally, the following parking lots are closed: Año Nuevo and Burleigh Murray state parks; Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park; and Bean Hollow, Cowell Ranch, Gray Whale Cove, Half Moon Bay, Montara, Pescadero, Pomponio and San Gregorio state beaches. A full list of all of the park closures is available here.

Air National Guard arrives

Following Gov. Newsom’s order, members of the California Air National Guard deployed to five counties around the state, including Santa Clara County, to help package and distribute food.

Newsom decided to use the National Guard for food distribution to the needy after nonprofit organizations around the state saw a large decrease in volunteers. Many of those volunteers are traditionally seniors and retired people, and they are among the most vulnerable to having serious complications from the COVID-19 illness and are adhering to the statewide stay-at-home order.

Last week, Newsom activated nearly 500 soldiers with Joint Task Force 115 to support county food banks. Soldiers and air personnel from the California National Guard began supporting food-bank warehouses in Sacramento. On Monday, March 23, the National Guard will send service members to support food banks in Amador, Monterey, Riverside, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties. The personnel will assist at Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, 750 Curtner Ave. in San Jose, in Santa Clara County, according to a statement released Monday evening.

Air personnel from the Fresno-based, 144th Fighter Wing, California Air National Guard, deployed their Medical Detachment 1’s Homeland Response Force to support the California Emergency Medical Services Authority and assist at a medical supply warehouse in Sacramento.

Another 10 personnel from the 144th Flight Wing were sent to Pacific Grove to assist the California Emergency Medical Services with caring for 19 quarantined passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship.

Inmates, deputies confirmed with COVID-19

A county inmate has tested positive for coronavirus, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday. The inmate is a 31-year-old man who was arrested on Friday and booked into the county’s Main Jail in San Jose. While he was getting booked into jail, he reported feeling sick and told deputies that a family member returned home from Europe days earlier, according to a sheriff’s office press release.

Once booked, the man was “masked” and placed under isolation in an infirmary, where he was tested for coronavirus, according to the press release. The results showed a positive reading for COVID-19, medical staff learned on Sunday.

The inmate remains in quarantine and is being monitored. The sheriff’s office notified San Jose police that the initial arresting officer or officers may have been exposed to the disease.

In response, custody medical staff plans to screen new arrestees outside of the jail’s sally port area and health care workers will assess whether they have dry cough, shortness of breath, fever or been exposed to someone with the coronavirus.

Three sheriff’s deputies — two assigned to the patrol division and the other assigned to the custody bureau — have also tested positive for the new coronavirus, the agency announced Monday. Of the three deputies, were confirmed with COVID-19 Sunday and the other on Monday.

Two of the three deputies are under self-quarantine and the other is in stable condition at a hospital.

Telephone town halls

Santa Clara County Public Health Department is partnering with local Congressional leaders to host a telephone town hall on Tuesday, March 24, at 1 p.m. to answer the community’s questions on COVID-19.

The event is a collaboration with Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto; Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose; Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont; and Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley.

The community can join the call when the event begins by calling 855-962-1194. Questions about the event can be made to the Public Health Department at 408-271-8700.

More information on the event can be found here.

The Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System also plans to host a tele-town hall for veterans on March 30 from 6-7 p.m. Those interested in joining the meeting will need to register online at dashboard.teletownhall.us. Registrants will receive a call before the event starts.

Supplying respirators

Foothill College has made respirators from its respiratory therapy program available for the state Health and Human Services Agency to use in response to the pandemic. Of the 12 respirators on its Los Alto Hills campus, two of them are the same ones used at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, according to Dr. Ram Subrahmaniam, the college’s dean of STEM.

PREVIOUS UPDATE: March 21-22

Increasing health care capacity

Santa Clara County is working with local hospitals to prepare for an expected surge in coronavirus patients, County Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center CEO Paul Lorenz said at a press conference on Sunday.

Lorenz said there are approximately 2,500 hospital beds in the county. Roughly 400 of the beds are dedicated to pediatric care and 350 are for critical care, 75% to 80% of which are currently occupied. Approximately 290 additional beds can be converted to an “ICU level of care,” he said.

“If in fact the demand goes beyond our capacity, we are working with the county emergency operations center to come up with a communitywide search plan,” he said. “That plan would include looking at all 2,100 adult beds that we can equip and staff for critically ill patients.”

The Valley Medical Center Foundation is continuing to collect monetary donations online and protective equipment, which can be dropped off beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, March 23, at the foundation’s office on the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center campus, 2400 Clove Drive in San Jose.

Read more from the press conference here.

The county has teamed up with the U.S. Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response to establish a temporary Federal Medical Station at the Santa Clara Convention Center to accommodate up to 250 people, according to a statement issued Saturday. The station will be managed by the federal office to serve patients in need of short-term, subacute care and do not have COVID-19. It will be equipped with beds, supplies and medicines, according to the county.

The state can also increase capacity at clinics, mobile health care units and adult day care facilities as part of its COVID-19 response under an executive order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday.

New COVID-19 cases, deaths

Santa Clara County now has 302 cases of the new coronavirus, 106 of which were announced on Saturday and Sunday. The COVID-19 death toll now stands at 10 with the announcement of two more deaths over the weekend.

Of Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 cases, 108 people are hospitalized; 77 are presumed to have been community transmitted; 75 are close contacts of known cases; 22 are associated with international travel; and 10 people have died, according to the county’s public health department.

The ninth and 10th recorded deaths in the county were women in their 60s and 40s, respectively. Both women died Saturday, March 21. The woman in her 40s was hospitalized Monday, March 16, according to the county. Further information was not provided.

San Mateo County announced 10 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday and seven more on Sunday, bringing its county total to 11. The county currently has one death stemming from the disease.

Menlo fire begins pandemic response unit

The Menlo Park Fire Protection District now has a Pandemic Emergency Response Unit staffed by a two-person team. The unit is tasked with taking calls of suspected COVID-19 cases, according to a press release issued Saturday.

The district recently received seven calls of suspected COVID-19 in one day and expects to see that number go up.

Staff assigned to the unit will utilize the “highest level of Emergency Medical Services” and personal protective equipment. The district said they will aim to minimize contact with whoever may have COVID-19 while on a call to decrease possible exposure to the disease.

PREVIOUS UPDATE: March 20

Santa Clara County now has 196 cases of the new coronavirus, seven of which were announced Friday. The county also reported two more deaths, bringing its total to eight. San Mateo County’s total case count hit the 100 mark on Friday morning.

On Friday afternoon, Santa Clara County reported two more deaths and seven new infections as a result of the coronavirus. The seventh recorded death was an adult male in his 80s who was hospitalized on Tuesday, March 3, and died on Tuesday, March 17. The eighth reported death was an adult male in his 70s.

In San Mateo County, 100 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and one person died from the disease as of Friday, March 20, at 8:57 a.m.

Also on March 20, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order extending the deadline for the official canvass of the March 3 election by 21 days. The certification of election results was initially due by April 2; it will now be by April 23. The change was made because of the difficulties presented by the social distancing order of public health officials in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Despite the extension, Friday’s executive order stated: “Counties are urged to complete activities related to the official canvass according to the deadlines ordinarily imposed by state law, to the extent possible.”

PREVIOUS UPDATES: MARCH 19

The state of California has issued a mandatory, stay-at-home order, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced at a press conference on Thursday evening, March 19. Employees of “critical sectors” are advised to go to work, according to a tweet from Newsom. Businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies and banks will remain open. More information is available on the state’s new website dedicated to coronavirus updates, covid19.ca.gov.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department has reported a total of 189 coronavirus cases, 14 of which were announced on Thursday, March 19.

Of the 189 cases, 70 are presumed community transmitted; 62 people are hospitalized; 18 are associated with international travel; 43 are close contacts of known cases and six people have died, according to the public health department.

In San Mateo County, 89 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and one person died from the disease as of Thursday, March 19, at 10:24 a.m.

Education

Stanford announced Thursday, March 19, that the university doesn’t expect to be able to hold this year’s commencement “in its traditional form” due to the “strong likelihood that prohibitions on large gatherings will remain in place by later this spring.” Classes will also be taught online for all of spring quarter, through June. “We are making the decision in recognition of the seriousness of the global public health challenge in front of us, and we are making it now in order to assist your planning to the greatest extent possible,” Provost Persis Drell said.

The Palo Alto Unified School District released on Thursday answers to a set of frequently asked questions from students and families, related to online learning offerings, teacher availability during school closures, grades and other issues. The district also said it will no longer send out announcements if students are diagnosed with COVID-19. “The County Public Health Department has said we should all operate as though everyone is exposed,” the district said.

Businesses

Tootsie’s at the Stanford Barn in Palo Alto has launched an “adopt a doc and a nurse” menu for people to donate meals to Stanford Hospital staff. People can choose a designated department or the hospital will determine where the food is most needed. To place an order, email catering@tootsiesbarn.com or text Tootsie’s owner Rocco Scordella at 347-633-7132.

Preserves open, with restrictions: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District preserves and trails are open to the public as is allowed during the current shelter-at-home directive but has put new health and safety measures in place, including: restrooms are closed effective Friday, March 20; areas with high use will be intermittently closed without notice to promote safe social distancing; group gathering areas are closed; and group activities are suspended. Preserve visitors are reminded to stay at home if they are sick, and to maintain social distances of at least 6 feet from others.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: March 18

A man in his 60s died from the coronavirus on Tuesday, March 17, marking the sixth death in Santa Clara County, the Public Health Department announced on Wednesday, March 18.

The man had been hospitalized since March 5 and died of the disease 12 days later, the department said in a press release Wednesday morning.

City declares emergency

The East Palo Alto City Council declared a local state of emergency during a meeting on Tuesday, March 17. The declaration allows the city manager to ask Gov. Gavin Newsom to proclaim the city to be in a state of emergency and to request a federal declaration to aid residents with financial aid for losses and emergency repairs.

Under the order, the city manager can also award contracts to repair, alter or improve city facilities without multiple bids and direct staff to roll out measures to respond to the spread of COVID-19. In addition, the city manager has jurisdiction over all public facilities and parks, which includes the ability to change hours of operations, close, or restrict access to public facilities.

The council will vote on additional emergency measures, including an emergency moratorium on evictions and protections for tenants, seniors, children, RV dwellers, small businesses, nonprofits, homeowners and other impacted groups at a later date.

For updates on the city’s response to the coronavirus, visit facebook.com/CityOfEastPaloAlto.

Health organization responds

Sutter Health, which includes the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, has added an online symptom assessment for COVID-19, which builds on its existing medical symptom checker. Palo Alto Medical Foundation and other Sutter Health patients can access the assessment tool through their My Health Online portal.

The platform assesses the patient’s symptoms and gives appropriate care options, from self-care to attending a walk-in clinic to seeking emergency assistance.

Sutter is also collecting test samples for COVID-19 and influenza in high-risk patients. Patients who feel ill should schedule a video visit or call their doctor to receive guidance and see if they meet the criteria for testing.

“It is important for patients to contact us first before visiting a care site, as you need a referral and appointment to get tested,” Sutter said in a statement. “If your symptoms are mild to moderate, you do not need testing. Please stay home to rest, get well and prevent exposure to others.”

Businesses

On March 17, Stanford Shopping Center closed temporarily to comply with the shelter-at-home order, stating: “We must all adhere strictly to these governmental orders — these are not merely advice or guidance, but instead mandatory legal requirements.” Some restaurants at the mall remain open for takeout and/or delivery.

Grocery stores in Palo Alto have made special accommodations for seniors, who public health officials say face a higher risk for the coronavirus, amid the pandemic.

The downtown Whole Foods Market at 774 Emerson St. will exclusively service customers ages 60 and older from 8-9 a.m. (The store has also adjusted its hours to 9 a.m.-8 p.m.) The company also plans to restock shelves and sanitize surfaces after closing each day.

Piazza’s Fine Foods at 3922 Middlefield Road at the Charleston Shopping Center will give seniors priority checkout from 7-8 a.m. daily. The store observed many seniors shopped during the store’s first hours of operation, according to an Instagram post by the Piazza family.

“As with other matters during the current virus crisis, developments are fluid and we are prepared to make proper adjustments immediately as needed,” the post states.

Piazza’s recently adjusted its hours, which are now from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and has dedicated the last hour for “comprehensive cleaning, sanitizing and restocking of shelves.”

In a tweet, Country Sun Natural Foods at 440 California Ave. announced that seniors will be given special access to its store on Wednesdays from 8-10 a.m. The market has also reduced its hours to 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

On Wednesday, Safeway announced that it would be reserving early-morning shopping hours for seniors and other vulnerable populations. Though the accommodations may change for each store, the company said in a social media post that all locations will designate 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays for seniors and at-risk community members, including pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems.

Those seeking to order online for pickup or delivery from Safeway may be faced with waits as long as one week as stores scramble to restock popular items after a surge of panic buying starting this month.

There are 10 Safeway locations on the Midpeninsula in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Los Altos, Mountain View, Woodside and Los Altos.

Raley’s, the parent company operating the Nob Hill Foods on Grant Road in Mountain View, announced a long list of accommodations for seniors rolling out starting this week. Starting Thursday, March 19, the store will offer curbside pick-up for pharmacy prescriptions, though customers are expected to call and notify pharmacy staff ahead of time. The store will also have more time slots available for pickup and delivery for groceries starting Sunday.

Nob Hill is also expected to launch on Saturday a new program called “Senior Essential Bags,” essentially pre-bagged groceries that will be available for curbside pickup at a discounted price for customers ages 65 and older or are otherwise considered at-risk. The company will have a $20 bag with fruit and pantry staples and a $35 bag with cooked, ready-to-eat meals.

“We call upon our customers to respect the intended purpose of this program, which is to serve seniors or those at risk,” according to a statement released by the company.

The Rose International Market on Castro Street and El Camino Real in Mountain View is taking precautions amid concerns over the spread of COVID-19, but has not designated any store hours specifically for seniors.

Ava’s Downtown Market & Deli in Mountain View is considering adjustments to its store schedule to accommodate at-risk customers starting Friday, store management said Thursday. The market does not have a large population of senior clients, they said. The Poke Bar inside the store has temporarily closed down because of the reduced foot traffic into the store, management said.

Bianchini’s Market, which runs at Portola Valley store, will be open from 9-10 a.m. daily for people ages 65 and older, expectant mothers and community members with disabilities. The market has adjusted its operating hours to 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

Roberts Market has designated a daily seniors shopping time from 9:30-10 a.m. at its Woodside store.

Target has also set aside the first hour of shopping on Wednesdays to “vulnerable guests,” including seniors and people with underlying health conditions, according to a message from Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell. The company has locations in East Palo Alto and Mountain View.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: March 17

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department has reported a total of 175 coronavirus cases as of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17.

Of the 175 cases, 70 are presumed community transmitted; 56 people are hospitalized; 18 are associated with international travel; 38 are close contacts of known cases and five people have died, according to the public health department.

The fifth death from COVID-19 was a man in his 50s. He was hospitalized on March 9 and died earlier in the day on Tuesday, according to the department.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to take a hit on daily life on the Midpeninsula, including in Palo Alto, where the City Council extended its state of emergency declaration by 60 days.

On Wednesday, March 18, at 1 p.m., the city of Palo Alto plans to roll out a Community Support Call Center where residents and businesses can find information related to the coronavirus crisis on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Residents can call the center at 650-272-3181.

The city has also created utility rate relief programs for residences and businesses. Palo Alto Utilities customers can expect a temporary ban on service shut-offs for not paying a bill, and extended repayment plans. The city has also expanded medical rate and financial rate assistance programs to help customers in financial hardship with a 25% discount on gas and electricity charges and 20% on storm drain charges, if eligible. More information on the programs can be found at cityofpaloalto.org. The city currently has a program that offers one-time bill assistance supported through customer donations. More details about that program can be found here.

The public health crisis has forced numerous operational changes at City Hall, however, the city will continue to stream meetings through the Midpeninsula Media Center. The Palo Alto-based company will also broadcast Palo Alto Board of Education meetings and other public meetings with its partner cities, according to Midpen Media CEO Keri Stokstad.

“Continuing this coverage is especially crucial for our cable viewers that depend on their local channels for information from their city representatives,” Stokstad told the Weekly in an email.

The center has closed classes, events and equipment reservations, among other nonessential functions.

On Tuesday, March 17, Palo Alto Unified reported a Fletcher Middle School student has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Local residents have raised concerns about construction work continuing despite a shelter in place order that went into effect at midnight Tuesday. The order allows for work related to “Essential Infrastructure,” such as public works construction and housing construction.

Local playgrounds

Midpeninsula cities have advised families to keep children away from playgrounds, reinforcing a public health order issued by local leaders to prevent COVID-19 from spreading to other community members.

In an email issue Tuesday, the Magical Bridge Playground called on the public to stay away from its playground in Palo Alto and other public playgrounds in the Bay Area.

“While this breaks our hearts, we know these necessary steps are needed to stop the spread of the Covid-19,” the email states.

East Palo Alto’s parks, in addition to restrooms at those sites, remain open, but playgrounds have been shut down through April 7, according to a press release.

Menlo Park has also suspended services at its playgrounds, which falls under the list of the city’s closed buildings and facilities in response to the pandemic, according to an email sent Monday morning. Parks will stay open, but organized or team activities have been banned.

Congresswoman taking questions

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, is holding tele-town hall meetings to provide an update on Congress’ actions in response to the new coronavirus and to answer questions. The meetings will be held on Wednesday, March 18, from 2:55-3:55 p.m. and Thursday, March 19, from 4:15-5:15 p.m.

“During these challenging and uncertain times, it’s essential for me to hear from you directly, and ensure that you and your loved ones have the information you need to stay safe and healthy,” Eshoo said in a statement.

Anyone interested in participating in the meetings can sign up here. Constituents can also register by texting “REPANNAESHOO” to 833-898-5483.

Jewish Family and Children’s Services, which runs a center in Palo Alto, remains open with staff functioning as first responders, Executive Director Anita Friedman said in a statement on Tuesday, March 17. The organization is offering specific services for seniors, adults, families and parents during the COVID-19 crisis through its action alert program.

All JFCS clinics and group social programs have been canceled. Instead, social work and medical staff are serving every client in their own home, Friedman said. Clients and patients receiving services can call the JFCS Bay Area Critical Help Line at 415-449-3700. The agency is continuing to provide home care to its older adult clients and patients and deliver cooked meals and groceries. It has implemented a “Safe At Home Program” to closely monitor high-risk and lone elderly and disabled clients.

Emergency counseling is available for people who need help coping with the crisis. Online workshops are available to help parents understand how to help their children with the added anxiety that they may be experiencing. Parents can also find tips on supporting children here and how to help children manage stress here.

JFCS is also asking for donations to its Community Emergency Fund, which has a $500,000 matching grant. In addition, volunteers are needed for several activities, including making phone calls to isolated, homebound seniors and purchasing and delivering groceries (such as Passover care packages) to Holocaust survivors, frail seniors and homebound disabled adults. Details on services, volunteer opportunities and making donations can be found here.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: March 16

Residents of six Bay Area counties, including Santa Clara and San Mateo, are being ordered to stay at home for all but “essential reasons” for the next three weeks starting at 12:01 a.m., Tuesday, March 17, as the cases of COVID-19 continue to rise.

The order makes exceptions for people to leave their homes for work related to health care, infrastructure and “essential activities,” such as gathering necessary supplies (for example, canned foods, dry goods and pet supplies).

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department has confirmed 24 additional cases of COVID-19 virus, totaling 138 as of 5 p.m. on March 15. Of those, 63 are presumed community transmitted; 52 people are hospitalized; 17 are associated with international travel; 30 are close contacts of known cases and two people have died, the health department announced on Monday afternoon. In San Mateo County, 41 people have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Monday, and the county announced its first death due to the coronavirus.

Two more people have died from COVID-19 infections, bringing the total to four within Santa Clara County, county public health officials said on Monday afternoon, March 16. Two men — a man in his 50s and one in his 80s — died on March 15. The man in his 50s was hospitalized beginning March 12; the older man entered the hospital on March 7.

San Mateo County has issued guidance regarding its county “shelter-in-place” order for COVID-19: smcgov.org/shelter-place-faqs.

Santa Clara County Superior Court

The clerk’s office will be closed to the public. Potential jurors scheduled to appear March 16-30 for service are excused and mustn’t arrive at court. Empaneled jurors already in trial will receive instruction on a case-by-case basis. The court strongly encourages social distancing and using CourtCall (1-888-88-COURT) to appear telephonically whenever possible.

Only the following essential functions will go forward during this time: Criminal Courthouse Hall of Justice: In-custody arraignments including: misdemeanors, felonies, domestic violence and parole violations. In- and out-of-custody family violence arraignments, time not waived preliminary hearings and collaborative courts parole violations.

Family Justice Center Courthouse: Domestic violence restraining orders; juvenile dependency detentions; mental health emergency review.

Civil Courthouse Downtown Superior Courthouse: Civil harassment restraining orders; mental health conservatorships; conservatorship and elder abuse; writ temporary restraining orders.

Juvenile Justice: Juvenile detentions.

To check the status of continued matters visit here.

Coronavirus testing

Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has launched an online tool to help screen patients for COVID-19 testing. The tool, called Project Baseline, triages people who are concerned about their COVID-19 risk and sends them to testing sites if they fit criteria based on their symptoms, according to an announcement by the company.

The pilot program is available to residents of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties who can take the screener survey starting Monday, March 16.

To use the screening tool, visit projectbaseline.com.

Local schools respond

In light of school closures, announced on Friday, March 13, both the Palo Alto Unified and Ravenswood City school districts are providing free meals for all students at pick-up sites during the school closures. More information about the Palo Alto Unified meals and pick-up locations can be found here and Ravenswood, here.

The Ravenswood Education Foundation has launched an emergency fund to provide financial relief related to the school closures for families, teachers and staff in the Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto. The district is working to identify needs for the funds, including food access and distribution; support with rent, bills and groceries; and distance learning.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: March 14-15

New cases of COVID-19

In Santa Clara County, which has the most cases of any county in California, the number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 jumped from 79 to 114 between Friday and Sunday. Of those, two people have died, 48 are hospitalized; 52 cases were a result of community transmission.

San Mateo County reported its first death due the coronavirus this weekend, an older adult with underlying medical conditions. The county did not release further information. In San Mateo County, 31 people have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Sunday, March 15. The number of cases stood at 20 on Friday.

State of California

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced new state restrictions in a Sunday press conference, including home isolation of everyone in the state over age 65, closure of all bars, wineries and nightclubs and requiring restaurants to reduce their occupancy by half. Newsom also said that 51% of all California school districts have closed and that 80-85% of all students statewide will no longer be in class starting Monday, March 16.

“These are profoundly significant steps in real time and they’re significant steps up from two days ago,” Newsom said. “We’re guided deeply not by anxiety, not by fear but a very pragmatic response to meet this moment without creating other unintended consequences.”

City of Palo Alto

The City of Palo Alto activated its emergency operations center on Sunday, March 15, and is launching a community support call center early this week. Mayor Adrian Fine is also convening a meeting of the Citizen Corps Council, which provides coordination between government and community institutions including Stanford University and Healthcare, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto Unified School District, as well as business and volunteer organizations.

Palo Alto will keep all libraries and community centers closed starting Saturday in response to the coronavirus and recent guidance from Santa Clara County, the city announced Friday evening. As of Friday, all in-person library programs and services in Mountain View have been canceled or postponed through April 6.

The city, which had already canceled more than 30 events, is also instituting a hiring freeze, City Manager Ed Shikada announced Friday.

In addition to libraries, the city will keep the Palo Alto Art Center, the Mitchell Park Community Center, the Lucie Stern Community Center, the Junior Museum and Zoo, the Children’s Theatre and Rinconada Pool closed as of Saturday. The Palo Alto Animal Shelter will also be closed and all events at programs at Cubberley Community Center will be suspended.

Tenants at Cubberley may modify or suspend their activities in accordance with county guidance, the city announced, referring to the county’s Friday order banning all events with more than 100 people and requiring precautionary measures for all events with more than 35 people.

Stanford Health Care

Stanford Health Care announced on Sunday, March 15, that drive-through appointments for Stanford Medicine’s COVID-19 test are now available for patients who have been referred by their medical providers. Patients remain in their cars for the tests, which take a few minutes and are administered by a physician, advanced practice provider or nurse outfitted in protective clothing, including a gown, goggles, mask and gloves, Stanford Health Care said. Patients will be notified of their COVID-19 test results within 24 hours; if the result is positive, their doctors will make sure they get appropriate care, which can range from hospitalization for people showing severe symptoms to telemedicine visits and self-quarantine for those with mild cases. The drive-through tests are available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, at Express Care’s Hoover Pavilion location in Palo Alto. Patients can call 650-498-9000 to speak with a nurse who will assess the next step for their care.

Businesses

Safeway supermarkets in Palo Alto, Mountain View and Menlo Park have shortened their hours to enable staff to restock the shelves and clean the stores, according to signs posted on the doors and phone recordings. The Safeways are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. with the following exceptions, which are open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.: Menlo Park at 525 El Camino Real; Mountain View at 645 San Antonio Road.

Mass transit

Caltrain is reducing its weekday service “in response to a significant decline in ridership stemming from efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.” The changes are effective Tuesday, March 17.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), the multi-billion dollar agency that plans and operates the county’s road and transit network, announced today, March 14, that starting on Monday, March 16, it will reduce capacity on its light rail vehicles, running one-car trains instead of two- and three-car trains. It will also suspend its school-trip service for three weeks in light of school closures.

Churches

Bishop Oscar Cantu asked all parishes, missions and chapels in the Diocese of San José to suspend public masses beginning today, March 14, until further notice. There are diocese churches in Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos.

San Mateo County

The San Mateo County health department announced Saturday evening that it is banning gatherings of more than 50 people for three weeks starting on Sunday. The order also advises against get togethers of more than 10 people. This amends its Thursday order, which barred all gatherings larger than 250 people starting on Friday.

The health department issued an order on Friday to close all schools in the county for three weeks starting Monday.

San Mateo County Libraries announced on Friday that all of its library branches would close starting Monday until March 31.

On Friday, the San Mateo County Probation Department suspended visitation at the Youth Services Center – Juvenile Hall and the Margaret J. Kemp Camp (Camp Kemp) facilities until further notice to curb the spread of the virus.

San Mateo County and Parks will stay open, but the county is taking immediate protective actions, county officials said Friday. Visitors will pay at designated pay stations rather than at gate house; all staff and docent-led events, including hikes and tours, are canceled through March; the Bicycle Sunday event is canceled through March and the Parks department’s main office in Redwood City and Coyote Point Marina office will be closed to the public indefinitely.

Menlo Park declared a local state of emergency on Thursday, closing City Hall and other facilities. Atherton followed suit on Friday, canceling events and scaling back public meetings.

Nonprofits and events

Organizations are also announcing temporary closures. In Palo Alto, the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center will close for at least two weeks starting Sunday night, March 15, according to a March 13 email from CEO Zack Bodner.

Preschool and Club J will be closed as well. However, he wrote, “In the coming days, we will be working to find creative ways to keep connecting people with each other, whether that is through distance learning or exercise broadcasts or check-ins with isolated people in our community.”

There has not been any confirmed case of COVID-19 at the JCC, the email stated.

“At this time, we will not be able to issue refunds for March membership or tuition,” Bodner wrote.

The annual Stanford Powwow, which takes place on Mother’s Day weekend, has also been canceled, organizers said on their website.

On Thursday, Little House Activity Center and the Rosener House Adult Care center, two Menlo Park programs that cater to seniors, will be closed as of the end of the day Friday for two weeks.

For a look at how the public health emergency has affected arts organizations, go here .

PREVIOUS UPDATES: March 13

Public health

A second person in Santa Clara County has died of COVID-19, the Santa Clara Public Health Department announced on March 13. The woman was in her 80s, and she was hospitalized on March 9. The department did not include any information on the woman’s city of residence. It also did not make a spokesperson available to the media.

She was among the latest cases of COVID-19 announced by the department. There are 79 cases as of March 13, which accounts for more than a quarter of the cases in the state, which has 277, including four deaths.

Santa Clara County Public Health officials on March 13 ordered all public schools to close] for three weeks, starting Monday, March 16, through April 3. Palo Alto schools, Mountain View and Los Altos schools will be closed for one month since spring break is scheduled to start on April 4. San Mateo County health officials also directed their county’s schools to close.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department also banned all gatherings of 100 persons or more.

Restaurants in Santa Clara County were also given new restrictions on March 13 to reduce spread of the novel coronavirus, including specific guidance on intensive cleaning, personal hygiene and options for delivery of foods.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: March 12

Cities respond

On March 12, both Palo Alto and Mountain View declared states of emergency. Emergency declarations allow local jurisdictions to activate their emergency plans and become eligible for reimbursements from federal and state governments.

East Palo Alto also announced several steps it would be taking to minimize the spread of the virus, including making arrangements for delivery of meals for senior citizens, increasing its cleaning of public areas under the city’s jurisdiction and hiring a contractor to supplement the cleaning efforts.

The city also stated it will close the Senior Center Management for one week, a decision that was made by agreement with the facility, Mayor Regina Wallace-Jones said. City officials are participating in daily briefings with regional emergency management staff and minimizing public gatherings that have more than 50 attendees and that may include vulnerable populations. These gatherings are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis, according to the announcement.

Wallace-Jones urged residents to take seriously the guidelines that have been provided to the community by the San Mateo County Health Department.

“As the medical experts guiding our county through this crisis, their advice is science based and intended to save lives,” Wallace-Jones wrote. “This is not the time to question the practices they have recommended, as not doing so may put your health at risk or illness or even death.”

East Palo Alto is also monitoring developments in the coronavirus outbreak and is communicating with San Mateo County leaders and the CDC. East Palo Alto residents can find more information from their city and county at smchealth.org.

Local schools respond

On March 12, the Palo Alto Board of Education decided that it will not close schools in the face of the coronavirus but has decided to offer online-learning options to families who wish their children to remain at home. (This decision was reversed the next day, following county orders.)

Tech companies respond

Read the latest update on how local tech companies and their employees are impacted by the coronavirus: Local tech companies’ best defense against the coronavirus — work from home

State of California responds

California could have thousands of more test kits and multiple new laboratories up and running to detect the virus associated with the COVID-19 infection as soon as next week, Gov. Gavin Newson said during a Thursday press conference. Only 48 hours ago, Santa Clara County officials said their county laboratory could only process 30 to 40 tests per day, and Stanford University’s laboratory, which has a new FDA-approved test, could only run 80 to 100 tests per day.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: March 11

SCC Public Health

On Wednesday, March 11, the White House coronavirus task force announced 30-day “mitigation strategies” for Santa Clara County. The strategies, the task force announced, are “designed to address the effects of COVID-19 on areas that are experiencing community spread.” The group also released a separate set of strategies for Seattle-King, Pierce and Snohomish counties in Washington state, which as of Wednesday has the most cases in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The plan for Santa Clara County includes strategies for individuals, schools, senior facilities, workplaces and community- and faith-based organizations. Individuals are being advised to monitor local information, ensure a 30-day supply of medicine and wash their hands. Those at risk of severe illness should stay at home and avoid gatherings with 10 or more people.

Schools are advised to arrange distance learning and e-learning for students at risk of severe illness. They are also asked to adopt “social distancing” measures by canceling large gatherings, limiting interschool interactions and altering schedules to reduce mixing, possibly by staggering recess times. Other measures include extending spring breaks, canceling all school-associated congregations and conducting regular health checks.

The task force recommends assisted-living and senior-living facilities to undertake “social distancing” measures and limiting programs with external staff. They should also consider suspending visitor access, implementing short-term closures as needed for cleaning and contact tracing and opting for longer-term closure or quarantine of facilities until the situation is resolved. The group recommends facilities screen temperature and respiratory symptoms of attendees and staff. Staff should wear masks and wash hands before entering and after existing rooms of inhabitants.

Workplaces are asked to encourage staff to telework, expand sick leave policies, eliminate large work-related gatherings and cancel nonessential work travel as well as work-sponsored conferences. Community- and faith-based organizations are advised to cancel large gatherings, as well as professional and college sporting events. Those organizations that serve high-risk communities are asked to cancel gatherings of more than 10 people and to stagger access to support services.

According to the task force’s announcement, the mitigation strategies are recommended for 30 days, after which time local and state public health officials, in coordination with CDC, will reassess the individual community situations.

Hours after the strategies were released, Santa Clara County issued a statement that said it was “pleased” the White House adopted many of the local Public Health Department’s previously issued recommendations. At the same time, the county also called on local residents to adhere to the county’s ban on events with 1,000 people or more that went into effect Wednesday and cancel large events, including but not limited to ones expected to bring 250 people or more.

“We continue to work in partnership with public health experts at the CDC, the state of California, and other significantly impacted communities to issue guidance to the public,” according to the statement. “We will continue to make decisions based on the best evidence available, locally relevant data on COVID-19, and the expertise of our public health officials.”

San Mateo County update

As of Wednesday, March 11, San Mateo County has reported 15 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The county issued a statement that signaled an aggressive approach to minimizing the risk of contracting coronavirus.

Stanford University responds

Stanford University announced on March 11 two new confirmed coronavirus cases, including one in Stanford Medicine as well as one on the main campus. A School of Medicine faculty member also tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

Also on March 11, Stanford University Athletics closed upcoming competitions to the public through May 15. The action is in accordance with a Santa Clara County order banning events expected bring to 1,000 people or more. Read more here.

State of California responds

On March 11, California public health officials stated that non-essential gatherings of 250 or more people should be postponed or canceled until the end of March. At smaller events, attendees should keep six feet between themselves.

“Changing our actions for a short period of time will save the life of one or more people you know,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “That’s the choice before us. Each of us has extraordinary power to slow the spread of this disease.” The full public health policy is posted here.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: March 10

San Mateo County update

San Mateo County has opened a call center to take questions from residents with nonmedical questions about novel coronavirus and declared a state of emergency on March 10.

SCC Public Health response

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on March 10 unanimously voted to extend the county’s health emergency in its effort to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which has killed one person and infected 44 others over the past six weeks.

The supervisors heard from several agency heads and elected officials, including county Chief Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody, Sheriff Laurie Smith and representatives from the Social Services Agency, Emergency Medical Services, Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), Office of Supportive Housing, Office of Education, the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System and others.

“It’s all hands on deck. We each have a role to play,” Cody told the supervisors.

“This is a new virus and no one has immunity to it, so it’s going to spread,” she said. The goal now is to slow the virus down so that large waves of ill people aren’t overwhelming the health system, she said.

The various departments are focusing on identifying people in the most vulnerable populations who might have the virus and could spread the illness within their communities, including the homeless, prisoners in county jails and the elderly, particularly those living in senior care facilities. At the same time, they want to identify ways to protect workers who don’t have health insurance and might be laid off so they can still be paid, receive medical care and keep their housing.

Multiple agencies said they are ramping up their deep cleaning efforts. VTA Chief of System, Safety and Security Angelique Galleda said the transportation agency, which operates the county’s bus and light-rail systems, is looking to do advanced cleaning on buses, ticket-vending machines and other surfaces where riders make contact and is adding messaging on light-rail platforms and buses with tips on how people can help prevent spreading the virus.

Sharon Henry, head of Envision Integrated Delivery’s American Medical Response ambulance services, which operates the county’s ambulance system, said portable fogging units can spray the entire interior of an ambulance with disinfectant and kill all germs, including the coronavirus, within minutes.

Smith said there are no active or suspected COVID-19 cases in Santa Clara County jail facilities, but the inmate population remains at high risk because it is a closed facility. Her office is looking for ways to limit the number of people housed in the facilities, including asking the court to postpone sentencing schedules and to find alternatives such as electronic monitoring for people who are criminally low risk. The department wants to establish isolated and quarantined areas in the jails if there is an outbreak, she said. They are also limiting who can come into the jails, suspending classes and having visits through windows rather than personal-contact visits, she said.

Churches and nonprofits

On Monday, March 10, a Palo Alto Church reported that a person with COVID-19 had been in a classroom at the Cowper Street church, and a relative of the person had been on campus on March 7. Faith communities are reporting the cancellation of in-person services and other campus activities, turning to livestreaming and social media to continue services to their members.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: March 9

Public Health response

Santa Clara County issued its first mandatory, legal order in response to the new coronavirus outbreak: banning all events of 1,000 people or more starting this Wednesday, March 11, at midnight. The ban will remain in place until March 31, County Counsel James Williams said during a press conference at the sheriff’s office’s headquarters in San Jose on Monday, March 9.

The emergency order, which was issued by Dr. Sara Cody, would make it illegal to hold any such large gathering. The rule will be enforced by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and police departments in individual cities. Law enforcement agencies will have discretion on how to enforce the order, Williams said.

The order, which was made under state and county health and safety ordinances, does not include airports or shopping malls, where people are in transit and are not likely to be close together. Schools are also not mandated for closure.

Twenty-one of the county’s COVID-19 cases were transmitted within the community, Cody said Monday. A large proportion of those cases are hospitalized.

As more tests take place through commercial laboratories, Cody said she expects to see a smaller number of hospitalized cases in relation to a larger number of people who test positive for the infection.

Cody said her department is carefully following data on the illness and made the decision to cancel events after seeing an uptick in cases over the last five days.

“It was a tipping point for us,” she said.

First COVID-19 death

The order comes on the heels of the county’s first fatality from the virus, which occurred on Monday morning, March 9, when a woman who had been under treatment at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View for several weeks succumbed to COVID-19, according to the Public Health Department.

The woman, who was the county’s third case reported on Feb. 28, was in her 60s; her name has not been released to the public. She was the first case in the county to contract COVID-19 without recently traveling out of the country or coming into contact with a person carrying the disease. Cody said the woman had underlying health conditions but did not specify the nature of those conditions.

The news is a “tragic development,” the department said in a statement. New cases have been announced every day this week: Six on March 9, five on March 8, eight on March 7. The department did not provide further information on these new cases. Over Twitter, the department has said that it’s “not unexpected to have more cases” and that the cases are currently under investigation.

The county is also looking to provide supportive housing and shelter to homeless persons who need to self-isolate, County Executive Jeffrey Smith said during the March 9 press conference.

City of Palo Alto response

On Monday, March 9, the city of Palo Alto announced more than 30 events were modified or canceled through the end of the month in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The city has also made operational changes, including supplying protective gear for field staff and setting up more hand sanitizer stations.

“The city anticipates more details to be released later this week on longer-term planning and potential service delivery modifications,” according to an announcement from City Manager Ed Shikada’s office.

Nonprofits’ response

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation, based in Mountain View, has set up a regional response fund to support organizations that are leading public health and housing efforts in each Bay Area county. In Santa Clara County, funds will go to Destination: Home, a public-private partnership which will provide financial resources and help to people at risk of homelessness if coronavirus-related disruptions worsen. In San Mateo County, funds will go to support the county’s core service agencies, which provide emergency housing and financial assistance for rent, mortgage, utilities, medical and transportation costs for people who risk homelessness due to hardships related to the new coronavirus outbreak. More information is available here.

Tech companies respond

On Monday, March 9, NASA Ames Research Center required employees work from home after learning a day earlier that one of its employees tested positive for the new coronavirus.

“The safety of our employees and their families is our top priority. Any decisions we have made, or will make, is with the safety of our workforce in mind,” according to a NASA Ames statement.

Business has remained mostly normal at cloud infrastructure company VMware. The tech giant was informed last week by one of its employees that their spouse had contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, the Palo Alto-based company said in an email to the Weekly on Monday, March 9.

The employee, who is in self-isolation for 14 days, and their spouse have not shown symptoms of the new coronavirus. The company reopened the office the employee worked in on Monday morning, March 9, after a temporary closure that started at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, for the company to conduct a deep clean and disinfection of the building.

“Since this is a secondary contact situation, there is minimal risk of contagion based on guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control,” the company said. “Our Palo Alto campus and all other buildings remain open. However, any employee who would prefer to work from home is welcome to do so.”

PREVIOUS UPDATES: March 4-8

Stanford University update

On Thursday, March 5, Stanford University announced it was treating a “few” patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.

A community message by Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne didn’t specify how many patients are receiving care through Stanford Medicine but said staff following reporting regulations by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and Santa Clara County.

Stanford has an emergency operations team assessing the community’s risk and advising the university on ways to respond to the evolving situation, Tessier-Lavigne said. Stanford Health Care has developed a new diagnostic test approved by the Food and Drug Administration that could offer results in 12 to 24 hours.

VA Hospital treats patient

The Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System’s Palo Alto hospital confirmed that it is caring for a veteran who has tested positive for the disease and was transferred to the facility from another California county.

Due to privacy laws, Chief Communication Manager Armenthis Lester could not release information regarding the patient’s age, gender or condition.

The patient is in isolation and under the care of staff trained in the latest treatment guidelines provided by the CDC. Staff members are also utilizing personal protective equipment and infection control techniques. The VA is preparing to receive other former service members diagnosed with the virus and has set aside a portion of the campus, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie confirmed during his testimony on Capitol Hill on March 4.

“We prepared a swath, a section of our Palo Alto campus to receive veterans who have this virus. We set it up for that, and that veteran is being taken care of there,” Wilkie told lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee.

“(The) VA is screening veterans and staff who present with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath who meet the CDC criteria for evaluation of COVID-19 infection,” Lester said.

New cases confirmed

Six COVID-19 cases announced March 5 involved three women and three men, according to Santa Clara County Counsel James Williams, who also serves as director of the county’s Emergency Operations Center. Of the six people, four have self-isolated at home and were contacts of other known cases; two others have been hospitalized. Many of the cases have mild symptoms or have shown no symptoms, which is consistent with other cases around the globe, he added.

Four cases announced March 6 are not related to each other, according to a statement by the department. One of the cases is a man who is a household contact of a previous county case. The second is a female who is hospitalized. The third is a male who recently traveled to India and has been hospitalized. The fourth case is a male who has isolated himself at home.

The department is looking into how the second and fourth cases might have contracted the illness.

“The Public Health Department will continue to identify anyone who has come into contact with these cases,” staff said in a statement. “The department also will be conducting community surveillance to determine the extent of possible disease spread in our community.”

The statement did not specify the protocols or extent of the surveillance.

The first two cases reported in January involved travelers who arrived in the county from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the viral disease that has since been on lockdown. Though both patients had mild symptoms and did not require hospitalization, they remain in quarantine, according to public health staff. The first case has recovered, the department announced Feb. 20.

SCC Public Health responds

Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody at a March 6 press conference announced new guidance for county businesses and residents. Businesses have been urged to cancel nonessential travel and not require doctors notes from employees who are sick to alleviate the workload of already burdened medical providers.

New recommendations for businesses include expanding telecommuting options and staggering start and end times for workdays to minimize close contact between employees. The space between their contact should be no less than 3 feet apart, she added.

As it has in the past, county leaders at the press conference urged that large gatherings such as sporting events and conferences should be canceled. People who are most at risk due to pre-existing conditions or who are over the age of 50 should not attend large gatherings, she said.

Worldwide and in the U.S., there have not been many cases of children who have the disease, she said. Currently, county health leaders are not recommending school closures. The county will review that recommendation on a case-by-case basis if staff members or others in the school community are confirmed to have the coronavirus, she said.

“As much as possible, we really want children to go along with their lives and to continue their education that’s so important for them,” she said.

School districts should carefully consider the costs of benefits of closing their campuses, which has the potential to have a large impact, particularly for employed parents and their workplaces, she added.

Noting the recent hoarding of essentials at the Mountain View Costco and other locations, Cindy Chavez, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, urged people not to panic.

“If any of you’ve been to a Costco lately you’ll know that … we’re teetering on the brink of not being calm and not being thoughtful. We want to make sure we’re not hoarding goods that should be used for medical purposes and we’re really being mindful that we are part of a community,” she said at the press conference.

Local schools respond

On Friday, March 6, a student and staff members at the Menlo Park City School District were asked to stay home after learning they may have been exposed to the coronavirus.

Tech companies respond

Menlo Park-based Facebook is following through on the county’s guidance by recommending a large portion of its workforce to begin working from home starting Friday, March 6.

Cities keep watch

As of Sunday, March 8, there were no confirmed local cases of the coronavirus in Palo Alto, City Manager Ed Shikada said in an email. The VA Palo Alto is caring for a patient who was transferred from another California county and is in isolation. The city is continuing to monitor reports of exposures to the disease.

Employees and community are advised to stay home if they are sick and alert city managers “of any unusual circumstances that could indicate exposure.”

“We’re on top of it as much as any agency can be, recognizing there are unknowns and many possible scenarios ahead of us,” Shikada said.

The city also plans to prioritize hygiene at upcoming city events and is conducting a review of its “operational contingency plans.”

City leaders have re-emphasized hygienic practices during the flu season and special protocols to its police officers and firefighters. Palo Alto is also maintaining communication with the county, school district, Stanford University and other agencies.

The city has created a webpage that will be regularly updated with information on the coronavirus and local response to the outbreak at cityofpaloalto.org.

PREVIOUS UPDATES: Feb. 28-March 4

New cases confirmed in SCC

The number of known cases of the coronavirus has steadily increased within the county since Feb. 28, when there were only two. On that day, the county’s Public Health Department reported a new case — an older woman who was hospitalized for a respiratory illness and has chronic health conditions. (She died from the disease on March 9.)

On Feb. 29, the county reported another case — a woman who is a “household contact” of the case reported Feb. 28. She has isolated herself at home, the county reported. Neither woman had recently traveled nor knowingly come into contact with someone who had recently traveled — a strong indication that the virus is now spreading throughout the community, according to the department.

On March 1, the Public Health Department confirmed three more cases of the coronavirus. One case involves an adult woman who concurrently has chronic health conditions, according to public health staff. An investigation into her case is ongoing, the department said in a statement.

The two other cases involve a couple, a husband with chronic health conditions and his wife, who recently traveled to Egypt. All three people are currently being hospitalized for the disease.

Two other cases reported on March 2 were two men who have isolated themselves at home. One man is a “household contact” of a confirmed case in another county. The other man is a “household contact” of a previous case in Santa Clara County.

Two more cases involving a woman and man currently in the hospital were reported on March 3. They remain under investigation to determine the source of transmission, according to the county Public Health Department. No information regarding age or condition of the patients was released during a press conference Tuesday at the Santa Clara County Emergency Operations Center.

The county announced an additional two cases on March 4. One case is a man currently hospitalized and currently under investigation to determine how he was exposed to the virus. Two more cases are both men who “are close contacts of an existing case,” according to the county. The pair are isolated at home.

SCC Public Health response

On Friday, Feb. 28, county Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said the county has implemented isolation and quarantine in response to the reported cases over the past five weeks but is taking further actions.

The county’s public health lab has testing kits from the CDC, she said at a press conference in San Jose. The county’s emergency operations center is getting support from assistance teams from the California Department of Public Health and the CDC.

The Public Health Department encourages the public to take proactive measures to slow down the spread of the disease. Staff recommend people frequently wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after touching surfaces such as doorknobs, elevator buttons, handrails and countertops. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer is also recommended if hand-washing is not available. Officials also instruct the public to cough into a tissue or their elbow and avoid touching their faces.

The best current evidence shows that people are at higher risk for the coronavirus if they are ages 50 or older, Dr. Sara Cody, the county’s public health officer, said at a March 3 press conference.

The risk of infection and its severity accelerates with age, so someone who is 60 years old is more vulnerable to the illness than someone who is 50, and someone 70 years old is at greater risk for severe infection than someone who is 60. Persons ages 80 and above are at the greatest risk.

People with underlying medical conditions are also at greater risk. These include: cardiovascular disease, heart disease, diabetes, chronic lung conditions, cancer and compromised immune systems. Persons with these conditions should avoid large gatherings such as concerts, parades and sporting events. Organizations serving seniors are recommended to cancel large gatherings, such as bingo games and movie screenings, and to clean all surfaces with disinfectants including phones, keyboards, tablets and door handles.

The recommendations do not include avoiding office environments or grocery stores where people do not typically gather tightly together.

The county Public Health Department is publishing updates on local cases at sccgov.org.

Local schools respond

Concerns over the disease have climbed at Palo Alto Unified School District, which sent home two students on Friday, Feb. 28, after learning their parent had been exposed to the disease. The students attend Palo Alto High School and JLS Middle School, Superintendent Don Austin said.

A team has formed at the district to evaluate the situation and provide information once it’s available, Austin said in his Feb. 28 message to parents.

The district learned the parent was reportedly in “public proximity to an infected person” but that “there is no indication of infection at this time,” Lana Conaway, the district’s assistant superintendent of equity and student affairs, said on Feb. 28.

She encouraged parents and students to wash their hands often and to stay home if they have any symptoms, including fever or respiratory distress. Crews did an “aggressive” cleaning of all hard surfaces at JLS and Paly over the weekend, according to Conaway.

Also over the following weekend, an online petition emerged asking the district to take additional precautions, including starting spring break early and extending it to two weeks and providing online learning options to students who choose to stay home.

In a message to families on Sunday, March 1, Austin said that the district has consulted with a variety of public officials and health professionals and he does not see a reason to close schools at this point.

“As a Palo Alto resident, I see large crowds in supermarkets, parks, theaters, airports, restaurants and public places. They are operating as usual with no call for closures,” he wrote. “Closing schools at this point would not eliminate the infinite interactions our students would have beyond PAUSD. We understand the responsibility afforded to PAUSD while caring for your students and treat the work seriously. We cannot control every aspect of student or community life, which is the only way a quarantine works.”

He asked community members to “limit speculation and overreactions.”

The district is continuing to follow guidance from the California Department of Public Health and the CDC.

(Read more about the virus’ impact on local schools here.)

On Tuesday, March 3, Menlo School in Atherton announced that the school would be closed through the weekend after learning a staff member had contact with a relative with the coronavirus, according to a letter] by Head of School Than Healy. The school has canceled all school-related activities, including classes, sports, arts activities, club meetings and planned field trips.

In tandem with news of the VA case, parents with students in a high school work program that’s held after school at the VA hospital in Palo Alto received a notice regarding the coronavirus case on Tuesday, March 3.

“We will be suspending student participation in the VA program for the present time. … At no time has there been an elevated risk to student safety,” Kristen Hardy, director of special education for the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, said in an email.

About 14 special education students from the district, mainly from Mountain View High School, but also Los Altos High School and the district’s adult school, spend about an hour and a half at the VA hospital on weekdays gaining work experience, according to Kathy Brenner, an education specialist at the Mountain View-Los Altos district.

The decision, made in consultation with district administrators, comes out of considerations that some students have compromised immune systems and others may not always wash their hands according to best practices, she said.

“We just want to keep our kids safe. We don’t want to overreact either, but we’d rather be safe than sorry,” she said.

The district partners with other student work sites, so students who have been at the hospital will be temporarily reassigned and will gain exposure to other work experiences, she said.

The school district changed students’ schedules and pick-up times from Mountain View and Los Altos high schools through March 30 and will be reviewing the changes with Palo Alto Unified School District. Case managers are working with students, she said.

Woodside Priory, a private school for students in grades 6 through 12, has canceled events for its Service Week scheduled March 16-20, including two trips to Guatemala and Costa Rica, according to an email from Director of Communications Kelly Sargent.

The school also plans to keep dormitories open during Easter break, scheduled April 6-13, to give students the choice to stay on campus instead of traveling and “due to international air travel uncertainty,” Sargent said.

Stanford University update

On Tuesday, March 3, Stanford University decided to postpone or cancel events on and off campus likely to attract 150 or more people, including Grad Alumni Day, the SIEPR Economic Summit, Holy Week Easter Services, Second Sunday Family Days at the Cantor Arts Center and Anderson Collection, and all Department of Music concerts scheduled through at least April 15. Stanford Athletics will continue to hold all sporting competitions at this time, with limited public attendance. The University said it will offer increased opportunities for livestreaming events. A full list of event changes can be found at news.stanford.edu.

Tech companies respond

LinkedIn has heeded the county’s warning, telling its Bay Area employees to do any work that can be done remotely at home through the end of March to mitigate the spread of the virus. Employees have also been asked to postpone all nonessential business travel and will not participate in external events in March and April, according to LinkedIn spokeswoman Kenly Walker. LinkedIn, headquartered in Sunnyvale and Mountain View, will not be shutting down its offices and intends to provide the same level of service to customers, members and partners, she added.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula’s response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and the Almanac here.

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