Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, isolated from a patient. Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland.
An employee in the United States Postal Service’s Annex in Santa Rosa tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus and is under quarantine at home, a USPS spokesman said Tuesday.
USPS spokesman Augustine Ruiz Jr. said in an email:
“We believe the exposure risk for other employees at the facility is low based on the guidance from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and our health department. … To ensure the health of our employees, we are continuing to follow recommended strategies from the CDC and local departments. We also will continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation on a nationwide basis.”
Ruiz said the CDC, the World Health Organization, Surgeon General and National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases have indicated there is currently no evidence the coronavirus can be spread through the mail.
Ruiz said:
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have enhanced and supplemented current cleaning protocols using disinfectant across the facility in addition to providing sanitizers, gloves and masks for employees.”
Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and the city of Berkeley plan to extend the current shelter-in-place order due to the novel coronavirus pandemic until at least May 1. The order was slated to expire April 7.
Health inspectors with the San Francisco Department of Public Health are conducting inspections of single-room occupancy hotels to ensure that SRO building owners and managers are complying with city mandates amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District announced that it will modify its service beginning on Tuesday in the wake of declining ridership because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. AC Transit, which serves parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, said its modified service will be similar to its current Sunday service, although arrival times will be different than on Sundays.
The California Franchise Tax Board has postponed the deadline for filing tax protests, appeals and refund claims due to the novel coronavirus pandemic until mid-July.
Source: John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center Covid-19 tracking tool as of Tuesday at 11:32 a.m.
Gov. Gavin Newsom Monday announced the creation of California Health Corps, an initiative to expand the health care work force in the state to staff at least 50,000 new hospital beds demanded by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Retired medical professionals, medical and nursing students, plus unemployed or underemployed health care workers are being recruited to participate in the program, including “doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, behavioral health scientists, pharmacists, EMTs, medical and administrative assistants, and certified nursing assistants.”
Source: John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center COVID-19 tracking tool as of Tuesday at 11:32 a.m.
Source: County health departments via SFBay reporting.
Source: The Alameda County Public Health Department as of Tuesday.
Source: The City of Berkeley as of Monday. Berkeley reports separately from Alameda County.
Source: Contra Costa Health Services as of Tuesday.
Source: Marin Health and Human Services as of Monday.
At least three more people have died from novel coronavirus and six new cases were reported in Marin County as of Monday afternoon, county health officials said.
The county posted its latest update at 5:30 p.m. showing 98 people in the region have Covid-19, and that four people have died since the pandemic started.
Per laboratory results, people in the county between 50-64 years of age have 36 Covid-19 cases, 27 people older than 65 years old have the illness, 21 people from 35-49 have it, 11 people from 19-34 tested positive and four people from 0-18 are infected.
Proportionally, men account for 60 percent of the county’s novel coronavirus cases and women 40 percent.
Source: Department of Health and Human Services as of Tuesday.
Source: San Francisco Department of Public Health as of Tuesday at 9 a.m.
San Francisco will continue its shelter-in-place order until at least May 1, Mayor London Breed said Monday at a virtual press conference.
She said more details about the new health order will be provided Tuesday. San Francisco will join seven other Bay Area jurisdictions — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo counties and Berkeley — in extending the order until May 1.
Meanwhile, the number of staff members and residents at San Francisco Laguna Honda Hospital infected with Covid-19 continues to grow, Breed
said.
A total of 12 people at Laguna Honda are infected with virus, including 10 staff and two residents. On Sunday, health officials reported nine persons infected.
Since March 26, The City tested 158 staff and 54 residents for the virus.
Breed said she sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Human
Services last week for more support at the long-term care facility that takes
care of approximately 750 residents.
The Center for Disease Control has provided the hospital
with two infectious disease doctors and two epidemiologists to help control the
outbreak at the hospital. All of them are on-site at the hospital as of Monday.
A staff person who works at the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta has been assigned to the monitor the situation at Laguna Honda.
Additionally, the state has sent over two infectious prevention nurses, Breed said:
“This is just a start, and I am grateful for what we’ve received, but I want to be clear, it’s not nearly enough to get us to a better place with specifically concentrating on Laguna Honda hospital.”
San Francisco’s public health director Dr. Grant Colfax said his department was everything they can to protect the staff and residents and appreciated the help from the federal and state government:
“These experts are assessing the situation, and we’ll make recommendations for ongoing management of an outbreak that is expected to escalate.”
Despite the efforts and the patterns of outbreaks throughout the nation at long-term health care facilities, Colfax said:
“We expect the situation to unfortunately get worse.”
The hospital is already placed under quarantine since March 24 allowing no visitors to the site and carried out a policy that all staff at the hospital wear isolated masks to prevent the spread of the virus.
Source: San Mateo County Health Department as of Tuesday.
San Mateo County reported four additional deaths from Covid-19 Tuesday morning, matching March 25 for the most daily coronavirus fatalities in the county.
Source: Santa Clara County Public Health Department as of Monday.
Santa Clara County officials said the surge Monday in confirmed Covid-19 cases was because of delayed reporting.
The county sent a notice to reporters Monday afternoon following an update to its cases and death counts the same day.
The data had not been updated since 5 p.m. Saturday, and by Monday the county added 202 cases and three deaths, totaling 848 confirmed known cases and 28 deaths.
Source: Solano Public Health as of Monday.
Source: County of Sonoma as of Tuesday.
James Lanaras, Eli Walsh, Kyle Martin, and Peter Fournier of Bay City News Service contributed information to this report.
Last modified March 31, 2020 1:19 pm
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