As the White House administration fixates on matters related to the Russia investigation and former President Barack Obama, the nation is still battling a virus that in about two months has claimed the lives of more Americans than overdose deaths over the course of an entire year.
Here’s a look at how the Bay Area is faring through the pandemic Monday.
Open SFBay Worldwide coronavirus tracker.U.S.
- Confirmed Cases: 1,347,388
- Deaths: 80,397
Source: John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center COVID-19 global tracking tool as of Monday at 6:32 p.m.
Monday, Donald Trump seemed to encourage Pennsylvania residents to push back against the state’s Covid-19 health orders.
As of Monday morning, 3,833 people had died from the virus in Pennsylvania, which has the fifth highest number of confirmed cases in the country.
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a statement Monday warning countries about the “complex and difficult” nature of lifting lockdowns and urging officials to be “slow, steady” as a key to protecting lives from a resurgence of the virus.
Open SFBay USA coronavirus tracker.California
- Confirmed Cases: 68,975
- Deaths: 2,776
Source: John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center COVID-19 global tracking tool as of Friday at 6:32 p.m.
Gov. Gavin Newsom joined the four other Western States Pact governors in a $1 trillion request for federal relief funding. California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado issued a joint letter to several key Congressional leaders pleading their case for state and local funding to shore up basic government functions and support services experiencing shortages due to the pandemic.
The letter said:
“Without federal support, states and cities will be forced to make impossible decisions — like whether to fund critical public health care that will help us recover, or prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other first responders.”
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Despite California’s mitigation efforts, researchers with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation are now predicting the state could see the Covid-19 death toll more than double by the end of August. That prediction bumped up by nearly 1,500 people since May 4 predictions based on changes in resident mobility and easing of social distancing practices.
The organization has also increased their national death toll prediction, which is now expected to rise to 137,184 people by the end of August.
A breakdown of IHME findings updated Sunday can be accessed at http://www.healthdata.org/covid/updates.
Orange County
- Confirmed Cases: 3,557
- Deaths: 76
Source: Orange County Health Care Agency as of Monday, 10 days after the May 1 Huntington Beach protest.
Sacramento County
- Confirmed Cases: 1,173
- Deaths: 50
Source: Sacramento County Public Health as of Monday, 10 days after the May 1 State Capitol protest.
Regional
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District is tapping into public input as they consider necessary service reductions. The drop in ridership due to Covid-19 compounded the Measure I failure in the past election, leaving the transit agency underfunded to sustain pre-shelter order service levels.
Eliminations could include weekend service, weekday reductions and suspension of the free Wi-Fi. The community can provide feedback by participating in a survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7GSMARTsurvey.
Open SFBay Bay Area coronavirus dashboard in new window.Alameda County
- Confirmed Cases: 2,101
- Deaths: 71
Source: Alameda County Public Health Department as of Monday with data reported through Sunday.
Elon Musk and Alameda County are in a standoff over the Fremont Tesla manufacturing factory. Musk, upset the carmaker was not yet permitted to relaunch operations, announced Saturday the company had filed a lawsuit against the county and he threatened via Twitter to move the Tesla’s headquarters and future programs to Texas and Nevada. Musk upped the confrontation by sharing on Twitter Monday that the plant was restarting production.
A statement issued by the county Monday indicates that the Tesla factory did indeed reopen beyond “Minimum Basic Operations” and had been formally notified.
The county statement said:
“Since April 30, we have continued to collaborate in good faith with Tesla to present a plan for reopening the Fremont plant that ensures the safety of their thousands of employees and the communities in which they live and work, and that also aligns with local and state requirements.”
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Contra Costa County
- Confirmed Cases: 1,048
- Deaths: 32
Source: Contra Costa Health Services as of Monday at 11:30 a.m.
Marin County
- Confirmed Cases: 265
- Deaths: 14
Source: Marin Health and Human Services as of Monday.
County health officials report that the number of new cases added Sunday represents the highest daily gain since April 22. Four Covid-19 patients countywide were hospitalized as of Sunday.
Napa County
- Confirmed Cases: 79
- Deaths: 3
Source: Department of Health and Human Services as of Monday at 1:30 p.m.
Health officials reported the county’s third Covid-19 death. The patient was an elderly Napa resident.
San Francisco
- Confirmed Cases: 1,954
- Deaths: 35
Source: San Francisco Department of Public Health with data reported Sunday.
Mayor London Breed drew attention Monday to domestic violence and abuse issues that present “increased risk” during Covid-19 shelter-in-place orders. The mayor implored residents in need of assistance to call the National Domestic Hotline at 800-799-7233 or to go visit The City’s website for immediate services.
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Some San Francisco businesses are set to reopen in one week with heavily modified service. Health officials are closely watching for fluctuations in The City’s Covid-19 hospitalization rates as plans to reopen slowly roll out, noting spikes could indicate the virus gaining traction in the community and warrant plan changes. Noting the flattening curve, Dr. Grant Colfax, Department of Public Health director, is optimistic but cautious until there is a “substantial downward trend.”
Colfax said during a press conference Monday:
“If indeed our rate of hospitalizations starts to climb substantially, it may not be safe to continue to reopen.”
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San Mateo County
- Confirmed Cases: 1,464
- Deaths: 56
Source: San Mateo County Health Department with data reported through Sunday.
Santa Clara County
- Confirmed Cases: 2,341
- Deaths: 129
Source: Santa Clara County Public Health Department as of Monday.
The county reports that 102 Covid-19 patients are currently hospitalized with 65 of those patients requiring acute treatment as of Sunday. The number of acute hospital patients rose from 56 patients the day prior.
San Jose represents about 66 percent of the county’s total number of confirmed cases.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo spent time on Twitter Monday drawing attention to the Silicon Valley Strong recovery initiative. Small business owners are being asked to participate in an online survey so officials can get a better idea of what condition businesses are in and what resources need deploying.
Solano County
- Confirmed Cases: 379
- Deaths: 10
Source: Solano Public Health as of Monday at 4:30 p.m.
The county, which chose to enable low-risk businesses to reopen Friday with modified practices, has experienced relatively low case rates. However, Vallejo is an outlier with 222 cases reported Monday.
Sonoma County
- Confirmed Cases: 309
- Deaths: 4
Source: County of Sonoma with data as of Monday.
Sonoma County’s data breaks down the percentage of patients who experienced one or more of 11 different symptoms. Of the 309 cases countywide, 60 percent experienced a cough, whereas 21 percent reported nausea or vomiting. The data reflects that Covid-19 patients experience a wide range of varying symptoms.
Open SFBay Worldwide coronavirus tracker.Bay City News contributed to this report.