SFBay Covid-19 tracker highlighting Contra Costa County, Calif. cases by day as of Tuesday, July 7, 2020.
In the era of Covid-19, what a difference a few days makes.
Intensive care units are close to or at capacity at several hospitals in at least Florida, Texas, Georgia and Arizona. Dr. Anthony Fauci in an interview Tuesday expressed strong support for state mask mandates where outbreaks are occuring.
All Bay Area counties are experiencing a surge in cases and hospitalizations, but the Contra Costa County trendline is looking more vertical by the day and has gone from reporting the fifth highest number of cases regionally to the third in just the past five days.
Let’s dig in to see where we’re at as a region, state and nation about four months into the pandemic.
Source: John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center COVID-19 global tracking tool as of Tuesday at 6:33 p.m.
President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos came out Tuesday with demands that schools must be “fully operational” for in-person student instruction by fall. In a roundtable focused on reopening schools, DeVos said:
“Under the president’s strong leadership, our economy is roaring back. Our schools must do the same.”
She criticized plans some districts have considered that incorporate both in-person and online instruction, saying the hybrid instruction would be “playing both paradigms.”
DeVos added:
“A couple of hours a week of online school is not OK, and a choice of two days per week in the classroom is not a choice at all.”
Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ and labor union, had a different message she shared during an Out Front CNN interview Tuesday.
Garcia said:
“Here’s what my advice to all parents including you is, please under no circumstances take medical advice from Donald Trump or Betsy DeVos, especially when it comes to the health of your children.”
In a separate but related story that emerged Tuesday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined in filing a six-state lawsuit against the Trump administration. They jointly allege that U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos withheld CARES Act funds marked for public K-12 schools.
Further, the six attorneys general claim DeVos awarded some of those funds to private schools without regard for student family income levels, which is a violation of the Title I requirement set forth under the federal stimulus bill.
During a press conference, Becerra said:
Open SFBay USA coronavirus tracker.“Ultimately, it’s a shakedown of low-income schools across the country. … Whether it’s President Trump or Secretary DeVos, we won’t stand by when the education of our children and the rule of law are under threat.”
Source: John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center COVID-19 global tracking tool as of Tuesday at 6:33 p.m.
Colusa, Madera, Marin, Merced, Monterey and San Diego were ordered to close all bars and to move operations outdoors or close restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, zoos, museums and card rooms as of Monday. The six counties remained on the state’s county monitoring list for at least three consecutive days.
Newsom discussed “targeted enforcement” focused in six key California regions over the holiday weekend as a way to weed out “bad actors.”
The governor said ICU admissions were up 39 percent in the past two weeks.
Source: Alameda County Public Health Department as of Monday with data reported through Sunday. The health department did not provide an update Tuesday.
Alameda County has reported more than 100 new cases each day since June 26. Included in the county total are 63 cases from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Another 2,712 positive test results have come from the city of Oakland.
Hospitalization capacity is of grave concern given the number of cases the county is dealing with. The number of intensive care unit patients, 44, is hovering the peak rate seen at different times during the pandemic, but acute Covid-19 hospitalizations have skyrocketed since June 28. July 4 health department reporting reflected 146 patients countywide, down from 157 the day before.
Source: Contra Costa Health Services as of Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.
Contra Costa County reported five Covid-19 deaths in the past 48 hours and added another 427 confirmed cases to its cumulative total, according to health department data reported Tuesday. Positive test results recorded Monday represented the highest one-day gain since the pandemic began. The prior record was set on June 28 when a total of 164 positive test results were recorded. Covid-19 hospitalizations remained close to peak numbers but did rise slightly. The county reports a total of 59 Covid-19 currently receiving hospital treatment.
When calculating the rate of cases per 100,000 residents, the city of San Pablo has been hit hardest in terms of concentration — reporting 1,219 cases per 100,000 people. Richmond is seeing the highest number of actual cases, with 919 positive test results reported to date.
Not surprisingly, the sparsely populated and fairly rural far east city of Bethel Island is reflecting the lowest case count and number of cases per 100,000 — only 2,137 people reside in Bethel Island. The county’s most populous city of Concord is reporting a total 456 cases as of Tuesday. Contra Costa jumped from the region’s fifth to the third highest number of cases in the past five days.
The spike in Contra Costa prompted a reminder Tuesday by health officials for residents to wear face masks in public places. The county’s rules regarding face coverings — which include face shields, masks or bandannas — were highlighted and clarified on the Contra Costa Health Services website Monday.
The county order mandates use of face coverings in all public settings when within 6 feet of people not from their immediate households. Those who are exempt from masks due to specific health conditions are required to wear shields with additional cloth to keep droplets from escaping. The order also requires that workers, contractors and volunteers at all open businesses wear face coverings and further states that entry and service must be denied to anyone who chooses not to wear one inside the business establishment.
Source: Marin Health and Human Services as of Tuesday at 3:45 p.m.
*Marin County began reporting San Quentin State Prison cases separately, but for the purposes of tracking actual infections and potential impact on the county, we’ve included inmate cases with the county’s cumulative total. Staff member infections are detailed below but are included in county of residence totals.
Excluding San Quentin data, Marin County is reporting 1,512 cumulative cases and 20 deaths, according to Marin Health and Human Services Tuesday. The test positivity rate based on a seven-day rolling average was last recorded Friday at 7 percent. Notably, the number of tests conducted each have steadily decreased since Thursday despite the county’s placement on the state watchlist and restrictive state health order issued Monday.
The county is hosting a virtual “Community Conversation” to provide Covid-19 response and recovery updates. The talk will be joined by the Emergency Operations Center Director Angela Nicholson, Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis and Marin Recovers Director Max Korten as featured speakers. People can join the Zoom meeting by visiting www.zoom.us/Join or calling (669) 900-6833. The meeting ID is 993 8019 4261 and password is 074775.
San Quentin State Prison
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Tuesday reported that a total of 1,477 inmates have so far tested positive for Covid-19. Of those, six have resulted in death. The facility released 13 inmates with active infections and it is reported that 158 who have tested positive have since been “resolved.” In addition, the number of staff members who have contracted the virus has grown to 184, with only 14 having since recovered and returned to work.
The facility by far leads the state prison system in total number of confirmed cases — per CDCR, the infection rate among just San Quentin inmates is nearly 407 per 1,000 people. For context, the rate in California is about 4.7 infections per 1,000 people.
Source: Department of Health and Human Services as of Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
Though the number of confirmed cases in Napa County appear relatively low, the area has seen a more than 54 percent increase in the past 14-day period. An overwhelming majority of cases are coming out of the city of Napa. The recent spike is disrupting the county’s epidemiology stability and increasing its risk for further state monitoring and enforcement.
Source: San Francisco Department of Public Health with data reported through Thursday.
Due to a rise in Covid-19 cases, Mayor London Breed and Director of Public Health Grant Colfax announced another reopening delay Tuesday at a press briefing. The seven-day rolling average of new cases was down to 49 new cases per day as of July 4 but just recently hit its highest point at 58 new cases per day on July 2, according to the Department of Public Health.
The goal is to keep the number of cases per 100,000 residents at 1.8 or less — that number is currently well above the goal at 6.1 residents per 100,000 residents.
Last month, The City was granted a state variance to allow more businesses to reopen and accelerated plans for businesses like hair salons, nail salons, outdoor bars, zoos, indoor dining and barbershops from July 13 to June 29. The June 29 date was paused by public health officials on June 26. Now, as the original July 13 reopening date approaches, those businesses are being told to hold off once again, with no new date in immediate sight.
Colfax said there has been a 25 percent increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations over the past week.
Results of Fourth of July behavior, which may not be realized for another two to three weeks, and soaring numbers in neighboring counties also have city health officials on high alert — they will be monitoring data very closely as they consider how and when to reopen the next group of businesses.
A new testing site at Glide Memorial Church opened Tuesday and will provide free Covid-19 tests every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to serve Tenderloin residents.
Source: San Mateo County Health Department with data reported through Monday.
The county’s health department last reported hospital data Sunday, showing 53 Covid-19 patients requiring hospitalization — 15 were being treated in ICU beds. Despite an average 4.9 percent test positivity rate, the actual number of tests administered each day has declined since June 29 when 1,258 tests were processed. That number dropped to 323 tests on July 4.
Like the rest of the Bay Area, the trend in San Mateo County has health officials monitoring data with a cautious eye and looking for ways to increase both testing and contact tracing capacity.
In a press release issued Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors announced a $2 million county investment to bolster a fund established to protect immigrants impacted by the virus who are not otherwise eligible for state or federal assistance.
The Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County and the Mission Asset Fund will partner with the county to coordinate and administer the San Mateo County Immigrant Relief that was initially seeded with a $5 million donation by developer and philanthropist John A. Sobrato and $1.7 million coming from additional private donors.
Supervisors approved the $2 million allotment in a 5-0 vote — the contribution is made possible by the voter-approved Measure K sales tax extension.
Source: Santa Clara County Public Health Department as of Tuesday.
The county Thursday applied for a state variance that would have allowed for greater flexibility in reopening a number of businesses like gyms and hair salons. They hoped to move into that next phase by July 13 if the variance was approved.
Those hopes were momentarily crushed when it was announced Monday that the state rejected the variance request over the weekend. But in a quick turn of events and after conversations between the county and the California Department of Public Health, the state approved the variance Tuesday, allowing for continued outdoor dining. A new health order with broad risk reduction measures will go into effect July 13.
Businesses allowed to resume on or after July 13 include:
County health officials reported an additional 80 cases and one death in the past 24 hours. County hospitals are currently caring for 88 Covid-19 patients, 21 of whom were admitted in the past day.
Source: Solano Public Health as of Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
The number of confirmed cases in Solano County has increased by 71 percent in the 14-day period between June 23 and Tuesday. The spike is particularly alarming in the city of Fairfield, which is now reporting 620 cases and putting it nearly equal with numbers reported in Vallejo.
When we provided a Covid-19 update Friday, Fairfield was reporting 489 cumulative cases — compared with Tuesday’s numbers, that’s a nearly 79 percent increase over the course of the past four days.
Thirty-five Covid-19 patients are currently being treated countywide.
Source: County of Sonoma with data as of Tuesday at 9 p.m.
Even Sonoma County, which has managed to mitigate the virus relatively well over the past four months, is not immune to the recent case spikes seen across the Bay Area, state and nation. The area has seen a 64 percent increase in positive test results in the 14-day period between June 23 and Tuesday.
Source: John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center COVID-19 global tracking tool as of Tuesday at 6:33 p.m.
The World Health Organization, slightly changed course Tuesday on a previous assertion that airborne particles …
Trump, who has routinely criticized WHO, officially notified the United Nations Tuesday that the U.S. would withdraw from WHO next year. The move is widely seen as retaliation for WHO’s initial response to the virus outbreak.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has for months downplayed the impact of Covid-19, announced Tuesday that he has tested positive for the virus. The news comes after he recently visited the U.S. for Fourth of July events.
Open SFBay Worldwide coronavirus tracker.Jerold Chinn of SFBay contributed to the San Francisco portion of this update.
Last modified July 8, 2020 1:19 am
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