Coronavirus fears cancel San Mateo County events

As novel coronavirus fears spiked with more reported cases, as well as the first death in Santa Clara County linked to the illness, organizations throughout the region canceled events hoping to stem the global pandemic threat.

Education award ceremonies, fundraising galas, school plays, holiday celebrations and other similar events are among those scrapped or postponed in recent days throughout San Mateo County.

The decisions all align with a recommendation from county Health Officer Scott Morrow, who sternly advised all non-essential community events to be called off until the threat level subsides.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed four cases of COVID-19 in San Mateo County, with five more presumed cases awaiting confirmation, according to County Health. Yet despite the positive tests, all identified among adults, the CDC believes that the public’s risk of exposure is relatively low, according to the county website.

Elsewhere, officials on Monday confirmed the death of the first patient in Santa Clara County to have contracted the virus. The unidentified patient, a woman in her 60s, died at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View. Officials in Santa Clara County last night banned public gatherings of more than 1,000 people through the end of March in response to the growing virus threat.

Recognizing the rising concern around the potential threat and looking to exercise an abundance of caution, organizations and agencies throughout San Mateo County canceled a variety upcoming events.

Canceled events throughout San Mateo County include: the St. Patrick’s Day dinner in South San Francisco; the South San Francisco Women’s Conference; the Senior Health and Fitness Fair in South San Francisco; state of the city addresses in Belmont and San Carlos; the Sequoia Awards scholarship dinner; the Burlingame Community Education Foundation gala; the San Mateo County Democratic Party’s monthly meeting; and the San Mateo County Office of Education’s Next Big Think seminar.

Public school systems throughout San Mateo County remain open, but districts are taking varying positions on renting facilities and hosting events. To that end, the San Mateo Union High School District announced plans to cancel upcoming open house gatherings and other parent meetings for the next two weeks.

Plays and musicals at the district are expected to continue, as audience members and performers can apply their best judgment when deciding to attend. Principals are still determining policies around field trips and other school events, according to a press release.

Meanwhile, the Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District canceled all facility rentals, which halted upcoming rehearsals for the school play at Ralston Middle School.

Private schools along the Peninsula have closed due to suspected exposure of school community members to coronavirus patients. Serra High School announced plans to close Monday, March 9, through at least Wednesday, March 11. Notre Dame Belmont issued a similar mandate and last week Menlo School canceled classes.

Morrow last week said school closures were not yet mandatory, but could become necessary in the coming weeks. Local education officials largely deferred to health experts when determining response plans.

At the San Mateo County Event Center, a dance show was canceled this past weekend and the county Office of Education event will not be held there later this month. Center COO Kletra Newton said the facility is working closely with clients to navigate through a challenging period.

She added the center ramped up precautionary measures to all who visit are protected against potential health hazards.

“We want to make sure clients, visitors and staff are always in an environment that promotes health and wellness,” she said.

Meanwhile, county officials noted the virus threat also harmed the local tourism industry.

“Everyone is feeling it,” said John Hutar, CEO of the San Mateo County/Silicon Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.

He noted it may be too early to tell the exact degree to which the virus limited travel, but said local hotels are already experiencing the pain. He said canceled flights to China gave way to lost hotel room reservations for airline crews, which are an especially lucrative and reliable source of income for the county’s hotels.

The loss was compounded when larger conventions in San Francisco and San Jose were canceled, which he said can bring in the neighborhood of 10,000 people to stay overnight on the Peninsula.

“That is a huge hole to fill,” he said, also noting that local tech companies are calling off meetings, further limiting regular travel to San Mateo County.

Anecdotally, Hutar said some hotels claim to have lost as much as 25% of regular business. And while he cannot confirm those figures until financial reports are issued later this month, Hutar considered the hit to the local economy more impactful than previous slowdowns linked to illnesses. What’s worse, he anticipated the worst is yet to come.

“Unfortunately, it seems like there will be more bad news on this topic before it gets better,” he said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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