San Mateo County being placed on the state COVID-19 watchlist “could come at any time” said officials who remain determined to keep case counts down and businesses open.
“It could be tomorrow, it could be the next day, it could be a week from now, it could be a month from now. We have just no idea and it’s really based on the metrics that they set up and the numbers that correlate to that,” said County Manager Mike Callagy. “Dr. Morrow does believe that we’re in a pretty good position here that doesn’t warrant the type of measure of closing more businesses down.”
Although the county reported its highest single-day positive test number at 130 on Monday according to the county dashboard, Callagy said no new deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported in two weeks. Similarly, no new deaths have been reported out of long term care facilities in three weeks.
“The good news, if there is any good news, is that our deaths are holding steady. ... I attribute some of that good news to all the work County Health has done in the congregate care setting in making sure that people are well trained. ... Let’s hope that holds true throughout the week,” said Callagy.
Currently, 4,776 residents have tested positive for the highly-infectious respiratory disease, while 114 residents have died. The Latino and Hispanic community continues to be of high risk for contracting the virus, a demographic officials say commonly works on the front line and may also live in close proximity to others limiting the potential to social distance.
Younger age groups also continue to test positive for the coronavirus at higher rates. The 20 to 29 age group and 30 to 39 age group account for nearly 1,900 of the total cases, though most deaths have remained within those 80 years old and beyond. A total of 77 COVID-19 patients are receiving care within local hospitals, 15 of which are from outside the county. As of Tuesday, 21 of the 77 patients were receiving care in the ICU.
Recommended for you
“We’re going to have to keep emphasizing ... that the social distancing, wearing a mask, staying in social bubbles is very, very important,” said Callagy who also said county efforts to temporarily house those experiencing homelessness has helped keep San Mateo County off the watch list.
Nearly 94,000 residents have been tested for the disease with a positivity rate of 5.1%. That percentage may begin to increase as the county follows state testing guidelines and implements a restriction of 500 tests performed a day. County officials said the reduction in testing is to allow for quicker processing of a test backlog.
Officials also announced an additional 45 contact tracers have been brought on from various county departments, bringing in total to 75 tracers. By August, another 60 individuals will be brought on to perform tracing.
“[Contact tracing] is a key factor. ...We brought on that large group and are in the process of training them now. It’ll be a little while before they’re at full capacity but they will get there,” said Callagy.
Testing sites for the week will be located in Daly City and East Palo Alto. Hours for testing will be between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. due to limited availability of tests. All tests are free to the public and no restrictions are placed on who may receive a test, though a reservation is required. County officials also encourage residents to seek testing through their private care provider.
Private physicians are required to report test results of county residents to County Health. Daily test data displayed on the county COVID-19 dashboard reflect all data collected by both private physicians and at county test sites.
Let’s start with the fact that the vast majority of people only have a mild or no reaction at all to this virus. The number of positive tests is not a worrisome sign, it is to be expected as a virus moves through a population – something that the governor and his ilk either do not comprehend or purposely fail to acknowledge. If you expand testing enough, you can obtain whatever number of positive tests you like. Thus a crisis can be manufactured to perpetuate a flawed response strategy. It is certainly no basis for rolling back the re-opening / continuing to damage millions of lives and livelihoods.
There is a susceptible population – older individuals and those with pre-existing conditions. Those are the people who should be shielded from exposure. But the cost in lives and treasure related to the over-reaction to this virus will far outweigh any lives saved from measures taken to try to slow/stop the spread of COVID.
If we stop testing all together there will be no virus found so everyone can go back to work. Problem solved. As long as we don't fill out any death certificates, no one will die from the virus either. No more sickness, no more death.
Throwing up your hands and refusing reason is not an option. Too many lives are currently being damaged. So let's modify your approach slightly:
We first recognize how the test results are tabulated. From the total number subjected to testing, how many were positive and how many negative? Of the positives, how many were asymptomatic? How many experienced some symptoms? How many (plus walk-ins) became actual hospital cases in need of some treatment? How many recovered and how many did not?
Now we can look at the number of COVID-specific virus deaths versus the costs of virus mitigation + general economic damage due to shut-downs + new incurred debt throughout all levels of government and the private sector + millions of individual's lives and livelihoods being damaged + deaths incurred as a result of delayed medical treatment + psychological damage of the young due to warped schooling going forward + (whatever continues this list) and arrive at an appropriate decision.
It is time to remember we are Americans. The flag on the uniform faces forward and so should we.
Would really appreciate a more in depth look at the indicators that are causing us to be on the State Watch List.
For example, the county released a new set of metrics on their Covid-19 data web site. Included are indicators of where we are falling short. One of them says that we are not meeting the requirement for hospitals in the county to have two weeks worth of PPE. Why is that? Several days ago the Governor said that we had a large supply of PPE available for hospitals.
We would appreciate it if you could look at the new metrics & dig deeper for us to find out the details of why this is happening. Closing down again will have a devastating impact on businesses and employees in our county.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(4) comments
Let’s start with the fact that the vast majority of people only have a mild or no reaction at all to this virus. The number of positive tests is not a worrisome sign, it is to be expected as a virus moves through a population – something that the governor and his ilk either do not comprehend or purposely fail to acknowledge. If you expand testing enough, you can obtain whatever number of positive tests you like. Thus a crisis can be manufactured to perpetuate a flawed response strategy. It is certainly no basis for rolling back the re-opening / continuing to damage millions of lives and livelihoods.
There is a susceptible population – older individuals and those with pre-existing conditions. Those are the people who should be shielded from exposure. But the cost in lives and treasure related to the over-reaction to this virus will far outweigh any lives saved from measures taken to try to slow/stop the spread of COVID.
If we stop testing all together there will be no virus found so everyone can go back to work. Problem solved. As long as we don't fill out any death certificates, no one will die from the virus either. No more sickness, no more death.
Throwing up your hands and refusing reason is not an option. Too many lives are currently being damaged. So let's modify your approach slightly:
We first recognize how the test results are tabulated. From the total number subjected to testing, how many were positive and how many negative? Of the positives, how many were asymptomatic? How many experienced some symptoms? How many (plus walk-ins) became actual hospital cases in need of some treatment? How many recovered and how many did not?
Now we can look at the number of COVID-specific virus deaths versus the costs of virus mitigation + general economic damage due to shut-downs + new incurred debt throughout all levels of government and the private sector + millions of individual's lives and livelihoods being damaged + deaths incurred as a result of delayed medical treatment + psychological damage of the young due to warped schooling going forward + (whatever continues this list) and arrive at an appropriate decision.
It is time to remember we are Americans. The flag on the uniform faces forward and so should we.
Would really appreciate a more in depth look at the indicators that are causing us to be on the State Watch List.
For example, the county released a new set of metrics on their Covid-19 data web site. Included are indicators of where we are falling short. One of them says that we are not meeting the requirement for hospitals in the county to have two weeks worth of PPE. Why is that? Several days ago the Governor said that we had a large supply of PPE available for hospitals.
We would appreciate it if you could look at the new metrics & dig deeper for us to find out the details of why this is happening. Closing down again will have a devastating impact on businesses and employees in our county.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.