03.31.20 PSA Extended Order

The County of Santa Clara
March 31, 2020
PSA with the County of Santa Clara
10am PT

Hello, my name is David Campos and I am a Deputy County Executive for the County of Santa Clara.

Today, we held a press conference where the Health Officer for the County of Santa Clara, Dr. Sara Cody, issued a new shelter-in-place order that essentially replaces the prior order and this new order actually provides stricter guidelines when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus. The reality is that even though we have made progress since the last order was put in place, we still have seen an increase in the number of cases, not only in the County of Santa Clara, but throughout the Bay Area. And what this order does is really necessary to keep the virus from spreading.

First, when it comes to social distancing, now that is not just recommended but it's actually mandatory. Second, in terms of businesses that are able to open, the business really has to be essential in the strictest sense of the word and even when it is essential that business has to present to its customers and its employees written protocols, that we're actually providing recommended protocols, that outline how that business is going to function in a way that is consistent with public health. That has to outline social distancing and needs to make sure that it minimizes the number of employees in that business.

The other thing that will be happening because of this new order is that some recreational spaces will be closed to large groups. Parks, dog parks, and other recreational areas will no longer be open under the new order.  And then we're also going to see changes when it comes to things like construction. Construction will only be allowed to continue in certain cases that are directly connected to necessity in a response to the coronavirus.

The reality is that the Bay Area has been leading the way at the national level in terms of responding to the coronavirus. We see some hopeful and positive results but we're still not where we need to be. We need to do everything we can to stop the spread of the coronavirus and that's why the order extends the shelter-in-place provisions to May 3rd of this year. So, we're asking the residents of Santa Clara, the residents of the Bay Area to do their part so that we can continue to be a leader in how to respond to this crisis.