7.6.20 COVID-19 Briefing Live Stream Transcript

The County of Santa Clara
July 6, 2020
Live Stream - Live with the County of Santa Clara
10am PT

Larry Little: Hi everybody. Thank you for joining us I'm Larry Little, Public Information Officer here at the County's Emergency Operations Center.

Before we begin, I want to let you know that we have remove our face covering so the American Sign Language interpreters, as well as everyone can better understand the information that we will be sharing this morning.

If you take a look here. Some of you may have already seen this headline concerning the July 13th Health Order, and Deputy County Executive as well as Co-lead of Public Informations here at the Emergency Operations Center, David Campos joins us this morning to share more information about that.

David Campos: Thank you very much, Larry. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us Live with the County of Santa Clara. As Larry noted, stepping back last week Dr. Cody issued a new order that would essentially take us away from industry specific approach into a risk reduction strategy that would allow a number of activities to resume, provided that that we follow very strict guidelines, as what's noted when that was introduced that is subject to the approval of this State, and as people have noted has been reported, the State has issue an initial rejection of the variance application, which is the formal application that has to be followed. We are still in conversations and discussions with the State about that application, but we wanted to make sure that people knew that that had happened and that we will continue to keep people informed about the next steps.

The other thing that we know is that we understand that there has been enforcement activity by the State's alcoholic beverage enforcement, ABC, that took place in parts of South County the County was not informed of any of those operations in advance, and we obviously cannot speak for the State, as we have said throughout this process, the State Order applies, where it's more, where has stricter requirements than the local order. So any questions about the state ABC enforcement we simply refer people to ABC or to the Governor's Office.

In any event we want to make sure that people are aware of where we are. We will continue to keep the residents of the County of Santa Clara informed about developments with the State, so stay tuned and so long as these conversations continue we remain committed to the process that we outlined when we issued this last Order by Dr. Cody, and we'll keep you informed.

LL: David, thank you so much. Thank you for joining us. A lot going on here in the County. You can see also we're working with the wildfires that we're having across the county and we will keep you posted on all of this information.

Let's go ahead and jump into the ... dive into the data dashboard here. You can see we have five thousand two hundred seventy three confirmed cases total in the county. 161 deaths, and one new death. Certainly our thoughts go out to the families who have lost loved ones due to COVID-19.

Luis, if you could go ahead and take it full-screen. Let's just take a closer look at the data dashboard here. You can see five thousand two hundred seventy three confirmed cases. Now as of July 2nd, we were at four thousand seven hundred fifty cases, that
is an increase of 523 cases, so what we're seeing here with the age groups.

From twenty to forty nine years old, we're seeing a substantial increase of COVID cases, as well as, as you look as how the cases are transmitted, the majority of them are presumed community transmission. So it's very important that you take heed of the protocols and
guidelines that have been set forth, so we can continue to lower the spread of COVID-19 here in the County. Also you take one positive note here, looking at our Asian population, the numbers continue to fall in this group, so that is promising information and hope for all of us. The State of California Public Health is taking a very strong stance on wearing a face covering. Let's look at some of how their messaging has changed in these videos.

[Video plays]
For the sweaty faces and the hidden smiles, the foggy glasses and the sore ears, the determined looks and the muffled laughs, a simple piece of fabric makes a big statement. I care. Let's all do our part to slow the spread. Wear a mask.
Learn more at covid19.ca.gov.
[Video ends]

[Video plays]

[Video ends]

LL: So we want to go ahead and share some of the recommended best practices with you again, as this is very important in slowing the spread of COVID-19. Continue staying home as much as possible, practicing physical distancing outside of the home, wearing face coverings or mask when you are outside of your home for essential travel, avoiding gatherings with people outside of your immediate
household, washing your hands thoroughly and frequently, and carrying hand sanitizer with you. Also, please don't eat or drink, don't share drinks or food with anyone, and if you feel sick, please stay home.

We want to go ahead and switch gears.

Now, life as you know it has changed for all of us, but usually some younger individuals are more socially connected to friends, mainly because of their environments in school, college classes, social connect groups. Slowing the spread of COVID-19 has forced less in-person social interaction and canceled meetups and hanging out with friends. This morning, my colleagues from our new American Fellows program joins me to, join me to discuss how our young people coping with COVID-19, and I have a Daniela and Lizeth here with me. Thank you for joining me.

Welcome. Thank you. So start off by telling me about the American Fellows program.

Lizeth: The new American Fellows program is a cohort of students with immigrant backgrounds.

LL: So I want to start, tell me how was life for you before COVID-19?

Daniela: So before the COVID-19, it was very social, with a lot of the people in my class, and I was attending on a lot of gatherings, and so with COVID-19 learning, listening to lectures in like Zoom and Skype.

LL: So you had never done that before?

D: No, I've never done that before.

LL: So how was the adjustment? Was it difficult to adjust?

D: Yes, it was very difficult to adjust, especially for lectures and for me especially, it's been difficult with English, because I think a lot that I, that I struggle with is, like, learning English, like writing, and so it was very difficult but with other
classes it's been a lot easier.

LL: Great. So we have been sheltering in place for a little bit over three months now and advise to be socially distanced from people outside of our household. How has been for you?

L: It's been really difficult because I am a very social butterfly, so I like attending events and going out with my friends. So it's been a it's been really hard especially on my mental health sometimes. You can feel a little bit lonely, and even though maybe some, at least for myself, I've had trouble with it for a long time so that really took a toll on me.

LL: So how are you coping?

L: I cope with a lot of love from my mom I know we still social distance at home, and I try to read, paint, I work out at home, as well, so that helped a lot with my anxiety. So yeah.

LL: I need to start working out at home. I miss the gym so
much.

L: Me too.

LL: How are you coping?

D: Well, I have a cat at home, so I just usually play with him, and I've been very lucky work. I've been very lucky with, that I have a lot of siblings, so I experience a lot of loneliness, because I get to talk with them and also my other family members, and also listening to music, drawing, painting; a lot of that takes my mind off what's going on in the world.

LL: So how are you staying in touch with friends?

D: So right now, I'm staying in touch with my friends, either through Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Tumblr, and also, also like regular messaging, I just talked to them like with group chats.

LL: Okay and how are you staying in touch with your friends?

L: I am staying in touch we do a lot of Zoom meetings, and then there's this app called the Houseparty so you can FaceTime in there and play games, so I've been to staying in touch with my friends that way, as well as how Daniella had said: Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, just trying to find new ways to interact with each other, virtually, since we can't see each other.

LL: Houseparty? I haven't heard of that app.

L: Yes, it's really fun actually.

LL: It's for young people. L: It's for anybody, for young people, and for a family, anybody, you can join in there together, and there's a few games and you can play, kind of like, draw and then everybody guesses, so it's it's actually really fun.

LL: Nice. So had you heard of that app prior to COVID-19?

L: I had not I had not. I actually heard about it, just like two weeks ago, I want to say.

LL: Oh nice.

L: So it's been recent so trying to find new ways and new apps, exploring.

LL: Daniela, have you discovered any new apps?

D: Oh no, unfortunately, no.

LL: We're still in discovery mode?

D: Yes, we are.

LL: So what do you miss most about life during this pandemic?

D: What I miss most is hanging out a lot with my friends, like outside of school and also at school, and I think also like being able to have study sessions with my friends, because I think that during this time, we haven't been able to like properly meet up and
study for our exams, and it's kind of difficult doing that through Zoom, but we've been trying to find ways to like work around that.

LL: So academically has it taken somewhat of a toll on you?

D: Yes, I would say so, because at home, it's sometimes, it's a little bit difficult, especially since I live with a big family, like it's difficult trying to listen to a lecture while also having a lot of younger siblings making a lot of noise, but I think with a lot of support from my teachers, it's it's a little bit easier.

LL: Right. So I've seen people of all ages choosing to bend the rules a little bit about either not wearing facial covering or not practicing social distancing or physical distancing. What would be your advice to them?

L: Yeah, totally. My advice would be that I know we started off with this pandemic as misinformation for the young people. It had been said that it was only gonna affect younger children or older, the elderly or people with health issues, but it's actually impacting a lot of the youth. So just when you go out, make sure you that you're wearing your mask. You're also protecting yourself and your loved ones, or whomever you live with. So make sure you stay, you keep your face covering on, and you wash your hands constantly. Hand sanitize when you touch a lot of things. If you go up to get groceries, make sure that you're carrying that with you; it's very beneficial for you. Yeah, just try to make sure that you stay safe, because it is affecting us, as the youth, and we have a lot of big part in playing in that, because we are also role models to the younger generations that are coming.

LL: Yeah, we have a slide here of cases by age group. Now on June 19, the numbers for 20 and under were at 6.5 percent and for 21 2/3
it was at 15.4%, today the numbers for 19 and under at 10.5%, and for 20 and 20 to quite a bit of an increase with our younger population. For people having young people having a difficult time coping with this public health crisis and having to wear a mask and having to practice social distancing and physical distancing, what will be your advice to them?

D: My advice to them would be like really reaching out to our friends or family and to to offer support. Also I think one good thing that they can do is like maybe try to set up Zoom meetings with families or like friends, because I know that during this time you can meet up with them so like seeing them through a screen is very beneficial for your health like your mental health.

LL: And then what would be your advice to them, Lizeth?

L: Yes, well stay in touch with your family and friends. I know it's social distancing, it doesn't mean don't talk to them. Feel comfortable to reach out, and continue to, as best as you can, to gather with them through Zoom or other apps like the Houseparty or
any other app that you find out. Yeah.

LL: So when all of this is over what is the first thing you want to do, the first fun thing you want to do?

L: The first fun thing I want to do? There's so many, but I just think gathering with my friends, like I'm so used to having all of us get together and do games or movies. I know, I'm of age, so sometimes we do some wine and we just gather. So it's I just miss all of
that. So I think just seeing my friends and gathering with them and having fun, especially going out to restaurants. Right now I'm not going. I'm doing takeout, but like being in that environment where there's interaction around me. so I really missed that.

LL: And what did you plan to do?

D: I think first meet up with have a big family gathering with a lot of my family members, and also have like, go out and eat with my friends and watch movies at the movie theater. And I think also walk my cat.

LL: How do you walk a cat? D: I just put it on the leash I'm and cat and then just walk. Yeah, he actually likes walking.

LL: Interesting. I own dogs not cats. I have dogs, rather, they own me. Thank you so much! This is a great conversation to get the youth perspective on how you all are coping with COVID-19, and so thank you for being here and sharing your stories today. And thank you everyone for watching. Of course, stay in touch. Follow our social media websites to get the latest information on COVID-19 happenings here in the County of Santa Clara. Have a great day.