1.25.2021 Press Conference in the Purple Tier

County of Santa Clara
January 25, 2021
Press Conference: Santa Clara County Stay-at-Home Order Lifted

[Music]

Hilary Armstrong: Good afternoon. I'm Hilary Armstrong, a Public Information Officer with the County of Santa Clara. Thank you for joining us for today's media availability. Today we are joined by County Counsel James Williams, who will be speaking to this situation in Santa Clara County, following the State's announcement that the bay area has been, that the regional stay-at-home order has been lifted for the entire state, including the bay area. Following the English and ASL portion of the press conference, we will proceed to statements from the podium in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Tagalog. Thank you very much, and with that, I will hand it over to James Williams. Thank you.

James Williams: Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm James Williams, the County Counsel for the County of Santa Clara. As you're all well aware, earlier today the California Department of Public Health and the governor announced that the regional stay-at-home order has been lifted in all regions in the State of California, in addition the limited stay-at-home order, which was the order that was also in effect to limit uh non-essential activities between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am, has also been lifted across the state. With the lifting of the regional stay-at-home order, this also applies, of course, in the bay area and here in Santa Clara County, as a result of these changes. By and large, the County of Santa Clara and most of the bay area, and in fact, most of California will return to being governed from a health over order perspective, by the purple tear restrictions that were previously in place under the State's blueprint.

So let me take just a minute to remind folks what that means and what that's about, and then I'll talk specifically about uh how that translates here in Santa Clara County. But before I do that, I want to emphasize one really important critical point, and that is this, while we have made progress since the beginning of January, where we really had a peak in hospitalizations and cases, we are still nowhere near out of the woods. We still have a much higher level of hospitalizations and cases here in Santa Clara County than we did going into the Thanksgiving break, and indeed than we did several weeks thereafter. We still have seriously impacted hospitals and ICU capacity here in Santa Clara County, and so no one should misunderstand what these changes at the state level mean here in Santa Clara County, and indeed around the State and in southern California, where the situation is frankly even more concerning. And this is also true in the context of new variants that we're seeing around the world but also showing up in southern California and here in Santa Clara County, and so this is not a time for our community to be less vigilant.

The state's actions are a reflection of some lessening from the peak, but again our hospitalizations are way, way, way up here, and it is absolutely critical that as a community, we continue to be careful and cautious, follow the public health orders, but exercise good judgment and common sense, and continue to avoid activities that are unnecessary. That being said, we are now under the purple tier level of restrictions, and so that means, for this county, that a couple categories of activities are allowed to once again resume, probably the most significant is outdoor dining and personal care services, that's hair and nails, and other services that are allowed to resume both indoors and outdoors.

There are a number of other uh changes, as well, that come with being back in the purple tier, uh specifically the family entertainment centers are allowed to be open outdoors, card rooms are allowed to be open outdoors, and gatherings which were prohibited completely under the regional state home order except for first amendment purposes. Once again, up to three households can gather, outdoors only, for other purposes. There are a number of more minor changes, and our website is in the process of being fully updated with all of the revisions to the various directives, to reflect the fact that we're back in the purple tier.

Now in Santa Clara County there were some important local directives that were in place to help keep us safer, that predated the regional stay-at-home order and that continue to apply here. The most significant is the travel directive, related to travel and the need to quarantine if you've traveled from more than 150 miles out of the county, that directive, again predated the regional stay-at-home order and it remains in place even now, in fact, this may be even more critical now, given the lifting of the regional state homeowner given the variance that we're seeing around the world and in southern California and the need to try to slow the spread, while we continue to ramp up push out and focus on vaccinating as many of our vulnerable population as possible. In addition to that travel directive along with it, is the directive related to lodging facilities that remains in place, and then some of our more specific uh rules, the baseline rules that you're all familiar with by now, that have been in place for some time, the social distancing protocols, uh the requirements that go along with that, the required reporting to the public health department of cases, all those rules remain in effect, just as they have for for many months, and our expectations that all of us in the community should have entering into any business or work site, what, if you're an employee those are expectations you should have of your employer, if you're a patron, customer, those are expectations that you should have of any place that you go visit, and those baseline rules remain unchanged, and really form the core of our safeguards here in our community.

I want to conclude just by, again, going back to that broader point, it is indeed good that we've come down a bit from that peak, but the level of hospitalizations that we're at is not something that is sustainable on an ongoing basis, and the state's actions, the state itself described, are based on forecasts of continued improvement over the next several weeks. While those forecasts are predicated on people's continued behavior, people continuing to be vigilant, people not gathering, for example people not letting their guard down. And so it's all the more important in our community that we continue to make that progress, that we continue to see cases come down, that we continue to decompress our hospitals, we continue to save lives as we are in this very pivotal moment as that where vaccinations are just beginning to really ramp up, where we're eagerly awaiting additional supply from the federal and state government. This is such a pivotal moment that we want to move forward together as an entire community with all of our friends and all of our family, and the best way for us to do that is to hang tight, stick together in that effort, and really follow carefully, thoughtfully, consistently the basic precautions and rules that we all know so well by now, from face coverings to avoiding non-essential activities, and maintaining social distancing. With that i'm open for questions.

Media question: i always come to you on these things ... (audio fades out)?

JW: so the question was about, professional and college sports, and that is one of the directives that's changed today as well. So collegiate and professional sports can resume in Santa Clara County, again, without audiences, but can resume in Santa Clara County, uh consistent with that directive. The directive requires uh across the board testing and also requires that each of these teams um ensure that their athletes and that their personnel are limiting any exposure to the broader community, and basically keeping within their households or participating in their activities, because close contact sports, obviously, there's not social distancing. So we have a revised directive up around that, and those activities can now resume with the lifting of this regional stay-at-home order.

Media question: um high school youth sports, i'm hearing from thousands of parents if you can imagine more so what about what do they say?

JW: So youth and adult recreational sports and other forms of youth sports that are not contact sports, in other words, where you can maintain social distancing, where they are being conducted outdoors, and where you have a stable cohort, those can resume, but not where there is close contact, and not if the activity is indoors.

Media question about outdoor dining.

JW: That is correct, outdoor dining can now resume.

Media question: (question to low to hear)?

JW: so the question was, can we say that you know this has been a result of of what people have done? And that's certainly true, so we have definitely seen cases and hospitalizations come down the last few weeks, and we definitely have seen that there was less travel and activity over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, than over Thanksgiving. And there's no question, i think, at this point that you can assess, if you look at our our epidemiological curve of the cases and hospitalizations, that the the surge that came out of Thanksgiving um uh was not repeated coming out of Christmas and New Year's and then the December holidays, uh and that's a really good thing, and that's absolutely a reflection of the fact that, i think, people took what happened in in November as a wake-up call, and i think it's also a reflection of the fact that these measures were taken in December, the stay-at-home order, things like the travel directive, going in place after Thanksgiving. I think people recognizing that this is really a driver of transmission and something that that needs to be taken very, very seriously. That being said, it's really important to recognize, we're just on the downslope, right? We have a ways to go to get back to anywhere near the levels we were at in October and middle of November, and we need to get back down to those levels in order to be in a much safer place as a community, to avoid many many deaths and serious illnesses, in order to avoid the secondary impacts on our hospitals, and so what people have been doing has been working, and we need people to continue to do that, so that those cases and hospitalizations continue to come down, and we can be in a much better place all together as a community.

Media question about travel directive.

JW: sure so the question is, why is the county keeping the travel directive in effect? And uh there are a couple of important reasons for that, one is with the lifting of the regional order across the entire state, and given the fact that southern California has such a significantly increased case rate, positivity rate, and also that we know that there are variants circulating, the the so-called uk you know b117 variant, for example, uh has been detected in southern California. That's all one reason, that it's very important for people to quarantine when they travel. A second reason is that the travel directive appears to have really had an impact on the volume of travel that occurred after it was put in place, and we know that travel is one significant source of spread. uh So both those reasons, coming together, are reasons that we're keeping that important directive in place, but especially right now when our focus is on vaccination, there's different variants circulating, there's a lot of spread out there, and there are a lot of places that have even much higher levels of COVID than we do here in Santa Clara County.

Media question: William. as i understand that the county has suspended all deliveries of vaccine to good Samaritan hospital after it ... first of all what is the county's position on what happened there?

JW: sure so the question is, what's the county's position on what happened at Good Samaritan Hospital with respect to vaccination of Los Gatos School District teachers and staff? We became aware of this email that had gone out basically saying there was this special deal for vaccination, there were a lot of factors there that were very concerning to us, as reflected in the letter that we sent the hospital. One of those factors was the fact that the hospital itself had said that it was only in a position to be vaccinating health care workers and hadn't done the outreach to the priority 75 and older tier, another concerning factor was that it appeared that they were reaching out to the specific district, based on the way it was framed anyway, based on uh you know meals and other things provided to good samaritan staff as opposed to districts, more generally. A third concerning factor was that they appeared to be affirmatively suggesting that staff should sign up registering themselves, as if they were health care workers. Those were all things, among others that we outlined in the letter, as as things of concern, and not consistent with our expectations for vaccine providers in the community. So we will be in continued conversation with them, but at this time, we're not in a position where we would provide any additional county allocations uh to Good Sam uh given given what occurred.

Media question: ... looking to occurred them on the other hand that later that night the school district was telling its employees that that well you can start signing up and over the course of the next day and through the week people are going to be getting this do you buy the explanation that it was just uh getting rid of 65

JW: well, we're we, ... the question was, do we buy their explanation about it being potentially wastage, uh you know, we saw the same email that i think all of you saw, and our concerns expressed in the letter, were based on the content of of that actual document that was being distributed and circulated, which doesn't appear related to wastage.

Media question about legal issues around the letter from Good Samaritan Hospital.

JW: when people come for vaccinations questions what's legal significance when you go and sign up you know we're not requiring for example in the county's own health system and i don't believe any other health systems are requiring any extensive documentation, but we are requiring people to attest, that means under penalty of perjury, to affirm their eligibility. And that system relies on people being truthful, that's why perjury is a crime, and that's how the system is kind of designed. And so yes, it's very concerning if someone's suggesting that people should affirmatively select a different category that's not, not what actually represents who they are.

Media question: considering that the last time that county went um ...?

JW: so the question, is what's the justification for the regional stay-at-home order being lifted, when, for example in Santa Clara County, by the way, much like many counties in southern California and elsewhere, ICU capacity is at or below the 15 percent right now. I think that's a question that you really should ask the State Department of Public Health, there are many counties in southern California that continue to have seriously affected hospitals and and so that's something that we're very concerned about. But they have done projections based on their their models, as described i think at today's um state press conference, where they believe that all the regions are headed out of that danger zone.

Media question about the lodging directive.

JW: sure so the question was uh the related lodging directive, which which kind of goes hand in glove with the travel directive remaining in place. That directive has to do with limiting bookings at lodging facilities to only essential travel, and the travel directive, of course, strongly discourages any non-essential travel and puts the quarantine in place, so those two kind of fit together as as part of a broader effort to discourage any non-essential travel in Santa Clara County.

Media question about SJ Sharks.

JW: so the question is, can the Sharks now play at SAP center? And the answer is if they're adhering to the new directive, yes, they could.

Media question about variant.

JW: so the question is about the new variant and could it could it affect the progress here in California? And there's actually at least three variants that are being closely monitored by us, and i know by the State, and there probably others, as well. There's the so-called UK variant, the b117 variant that uh studies appear to suggest is more transmissible and concerningly potentially more fatal, is the latest news that's coming out of the United Kingdom related to it. There's a so-called South Africa variant and there's studies ongoing about its impact on vaccination, and then there's a variant that we found here in Santa Clara County and that elsewhere across the state the l452r variant, where there's a lot that still is is under research. The bottom line, i think for all of these, is there's a lot we don't know, including their exact impacts, some of these variants definitely appear to be more transmissible, meaning that the virus spreads more easily, more people get sick, and that's very concerning for sure, and potentially that there could be other impacts from them. It's something that we know the CDC and the State Department of Public Health are closely looking at. We actually do a lot of genetic sequencing here in Santa Clara County, a disproportionate amount, compared to other places in California, which is one of the reasons we found uh information around the l452r variant, because it's something that that our public health department and our public health lab has been concerned about and interested in, paying attention to, so we're definitely monitoring all that, but we really don't know a lot of what it's going to shape up to b. What we do know right now is that it's a very good reason to be all the more vigilant. And the one concrete thing that we can do right here, right now, about these variants that are circulating is to double down on being really strict about following the public health guidance and to also avoid travel, because that helps be the engine for the spread of these variants.

Media question.

JW: we don't have specific additional recommendations at this time related to masking or other things, but it's definitely critical for people to, at a minimum, be following the the current public health directives.

Media question.

JW: so question is about vaccination and and what are we doing to expand access? I don't have the specific numbers with me, because i was focused on the on the health orders, and we'll definitely have in our we have dashboards and so forth related to the vaccinations, so i don't have the specific numbers um up to date on vaccination. What i can tell you though right now about it is we continue to expand our capacity to deliver vaccinations, we have mass vaccination sites that are open and open for scheduling at our at Burger Drive and the Fairgrounds, that's from the county health system, itself, that Kaiser, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Stanford Healthcare and others are also standing up significant vaccination capacity And links to all of that information is available at sccFREEvax.org, and people can schedule appointments, and we have appointments uh that are available, so there is it looks in the systems that there is some available capacity for people who are eligible, which again healthcare workers and people 65, and sorry 75 and older. Individuals 75 and older. So we encourage all of those folks to get a vaccine and get it quickly. We're going to continue to ramp up capacity, so a lot of work is happening with the county's own health system, and we know that's happening in other health systems that serve county residents to ramp up capacity. The big limiting factor remains vaccine supply, and we haven't seen an increase in in supply coming in. We are hopeful with the, with the statements from President Biden, with the Biden Administration's new plans uh to see how that translates on the ground. We know it'll take a little time, but they clearly have this as one of their core missions, and so i'm sure that there will be changes coming that will be very concrete. um We just don't know yet how that's going to translate here on the ground, and we also expect that there'll be more changes coming at the state level.

Media question.

JW: so questions around enforcement, uh so as i think many of you know we do have uh enforcement and compliance team that does take an education-first approach, but if people have issues, they can go to the portal sccovidconcerns.org and fill out a form on that portal. it's a web portal, and those are all looked into by our enforcement team, we do have enforcement officers that go out and and look into compliance, and if necessary they do issue fines, and we do follow up on those. We take these very seriously. These are health and safety rules right? This is about serious illness, this is about preventing death, and so it really ranks high up there uh with some of the most important rules that we have as a society that we follow to keep each other safe, and so we certainly take it seriously. We have a unit, we focus we prioritize, you know resources are limited, but it it is something that that we want to make sure first and foremost that the businesses that are operating in our county, all the other entities operating our county are doing so in a manner that's safe and protective of their employees and of their customers.

Roger Ross: Thank you, everyone.

[Press statements from the podium in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Tagalog]