10.20.20 LIVE County of Santa Clara County Executive addresses attendance at professional

The County of Santa Clara
October 20, 2020
Live Stream - Live with the County of Santa Clara
3:00pm PT


Betty Duong: Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us today at this media availability um at 12 approximately 12 noon today the State did make an announcement that there were some changes in the State's guidance relating to outdoor attendance of professional sporting events um the State is now allowing that Orange-Tier Counties can perk they're allowing for Orange-Tier Counties to um to provide to allow attendance up to 20 capacity at professional um sporting events that's not something it's not an approach that the County is going to be taking um with this new development we are taking a more cautious approach in adherence with the values that we have always abided by in terms of limiting the spread of COVID maintaining social distancing limiting the capacity of how many people are going to be congregating in one place and certainly by no means will professional sporting events have an exception to the standard the standard procedures and the values that we have have held ourselves to so at this time to receive media questions and provide more clarity about where the County is in the direction that we're taking the County Executive Officer Jeff Smith


Jeff Smith: Thanks Betty just a few comments at the beginning then I'll be happy to take questions we are calling this Press Conference because we want to make it clear that super spreader events will not be allowed within the County of Santa Clara the uh changes in the State's guidelines regarding professional sports are in our opinion really quite dangerous if you just do the math 20 percent of the number the capacity at Levi's Stadium means just under 14,000 people could attend a football game there and if you look around the County and around the Region within 150 miles of this County there are areas and communities that have positivity rates for COVID that are in the eight percent range ours in this County happens to be around one percent but if you do the math that means somewhere between 250 and a thousand people out of those 14,000 people will be infected they'll be infected they'll be at the stadium screaming yelling they'll be going to try to get food they'll be unmasked during the time period that they're eating they're going to be going to the restroom they're going to be congregating they're going to be infecting other individuals if we have 800 people who have COVID mingling with another 13,000 who have COVID we're going to see a super spreader event no question this is dangerous this is the worst thing in the World to be doing at a time period when California is beginning to see some light this amounts to another step backwards we've already done steps backwards in California that have cost tens of thousands of lives this is another risk to do this so this County will not change its Risk Mitigation Order and those kinds of activities will not be allowed so with that I'll open it up for questions


Questioner from Mercury News: Hi uh good afternoon thanks for taking time ....from San Jose Mercury News um Dr. Cody and the County have led from the beginning of dealing with this pandemic was this a was this a point to kind of draw a line in the sand and be an example for the entire Nation


Jeff Smith: I think that uh Dr. Cody has consistently made decisions based on science and her expertise and the science just simply doesn't support the concept of large congregations of individuals at the same time right now the only method of treatment for COVID is to keep people apart keep them masked keep them socially distant going against that completely is bringing 14,000 people together in close proximity so it's not really a matter of a line in the sand it's a matter of reasonable scientific decision-making instead of political decision-making.


Questioner: Health and did you try and convince him otherwise or were you not even brought in you or Dr. Cody not even brought into this conversation.


Jeff Smith: Well I should clarify I'm here to speak for Dr. Cody because she's currently attending a Board of Supervisors meeting so I'm her surrogate she has been in contact with a State and tried to convince them that this is a really unwise idea um and has not so far been successful in convincing them that of that


Questioner: So it's not about positivity rates in Santa Clara County that's where you want them to be so it sounds like there's no there's no change in positivity rates that could change the opinion it's the matter of a vaccine is that fair to say or would you how would you characterize it


Jeff Smith: Well I think the way that the order from the State is written it's anybody within 150 miles of the stadium can buy a ticket so if you look at 150 miles away from Santa Clara County that includes lots of areas where the virus is out of control Merced, Stanislaus areas like you know Marin some areas in Monterey, Santa Cruz that is a really high risk of bringing virus into our community and increasing our positivity rates but that being said as you say without some kind of other treatment besides social distancing having these large congregations is a great risk no matter what and we've seen that across the Nation with church services, weddings, motorcycle clubs all kinds of congregate settings where the super spreading event has occurred even the Rose Garden in Washington DC is a super spreader event


Questioner: Dr. Jeff what criteria would you like to see before the County would feel comfortable allowing fans even at 20 to back into the stadium


Jeff Smith: Well I'm not the County Health Officer but what I would say is that was the very first activity that was precluded because it's such a high risk so I would say that it'll be the last one that the County would consider opening and in that sense the only thing that would likely be possible to see would be dramatic decrease in positivity.


Questioner: So kind of two questions so so it's an open air stadium is that a mitigating factor at all and second there have been other NFL teams in other cities and other markets that have amount plans have you been able to or have Public Health Officials been able to trace outbreaks back to those events


Jeff Smith: Well that's a really interesting question and at the beginning of this COVID pandemic there's good evidence that a football game done in Miami caused a major spread through the Midwest and through the North and as a matter of fact some Epidemiologists think that it was the seed that caused the big spike in New York now recently there's been changes in that process we don't have enough data to be able to say exactly what's caught what's happened but we do know that being together with other individuals who have coveted is a very high risk and being an outdoor stadium changes that a little bit but not when you have 14,000 people there that have to get through the same doors to get in and out have to go to the same restrooms have to go to the same concession stands you know they're they're screaming they're yelling we know that's a way that the spread occurs so it's really a minimal effect on being outdoors in that situation


Questioner: About college football games and what is the County's perspective on that


Jeff Smith: I don't think I can clarify what the State's saying because it doesn't make sense to me so about you know college games they're saying that they're allowed without attendance and so I don't understand how that protects the students the actual people who are playing the game whereas for example the NFL has in place very stringent bubble criteria for the players and the umpires and testing criteria for the players and umpires so they're relatively protected but that's not being implemented with regard to students playing student games

Questioner: But can you just clarify

BD: Follow up questions and the gentleman over here and then back to you thank you


Questioner: But in Santa Clara County colleges cannot have uh fans in attendance correct.

JS: Right

Questioner: Thank you

BD: Over here

Questioner: yeah Dr. Smith have uh has anybody in the County uh talk to the yes both teams were notified that our order does not change as well as the Great America and Gilroy Amusement Park we're all notified that our order has not changed and activity is still prohibited

Questioner: What was their reaction I understand that 49ers were really hoping that the State would open this up and allow them to to bring people in obviously if it's business for them and that's what they're thinking about

JS: Well I can't say what the reaction was because I wasn't on the phone what I can say is they seem to know about the relaxation of the order before the Public Health Officer knew so I imagine they had been lobbying the State heavily

Questioner: Probably up on Marianne's question back to the college football can college football actually play now in Santa Clara County and if not does that change number one and number two you talk about it it seems like a big concern with this State policy is this 150 miles where cases are through your roof but that's just guidance couldn't the County if you wanted to draft the policy allowing only people in Santa Clara County to buy a ticket and if that's the case what would be wrong with that

JS: Okay first question is yes college athletics is allowed with a number of mitigation factors and risk reduction factors masking and various other activities that are required not with audiences in attendance and I think the real problem with this State um change in the order is not specifically the 150 miles but the fact that you bring so many people together at such high risk now allowing it to be spread among citizens 150 miles in diameter away from the stadium makes it even worse but even if it was a one percent and even if it was just uh citizens of the County it would still be very risky

Questioner: Yes I guess the question I have is we are the football season is underway and sports have resumed at what point of which do you think you what would the conditions have to be where you would feel comfortable allowing some number of fans into a 49er or a Sharks game or an airplane.

JS: I think the that at better answered in the negative and the fact is that throughout the nation the virus is spiking basically all of the health experts in the Nation that are respectable have predicted another spike in November and December it's going to get worse it's going to get a lot worse right now is not the time to be relaxing regulations and in terms of predicting the future about when it might be okay that really depends on the virus and depends on compliance with social distancing we know right here in this County you know we started with the first death in the united States in the continental United States we started as a hot spot but because the people of this County were vigorous in their social distancing and sheltering in place we knocked down the the incidence of virus considerably now it's beginning to go back up mostly because we're not an island so California is not an island the Nation is getting worse last numbers I saw is 30 out of the hospitals that are filled ICU's filled on the East Coast New York's beginning to see another uptrend now is not the time to start thinking about getting a lot of people together in one one a in a big place.

Questioner: Kind of way uh Dr. Cody and all the people in the County are public servants and they're looking to protect their constituency um how how crazy is it to even like why are they playing sports which seems to be I realize it's a business but then the college thing as you pointed out it's not that's a big question but I mean does it just boggle your mind that they're actually trying to do this

JS: Okay I'm just speaking for Jeff Smith not for Dr. Cody or for the Board of Supervisors but from my perspective it not only boggles the mind it's just unconscionable basically they're putting lives at risk people who think that they're safe are are going to be at risk people at home not just the people who attend the games will be at risk and we haven't even opened schools we are still worrying about businesses being able to survive it makes no sense whatsoever to have audiences at stadiums particularly when there is a model to do it without audiences in a much safer way so that the only individuals who are being put at risk are the players the refs and their families but they're getting constant tests so putting an audience in a stadium in large groups is just asking for trouble it's like a petri dish.

Betty Duong: Thank you everyone so that concludes our media availability today we do have a Spanish language spokesperson here at the County and we if anybody would like these languages uh media interview we also have Vietnamese language capability too if they're saying numbers press here thank you thank you okay thank you thank you thank you thank you