06.29.20 COVID-19 Briefing Live Stream Transcript

The County of Santa Clara
June 29, 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. We will go over the data dashboard in just a moment. But first, last Friday Dr. Sara Cody issued a statement, saying that we should anticipate a new order sometime this week. And it may. While she was not specific, we understand that more businesses may be resuming. Let's take a look at a little bit of what she had to say.
Dr. Sara Cody: I anticipate issuing a new order next week that will mark the end of our sector-specific strategy and the beginning of a new phase, where many activities will be allowed to resume with appropriate risk reduction measures in place. And of course, many high-risk activities simply cannot safely resume here or elsewhere anytime soon. This new order and related materials are under development and will be shared as soon as they're ready. Which I anticipate will be around the middle of next week. It will go into effect several days later, thus giving businesses time to put appropriate safety measures in place.

LL: With the anticipation of more openings coming with the new order, our team here at the emergency operations center has spent a lot of hours working on a business and workplace website. And Abby joins me to tell me more about, tell us more about that website. Thanks for being here. So, just talk about the website that's been created pulled up here very easy to get to from here. So, just tell us about the website.

Abigail Avilucea: Yes, so, this is a new website where anyone can go to see everything there is to know about how to operate business safely within Santa Clara county currently. And it will be updated of   course with the new orders this week. Um, we understand that the public health orders have affected businesses substantially. So, this website was was created to create a resource for businesses, employees, and customers, all affected by COVID-19.

Larry Little: So, why is. How can this be useful to business owners here in Santa Clara county?
AA: So, for businesses operating in Santa Clara County. This website contains everything they need to know to understand what's open, how to open legally and safely, and how to keep their customers and employees safe. We have all the required documents for operations such as the social distancing protocol and other forms that they can find here. The public health orders have changed a lot since March until now and are still going to be changing. So, this website puts all the information in one location, to help business owners stay current and comply with the most current orders.

LL: So, what information and materials and methods did you use to create the website?
AA: So, we we took all the most relevant um parts of the orders, recent order, state orders, county orders and put them all in one location to help make it easier for business owners. We also compiled some links to very relevant state and federal guidelines for all industries. And helped put some answers that were frequently asked by business owners to the county. And hopefully those answers will help other business owners that may be confused about the guidelines.

LL: Also, we have a call center, business call center here. Talk about that a little bit.

AA: Yes. So, the call center is now. If you, you can find the number at the very bottom of the website. It is to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. If you call on off hours you can leave a voicemail and you will get a response in a timely manner. There's also a form down here where you can fill out a questionnaire. And these will be responded to by email.

LL: All right Abby, thank you so much for the information. This is going to be very useful for business owners as well. Uh, but it's also going to be, it's also going to be useful for uh consumers as well. And Antoinnae is here to talk about how consumers can use it as well as employees. Thank you for being here.

Antoinnae Comeaux: Thank you.

LL: So, how can this be useful to employees, this website?

AC: Here on our business page we definitely have information to give tips, to help keep your families and employees safe when you are going to work and working with the public. So, one of the uh tips we have for when you're going to work. You know, we know that it's safest when you can drive alone to work. We know, not everyone has that option. So, we have, you know, some guidance there saying that if you are going to take public transportation remember to that you must wear a face covering, bring hand sanitizer with you. And then, when you arrive to work and while you're working during your shift, during your work hours, it's really important to get to have the consistent hand hygiene. Wash your hands as soon as you arrive. Continue washing your hands frequently while you're at work and really practicing a lot of that, those uh social distancing protocols. To work to keep you and your family safe. You know a lot of people and my friends have been affected by their businesses being shut down for three months now. There's also information here for them as well. Can you talk about those sections for employees affected, businesses and unemployment claims? AC: Yes, of course. So, we've also made sure to highlight all of the key links for the resources that are offered, primarily by the state, as it relates to unemployment insurance. You know you're eligible for unemployment insurance in a variety o cases. Whether you are sick with COVID-19. If you're caring for a loved one, um who has you know been die by, diagnosed with COVID-19. Or, even if your work hours have been reduced, uh you know, due to the pandemic. You, you may be eligible for for benefits. So, we want to make sure that folks can find that information right here through the county. There's a variety of places that, you know, that have been highlighting. That we want to make sure that that's available to the public. And so, folks are also aware of a lot of the resources that we offer. We, we've highlighted food resources before in the past. We want to make sure that folks know that there is help available. And it's out there and we're here to guide you to the right resources for those.

LL: All right, thank you so much for being here and going over that information.  let's just jump right into the data dashboard.  Uh here, and go over those numbers. As you can see, total cases uh as of yesterday, 4,162 cases in Santa Clara County. who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. You can see here the new case is, 135. And our hospitalization numbers at 82. Those numbers are a lot higher than what we are used to seeing. Uh, you can also see here, 30 to 49 years old uh that's our highest age group, uh with the virus. So, let's just take a look here at some of the the information that's been provided to us. You can see here that we are on an uptrend. Testing has improved and more people are getting tested. But, that does not necessarily mean that we should be getting more positive cases. That's why we should constantly wear our face masks, practice social distancing, Uh as well. Let's just look at some of the information here. If you go here, you'll see we have a number of 98, if we go back to the information from May. So, it's very important uh that we uh practice social distancing, again, wear our face uh mask, and also just make sure that we're doing essential travel even with the county beginning to open up.

Because if you will take a look here. You know a lot of people put. You know, being the public health officer, I can only imagine is a very tough job in making decisions. And I am sure Dr. Cody does not wake up every morning and say well I think I want to close down the places that serve ice cream. It's just not that easy. And you can see that it's happening all over the country here. let's just go to a tweet from the governor of California. Luis, if you can pull that up.  Where he says due to the rising spread of COVID-19 California is ordering bars to close in Fresno, several counties, while recommending they close in Contra Costa, Riverside and he lists a lot of other places. Also, let's look at a tweet from the mayor of San Francisco, London Breed. She says "Our reopening process is guided by data and science. COVID-19 cases are rising throughout California. We're now seeing a rise in cases in San Francisco too. Our numbers are still low but rising rapidly. As a result, we're temporarily delaying the re-openings that were scheduled for Monday". So, you see a lot of pullback on things that have been open. Um, you know, we. It's a responsibility for everyone you know.
One, I go through all of the uh comments uh on our Facebook, and one comment said, "Please open the gyms, uh it's been proven that people uh over 30 don't die from the virus". Well, let's just take a look here at some CDC information. And of course, that is correct. We can see here, and if you could zoom in Jeff, 30 to 39 make up 1.2 percent of deaths, 40 to 49 makes up 2.9 of the deaths, and it goes up as you go on. For example, you look my stepfather is in the 85 plus age bracket and that's death rates highest, 32.2 percent. But, this is where this is important. You're 30 years old and you can actually carry the virus and you can transmit the virus to someone in these age groups, who are not equipped. You know, they're more likely to pass away from the virus. So, this is a very serious here. So, we hope everyone will continue to practice social distancing as well as wearing your face mask and washing your hands. Uh, we want to bring on Rodrigo for just a moment here.

Thank you for joining us. Facebook, espanol esta uh, comenza uh esta semana. Y rodrigo esta para aqui, contar a respecto, haha. en english.

Rodrigo Garcia-Reyes: We want to invite folks in the community to join us as we start our new Facebook live in Spanish, starting this Wednesday July 1st. Invitamos a toda la comunidad a que nos acompañen en nuestras nuevas sesiones de Facebook live, empezando este miércoles julio primero.

LL: Thank you so much.

RG: Thank you

LL: And thank you for watching everyone, continue to follow our social media pages to stay up to date on what's happening with COVID-19 in Santa Clara County. And expect the new order to come out this week. Thanks for watching, we will see you next time.