COVID Update – April 30, 2021

COVID-19 Cases in Santa Clara County

This past week, the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department reported 25 more individuals in the county who contracted COVID-19 have lost their lives.  This brings the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the county to 2,068.  As of Friday, April 30th, the total case count had reached 118,269, and the 7-day rolling average of new cases (based on specimen collection date) was at 109 cases per day.

As of Friday, there were 76 COVID positive patients hospitalized in Santa Clara County (up from 70 the prior week).  Of these hospitalizations, 20 were in the ICU.  COVID positive patients now occupy 6% of all ICU beds, and 27% of beds are currently available.  More data can be found through the Public Health Department’s Data Dashboards.

Leaders in Santa Clara County Concerned by Reduced Demand for COVID-19 Vaccine, Urge the Public to Continue Getting Vaccinated

This week, leaders in Santa Clara County held a press conference to express concern about the reduced demand for COVID-19 in our County. While more than two-thirds of Santa Clara County residents over the age of 16 have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, leaders are concerned with a recent reduction in demand for vaccination and urge the public to continue getting vaccinated to save lives, prevent the spread of dangerous variants, and help the community emerge from the pandemic. In particular, the County urges youth and young adults to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Young adults ages 18-29 make up the highest number of unvaccinated individuals in the county, and although case rates are flattening or decreasing, young adults ages 18-34 have the highest rate of COVID infection of any age group.

Updates on County Vaccination Efforts

Bay Area Health Officers issued a joint statement this week regarding the safe administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.  This statement was made following an announcement last Friday by the CDC and FDA that they would accept the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendations to lift pausing on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for all adults.  The Bay Area Health Officers, representing the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Solano and the City of Berkeley, concur with the findings of the ACIP and Western States Scientific Safety Review that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is safe and that Bay Area health providers should resume its administration to prevent community spread and severe illness and death from COVID-19.  People who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should contact their primary healthcare provider if they have concerns or if they develop severe symptoms of headache, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination.  COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the Bay Area’s Health Officers, and we will continue to monitor the situation and look to the CDC for any additional future guidance.

Vaccine data from the California Department of Public Health’s California Immunization Registry (CAIR2) now show that 68.9% of county residents age 16 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with 1,110,057 total residents now partially or fully vaccinated.  These data reflect strong progress towards the County’s goal of vaccinating at least 85% of residents age 16 or older by August 1, 2021.  The County announced this week that County staff had determined that data on the race/ethnicity of most Latinos who received the COVID-19 vaccine from Kaiser Permanente was automatically being replaced with “other” or “non-Hispanic” when transferred into the CAIR2.  Working in partnership with Kaiser, the County has corrected the race/ethnicity information for these Kaiser patients in the County’s vaccine dashboards, resulting in more than 22,000 additional Hispanic/Latino community members who have received at least one dose on the County’s Vaccination Dashboard.

Information on how to schedule an appointment is available on the County’s website at sccfreevax.org, and residents without internet access or who need additional assistance can call 211 for assistance in multiple languages.

Board of Supervisors to Receive COVID-19 Staff Report on May 4th

At 1pm on Tuesday, May 4th, the Board of Supervisors will hear a report from the Public Health Officer and Administration related to the current status of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County.  Click here to view the full meeting agenda and related materials, and the webcast of the meeting will be available here at the start of the meeting.  Residents can join online here.

COVID-19 Testing Information

Public health officials continue to remind the public that testing is critical to understanding where the region stands in the pandemic, particularly as variants continue to circulate in the community.  For those who may have been exposed to the virus, testing remains free, easy, and confidential.  It is available seven days a week and there are a number of options for different needs, including appointment or drop-in, drive-through or walk-up, and specimen collection by nasal swab or saliva. Frontline workers should get tested at least once a month and up to once every two weeks, and continue testing even after being vaccinated.

Residents can book an appointment for the Fairgrounds or the various rotating city sites, and appointments can be made in Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish, or English.   Visit www.sccfreetest.org to search for an available site by City or Date, or to see the complete list of available County testing sites.

Additional Community-Based and State-Operated Testing Options

Roots Community Health Center and Gardner Health Services continue to organize free, community-based drop-in COVID-19 testing events every Wednesday.  Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) provides similar community-based testing every Friday at their Story Road site.  No appointments are necessary, and all individuals are served regardless of insurance or immigration status.

• Gardner Health Services: Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Avenue, San José, 95116. For more information, call 408-457-7100.
• AACI Health Center: Story Road Clinic: 749 Story Rd, #50, San José CA 95122.  For more information, call 408-975-2763.

In addition, there are several testing sites now operated OptumServe, a State contractor.  These sites are free but require appointments.  Visit here or call (888) 634-1123 to schedule an appointment:

• Independence High School (drive through): 617 N. Jackson Ave., San José.
• Mount Pleasant High School (drive through): 1750 S. White Road, San José.
• Gilroy Civic Center: 7351 Church St., Gilroy
• Gavilan College:  Social Science Building, 5055 Santa Teresa Blvd, Gilroy CA  95020.
• Grange in Morgan Hill:  40 E 4th Street, Morgan Hill CA  95037.
• James Lick High School: 2951 Alum Rock Ave., San José.

Thank you for your ongoing leadership during these difficult times,

Liaison Officer

County of Santa Clara Emergency Operations Center

Website: http://sccphd.org/coronavirus

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sccpublichealth/

Instagram: @scc_publichealth

Twitter: @HealthySCC