Cases of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, are spiking in Milpitas, where the total case count has crossed 100 in the past few days.
As of June 20, county data showed 97 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Milpitas. As of today, June 24, the total stands at 114.
On a county level, Santa Clara County today saw its case total jump more than ever before, with 121 new cases added, a trend referred to by health officials as “worrisome.” An increase in testing—with generally between 2,000 and 3,000 tests being completed daily in the past 2 weeks, and a goal of getting to 4,000 tests per day—has contributed to the increased caseload, but not by enough to account for the overall increase, experts say.
Also today, on a state level, over 6,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported—the second day in a row to see above 6,000 new infections.
County Health Officer and Public Health Director Dr. Sara Cody addressed the County Board of Supervisors Tuesday; she was unable to specify when the county would be able to continue opening up its economy.
Appearing exasperated at certain points, County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg asked Dr. Cody for a brief update on the 5 key indicators by which officials track our ability to reopen, as well as whether more businesses can be reopened in the coming days.
Cody verified that these indicators are indeed important, but also mentioned the relevance of many additional factors:
“We’re doing extremely well on testing, contracting tracing, and hospital capacity. The worrisome signals are that our cases are not flat or decreasing. And as I showed in the slides, we’re seeing an uptick in hospitalizations…” said Cody.
She made it clear that more hospitalizations are also being seen across the state and country. Meanwhile, Governor Gavin Newsom has also noted an alarming statewide uptick in intensive care (ICU) patients.
Earlier this week, Newsom mentioned that certain businesses might even have to close again, in a reversal of the state’s progress toward reopening, unless we see significant change. As of today, the state has logged a total of 178,000 COVID-19 cases.
On June 5, numerous restrictions were loosened in Santa Clara County, allowing for the reopening of child care facilities and outdoor dining, along with in-store retail, in-home services, outdoor recreational activities, and drive-in movie theaters, among other things.
At that time, Dr. Cody made a public commitment to conducting more research and gathering more data countywide to further push along the reopening process.
“I will keep my commitment,” Dr. Cody said today. “We’re looking at that very carefully through Friday.”
Currently, in Santa Clara County, places like nail shops, beauty salons, barber shops, and gyms remain closed. Santa Clara is 1 of 4 among California’s 58 counties not permitted to reopen such establishments, on account of its COVID-19 numbers.
An inquiry from The Milpitas Beat to the County of Santa Clara regarding Covid-19 recovery and death counts in Milpitas has not yet been replied to.