To date, 652 Santa Clara County residents have died from COVID-19, making it the county’s third leading cause of death in 2020, behind only cancer and heart disease.
State-mandated stay-at-home rules have intensified in recent weeks as California sees an unprecedented viral surge. Los Angeles is presently COVID-19’s epicenter, with ICU capacity there at zero. At press time, only 9% of ICU beds remain available in Santa Clara County. Meanwhile, countywide, the Latino population has been disproportionately impacted by the disease, as 52% of all Santa Clara County COVID patients have been Latino although Latinos only constitute 25.8% of the population.
In a press release today, County officials wrote, “As the holiday season continues with the Day of the Holy Innocents, and the New Year and Three Kings Day approaching, County health officials remind all residents to do their part by wearing face coverings and avoiding gatherings with those outside of the household.”
They went on to add that at least 40% of those who are infected with COVID-19 show no symptoms, and a number of COVID carriers can spread the disease before their symptoms begin.
Today, there were 1,715 new COVID-19 cases reported in Santa Clara County.
Please practice proper pandemic mitigations. Mask up. Wash hands. Distance others. It is not hard to do.