At a Santa Clara County press conference this afternoon, Dr. Sara Cody announced that the shelter-in-place order has been extended to May 3, 2020, which supersedes the order made on March 16.
The extension has been made to continue the effort of slowing the spread of COVID-19. Restrictions to the order have been tightened somewhat. All essential businesses are now required to prepare a “Social Distancing Protocol” by April 2. That protocol must be in alignment with a form prepared by the County. It must be posted “at or near the entrance of the relevant facility, and shall be easily viewable by the public and employees.”
Also, essential businesses must scale down “non-essential components.” Most construction is now prohibited, with some exceptions. And playgrounds and other related facilities are now ordered to be closed, which some cities, like Milpitas, have already done.
Yesterday, the County announced 202 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 848. They also announced 3 new deaths, bringing the total to 28 deaths in the County.
However, despite the raising number of cases (from 114 to 848 in the last two weeks alone), Dr. Cody mentioned that there are indications that the spread is beginning to slow. Officials hope to see more evidence of the spread slowing down in the next 2 weeks.
Officials continued to talk about the importance of social distancing when out for essential items.
Go here for more information about the order.