Coronavirus Pandemic: San Mateo County Health Officials Announce 11 New Deaths, 28 New Confirmed Cases
REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) -- Public health officials announced Wednesday there have been 11 new coronavirus deaths reported among San Mateo County residents and 28 new conformed cases of the illness.
With the latest fatalities, the grim toll of the outbreak has led to the deaths of 39 San Mateo County residents. Officials did not release the latest victims ages, gender, how they may have contracted the disease or where their deaths occurred.
The county's coronavirus dashboard did give some indication as to who has been the most vulnerable to the disease. Of those who have died, 25 have been 80 years old or older. 24 of those identified as white have died followed by 10 of Asian descent. When it came to gender -- 21 males have died and 18 females.
There were 72 residents being treated in local hospitals with 54 being cared for in the ICU. Overall, there have been 958 confirmed cases in the county since the outbreak began.
By early Wednesday, there have been 231 deaths in the 10-county San Francisco Bay Area region. The hardest hit region has been neighboring Santa Clara County with 1,946 confirmed cases and a region-high 88 deaths.
While San Mateo officials did not release any details about the latest deaths, the family of former Stanford President Donald Kennedy has confirmed that he died of the disease Tuesday morning at an assisted living facility in Redwood City.
In a statement to the San Mateo Daily, Kennedy's wife -- Robin -- said the former educator and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner took a turn for the worse over the weekend while battling the virus at the Gordon Manor facility.
"My husband was not alone in his room any time during the days of his illness," she wrote. "When he took a turn for the worse on Saturday night, a family member was with him holding his hands, massaging his face, talking to him and reminding him how much he was loved by his family. Our (adult) children and I and two of our grandchildren were able to 'be present' on Sunday evening, via FaceTime."
"It gave each of us a chance to say goodbye," she added.
Gordon Manor has been one of the many Bay Area senior care facilities battling outbreaks of the virus. While not confirmed by San Mateo County health officials, the newspaper reported Kennedy was the third resident of the facility to die as a result of COVID-19.
