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Santa Clara County Will Continue Going Slowly In Easing Of Shelter-In-Place Orders

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- Santa Clara County was the first Bay Area county to implement stay-at-home order and will likely be the last to lift them.

Several Bay Area counties have slowly begun to lift restrictions and reopen their economies with more to follow on March 18.

"If we did ease up, we would see a brisk return of cases, hospitalizations, and a brisk return of deaths," said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County's Chief Health Officer. Dr. Cody issued that dire warning to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

If the county was to reopen to quickly, Cody said it could undo the good the stay-at-home order has accomplished and risk a resurgence of the virus. Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez says she understands how that message might be unpalatable to many restless residents.

"It looks like we ate our vegetables, we did our homework and Florida is opening with reckless abandon and we can't go outside," Chavez said. So, I completely understand the frustration and the challenge.

And while the stay-at-home order might be a good prescription for public health, it does not address the financial wellbeing of businesses and workers.

"I have employees coming in here asking me if they can just work for food," says Jim Angelopoulos, owner of Yolked, a breakfast restaurant in Morgan Hill. Angelopoulos has laid off 20 out of 25 of his pre-pandemic workforce.

"I understand that people say for the good of all we have to do this. But I still want to feed my family. And I still want to stay in business," he said.

Santa Clara has been the hardest hit of all Bay Area counties by the coronavirus pandemic, with 2,391 confirmed cases and 134 deaths as of Friday afternoon.

The current health order in Santa Clara County extends until May 31.

 

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