Struggle to quell virus stirs concerns
Health officials alarmed as infections soar in U.S.
The coronavirus has swept with alarming speed and mortality across the globe over the past six months, but the United States has particularly struggled to respond to the pandemic, national and local authorities said Friday, even as the country reported a new peak in daily cases.
More than 60,000 new cases were reported in the United States on Friday, and nearly 1,000 deaths. California reported 9,337 new cases — not a daily record, but the third time the state has hit 9,000 this week. Hospitalizations, too, hit new highs.
The U.S. has borne the burden of COVID19 globally with 3.1 million confirmed cases — about a quarter of all cases worldwide — and more than 133,000 deaths. Persistent outbreaks in California and elsewhere show that even though public health authorities have learned how to keep the
virus contained, the U.S. is simply failing to do so, national and local authorities said.
In the Bay Area, more than 33,000 cases had been reported as of Friday, and 639 deaths. More than 311,000 cases have been reported across the state — about 10% of the total nationwide.
“What we saw before us was the somewhat frightening but nonetheless real emergence of a true global pandemic,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Friday at an international COVID19 conference, referring to the discovery of the new virus in December — and the alarmingly explosive increase in cases worldwide.
“It just went on and on and got worse and worse. And worse,” Fauci said, clicking through slides showing the spread of disease across the globe in his virtual presentation. “There were responses that were sometimes favorable in that countries got it under control. But my own country is in the middle, right as we speak, of a very serious problem.”
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke during the world’s first major COVID19 conference, part of the International AIDS Conference hosted by Bay Area HIV/AIDS leaders.
Santa Clara County’s top executive echoed Fauci’s concerns Friday and called for more aggressive action from top leadership of the state and nation. Daily coronavirus cases in Santa Clara County have nearly tripled over the last month.
“I’m frantic. Everybody is frantic. The public health officer is frantic. Because there is no leadership from the top, and we are not going to be able to control this regionally or locally,” said Jeffrey Smith, a medical doctor and the county’s leader.
Smith called the situation “an overwhelming crisis” and told The Chronicle that Gov. Gavin Newsom should call for a statewide ban on nonessential indoor activity. He also said the federal government should require anyone traveling into the country or between states to either show proof of testing or quarantine for at least 14 days.
He made his comments on the day his county’s Public Health Department rescinded an order that would have allowed indoor gatherings of up to 20 people, starting Monday. Nail and hair salons and barbershops are still expected to reopen Monday if they follow stringent protocols.
The indoor ban is necessary, Smith said, because relying on testing and contact tracing alone to contain the virus isn’t working. In Santa Clara County, the average daily number of new coronavirus cases reached 145 this month — nearly three times the average daily rate in June, of 53. In all, 5,678 people in the county have tested positive for the virus.
“There is no way that we can utilize testing and tracing with such high numbers to test everyone,” Smith said. “Nationwide, we are over 50,000 cases a day. In the state, not quite as much, but still thousands. And you just can’t do testing and contact tracing for that many people effectively.”
Much of California has slowed down, halted or even rolled back attempts to reopen an economy shattered by months of sheltering in place. But so far, Newsom has declined to enact dramatic new restrictions to control case counts that are spiking in many parts of the state, mostly in Southern California.
Asked to respond to Smith’s call for a statewide ban on indoor activities, a spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health defended the state’s approach, which advocates restrictions by region, rather than a blanket ban on certain activities.
“With California’s large population, more than that of 21 states combined, the response (to the pandemic) is based on science and data (and) local conditions, and takes into consideration our collective response on a community/county level,” the department said in an unsigned email.
In San Francisco, officials said Friday that some businesses — barbershops, tattoo parlors, hair salons, gyms, museums and pools — will not be allowed to open Monday as the city had planned. The San Francisco Zoo, however, will reopen Monday. The city has averaged 42 new coronavirus cases a day this month, about the same as in June.
Alameda County public health officials said they will file for a variance with the state next week that would allow them to serve alcohol outdoors and reopen the Oakland Zoo. Last week, the zoo’s executive vice president told the Alameda County Board of Supervisors that the Oakland Zoo could close permanently unless it is allowed
to reopen as an “outdoor museum.”
County officials said late Friday they would reinstate a ban on outdoor dining, under rules recently issued by the state, but could bring it back if they receive the variance.
The health officials said they don’t want to reopen more of their economy while the county and state are reporting widespread illness. Alameda County has the most coronavirus cases in the Bay Area — 7,485 as of Friday — and has also experienced large upticks in recent weeks.
Alameda County is one of only two California counties without a state variance. The other is Imperial County on the southern border, which has been deluged with cases in recent weeks. “Our being last continues to speak to the measured approach we’re taking,” said Colleen Chawla, director of the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency.
In Contra Costa County, public health officials said they especially are concerned about the rising percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive — a sign that the virus is becoming more widespread in the community. The World Health Organization states that the virus is under control if fewer than 5% of results are positive.
On Thursday, the percentage of people testing positive in Contra Costa County reached 7.4%, with 68 people hospitalized. And the average daily number of new cases in the county has more than doubled this month, to 136 from 56 in June.
“We are closely watching our numbers on a daily basis — a couple of key indicators in particular,” said Will Harper, a county spokesman. “If the percentage of people testing positive hits 8% or higher, or if we start to see a significant reduction in ICU or total hospital bed capacity, we may need to hit the rewind button a bit.”
In that case, health officials will add more restrictions on indoor activities and gatherings involving food, rather than closing entire business sectors, Harper said.
In Santa Clara County, Smith said hospitals are preparing for a surge in patients and noted that more than half of their beds remain available. Statewide, 6,171 people were hospitalized with COVID19 as of Friday, an increase of 15% — 816 more people — since July 1. The number of people needing intensive care rose by 6% in the same period, to 1,777 from 1,676 on July 1.
All businesses in Santa Clara County must submit a socialdistancing plan before they can open, said Betty Duong, a county spokeswoman, adding that businesses will look much different than what people are used to. Appointments will be necessary, and customers will have to wear face masks. Salon workers will not only have to wear face masks, but also goggles or face shields, gloves and smocks.
Mary Hill, who owns Fabu
Salon in Campbell, said she will reopen Tuesday, a welcome development to her three employees. Hill will take their temperatures before their shifts start. The employees will wear face shields when they trim a customer’s bangs or shampoo hair, and will wear a face mask at all other times.
All customers will also have to answer questions before coming inside: Have they been exposed to the virus in the past two weeks? Are they feeling sick?
Hill said she feels certain that with these protocols, her staff and customers will be safe despite the resurgence of cases in the county.
“I feel pretty confident that I can operate safely,” she said. “And I understand that there is a risk involved, but I do know my clients, and there is a level of trust.”