Bay Area schools, transit and arenas preparing as virus worries mount

Facebook canceled a massive conference in San Jose. Stanford University has told students they need permission from top administrators for any travel to China or South Korea. Chase Center has put out extra hand sanitizer dispensers. And some East Bay schools are ramping up classroom cleaning efforts. With anxiety mounting over the potential spread of coronavirus, officials in charge of some of the Bay Area’s busiest public gathering places — its mass transit agencies, arenas, schools, colleges and airports — say they are in close contact with public health leaders about how to confine the growing threat. But while some are taking early precautionary steps, they so far have avoided following the more severe measures that have disrupted lives in countries where the illness has spread more rapidly. This has been a week of troubling developments from the virus, marked by the warning Tuesday by American public health officials that schools, businesses and families should be prepared for the prospect of a coronavirus outbreak, as well as word of its worsening spread in Italy, Iran and South Korea. That was followed by the revelation Wednesday that a critically ill woman in Solano County had contracted the virus from an unknown source, pointing to the possibility that the virus could spread undetected in the general public. Facebook announced Thursday that it had canceled its F8 conference, planned for early May at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, because of the risk the virus could spread at the gathering that drew more than 5,000 people last year. It’s the second conference the social networking giant has canceled since the outbreak began. “This was a tough call to make,” Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, Facebook’s director of developer platforms, said in a statement. “But we need to prioritize the health and safety of our developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on.” The tech research firm IDC also has canceled a conference it had scheduled for next week in Santa Clara, citing concerns about the virus. Golden State Warriors games and other big events will go on at the Chase Center, where a spokesman said crews have “increased our cleaning processes” and put up signs in bathrooms to encourage good hygiene practices, along with the extra hand sanitizer dispensers. T he Livermore Valley Unified School District has launched a heightened cleaning protocol, directing custodial staff to wipe down “touch points” surfaces such as desks, handles and doorknobs in all classrooms throughout the district, said Philomena Rambo, the district’s director of community engagement. Diablo Valley College has also made hand sanitizers more widely available. At Stanford, where students will soon leave for spring break, university officials are warning anyone going abroad to closely follow news about the coronavirus and any additional travel restrictions that could emerge. Along with the restrictions on travel to China and South Korea, the university also recommends students and employees avoid travel to Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Iran and Italy. Still, with public health officials stressing that the virus remains contained in the United States, other agencies are taking a measured approach — too measured, in the opinion of some worried residents. Some BART riders have vented on social media that they are worried about the potential for the virus to spread on packed rush-hour trains in a system that carries more than 400,000 passengers each weekday. Dramatic photos have circulated of workers clad in protective suits spraying down trains in Tehran. But BART spokesman Jim Allison said the public health officials the agency has been in contact with have told them that steps like extra cleaning “are not necessary at this time.” “That being said, we have plans in place should a recommendation be made calling for operational changes,” Allison added. “We have long-standing emergency plans related to communicable diseases. We’ve adapted those plans to ensure they are current.” Mineta San Jose International Airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said officials there are taking the advice of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, “which so far has involved sharing advice with employees about thoroughly washing hands.”