Coronavirus: Santa Clara County warns those over 50 or with medical conditions to avoid large gatherings.

Older residents or those with medical issues told to avoid large gatherings

The impact of the coronavirus outbreak that has alarmed health officials worldwide took on new urgency Tuesday as Santa Clara County announced two new cases in people without known exposure risk and warned residents older than 50 or in poor health to avoid large public gatherings.

County officials said people are progressively more vulnerable to the disease as they age and if they have other health problems. And because the disease is primarily spread through contact with infected people, they urged people at highest risk to avoid events like parades, sporting events and concerts where many people sit or stand close together.

“The risk increases with age,” said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County’s health officer. “We are recommending people at higher risk avoid mass gatherings.”

Santa Clara County’s warning goes further than those of other Bay Area counties, which have had fewer cases of the virus, officially called COVID-19, and generally advise residents to regularly wash hands, avoid sick people and stay home if not well.

There are now 11 cases in Santa Clara County, the highest of any other Bay Area county. Of the county’s nine known cases before Tuesday, four involved recent travel to China, where the outbreak originated in December, three involved close contact with infected people, and two had no known risk factors and are believed to have involved community spread.

“Due to our almost daily increase in cases, the Public

Health Department is issuing new guidance today to protect the health of vulnerable individuals,” Cody said. “We ask for the public’s help in sharing these new recommendations, staying calm, and following prior guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control.”

The advice does not include typical office environments, grocery stores or shopping centers, where it is unusual for large numbers of people to be within arm’s length of one another, health officials said.

At the SAP Center, where the San Jose Sharks were to play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, management said in a statement that it is coordinating with local agencies and the CDC, and “at this time we have not received any information about the coronavirus that would indicate a need to alter any of our operating procedures.”

“SAP Center Management takes this matter

seriously and will continue to monitor the situation as more information becomes available,” the statement continued.

Fans on their way to the game appeared to take the county’s warning in stride.

“Officials have to be pragmatic and so do we, but that won’t stop me from attending tonight’s hockey game,” said Gus Thomson, 63, of Auburn. Thomson added that he planned to take precautions during the game, including washing his hands and not touching his face.

Clad in a Sharks jersey, Bill Hildebrand, 65, of Hayward, said he planned to keep attending games.

“I believe in fate,” Hildebrand said. “If it happens, it happens.”

Attendees at opening night of Cinequest also weren’t deterred by the warning. “It’s the luck of the draw,” said Shel Onstead, 87. “If you’re in the wrong place, you’ll get sick.”

Cinequest co-founder and festival director Halfdan Hussey said the festival was taking commonsense precautions like asking volunteer and staff members to stay home if they are feeling sick and having more hand sanitizers available at venues.

“We haven’t had anyone ask us to refund a ticket or a pass because of this. And we don’t have any filmmakers coming from countries that have been heavily affected,” he said. “Our company didn’t need the coronavirus to have these good health procedures.”

The Santa Clara County health department also advised that organizations serving the elderly and medically vulnerable cancel gatherings such as bingo or movie screenings and be extra vigilant about cleaning shared surfaces such as doorknobs and keyboards, and screening visitors for symptoms.

The risk of severe illness increases at age 50 and goes up the older a person is, with people age 80 and older at the highest risk, health officials said. People with medical problems such as cardiovascular or heart disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung disease or who are immunocompromised also are at greater risk.

In addition to Santa Clara, Solano County — which includes Travis Air Force Base, where many Americans were quarantined after evacuating from China or a cruise ship off Japan — has three confirmed cases, one of which may have been community spread. Contra Costa County also has three cases.

“We are not where Santa Clara is at,” said Will Harper, a spokesman for Contra Costa Health Services, which on Monday advised residents that measures such as canceling public events, avoiding large gatherings, working from home, and closing schools may be needed in the future. “Sounds like Santa Clara is going a step beyond what we’ve said.”

Alameda County on Monday reported it has two presumed cases involving health care workers who are self-isolating at home that are awaiting confirmation. San Benito County has had two cases, involving a husband who had traveled to China and his wife who caught it from him.

According to the World Health Organization, the virus, which first appeared in China in December, has since spread to at least 48 countries, including the U.S.

There are now more than 90,000 confirmed infections worldwide and at least 3,110 deaths. Most of those are in China, where the number of reported cases has been shrinking. Outside of China, the largest numbers of cases have been in South Korea,

Iran and Italy.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tallied 60 cases nationwide as of Tuesday morning in a dozen states. By Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. death toll had climbed to nine, all in the state of Washington, where most of the fatalities were associated with a nursing home near Seattle.

As of Monday, the California Department of Public Health had counted a total of 43 positive cases in the state: 24 from repatriation flights returning U.S. citizens overseas from China and other areas where the virus has spread rapidly.

The 19 other confirmed cases — which do not include the latest from Santa Clara County — include 10 that are travel-related, two due to personto-person exposure from family contact, three due to person-to-person exposure in a health care facility and four from unknown sources.

Santa Clara County officials said the latest cases involved county residents but had little information about them, including their ages and genders.

County officials stressed that they are trying to provide reasonable guidance to residents based on evolving knowledge about the new coronavirus.

“Now is not the time to panic, nor is it time to shoot from the hip,” County Executive Jeff Smith said. “We have to have measured responses based on facts.”

“Now is not the time to panic, nor is it time to shoot from the hip. We have to have measured responses based on facts.”

—Jeff Smith, county executive

“Officials have to be pragmatic and so do we, but that won’t stop me from attending tonight’s (Sharks) hockey game.”

— Gus Thomson, 63