Alameda has more new cases than other counties
Five-county Bay Area reports 167 new cases, and the state surpasses 65,000 in total
Alameda County reported 62 new coronavirus cases Saturday, more than anywhere else in the Bay Area.
California surged past 65,000 total cases and to date has recorded 2,680 deaths. Even as Los Angeles County continues to see a significant number of cases — 31,197 as of Saturday — other parts of the state, including the Bay Area, are seeing far fewer new instances of the deadly disease.
On Saturday, Santa Clara County showed just 17 new cases. A convention center that the federal government had transformed into a medical center in anticipation of a flood of coronavirus patients was being returned to its normal state over the weekend after holding fewer than two dozen patients.
Contra Costa County reported 22 new cases Saturday, fewer than anywhere but Santa Clara County. But the county also reported three of the region’s four deaths recorded Saturday. The fourth death occurred in Alameda County.
San Mateo County reported 28 new cases, and San Francisco County recorded 38.
All together, the five-county Bay Area reported 167 new cases for a total of 8,682 cases to date.
As of Saturday, Santa Clara County had reported 2,307 cases and 128 deaths. Alameda County showed 2,023 cases and 71 total deaths, followed by San Francisco County with 1,891 cases and 33 deaths. San Mateo County reported 1,425 cases and 56 deaths, and Contra Costa County showed the fewest number of total cases in the Bay Area, 1,036, and 32 total deaths.
Parts of the state have begun permitting some retail and hospitality businesses to reopen after weeks of shuttering amid a shelter-in-place order that permitted only essential businesses like grocery stores to remain open. But in the Bay Area, tighter local restrictions mean many businesses must remain closed.
On Saturday, two Norwegian Cruise Line ships carrying only crew and no passengers were scheduled to dock in Oakland, the Port of Oakland said. A third is expected to arrive today.
The port said there are no reports of any coronavirus cases on the vessels, which could remain at berth for two or three months. Two of the ships will tie up at the city’s Outer Harbor Terminal, while the third will dock at Howard Terminal on the Oakland Estuary.
The federal government has banned cruises during the pandemic, and most companies have stopped sailing. But around 100 ships carrying about 80,000 crew members are at sea awaiting space to tie up.
“We’re a container port, but we’re still in the shipping business,” Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan said in a statement. “These ships are under federal requirements to report health concerns, and we understand that they haven’t had a history of coronavirus, so we’ll do what we can to help.”
No crew members are expected to disembark in Oakland. The news comes after the Grand Princess cruise ship docked in Oakland in March and offloaded hundreds of passengers, including many who ultimately tested positive for the virus.
Ports in Florida, Virginia and elsewhere are also taking in cruise ships still at sea.
Also Saturday, workers were demobilizing the Santa Clara Convention Center, which served as a temporary federal medical facility.
As local officials braced for an onslaught of coronavirus patients in March, the state’s Air National Guard set up 250 beds in the exhibit hall.
But the expected surge in hospitalizations never materialized locally, and the center ultimately served just 20 patients from April 5 to April 28.
After the equipment is packed up and the hall gets a deep cleaning, the convention center will prepare to get back to hosting events whenever local shelter orders permit such activities.