Coronavirus Update: San Mateo County Confirms First Coronavirus Death; State Toll At 6
SAN MATEO COUNTY (CBS SF) -- Health officials in San Mateo County on Sunday confirmed the county's first coronavirus death, raising the death toll for the state of California to six.
County health officials made the announcement while updating the county's current number of coronavirus cases, which has risen to 32. A total of 325 cases have been identified in the state of California, according to Governor Gavin Newsom.
WATCH LIVE: California Gov. Gavin Newsom gives updates on the state's coronavirus response. He says 325 people have been infected with the virus and 6 have died https://t.co/xzsuvtxH7T pic.twitter.com/CGysJnBfJ8
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 15, 2020
Earlier Sunday morning health officials in Santa Clara County confirmed an additional 23 new coronavirus patients, raising the total for the county to 114 cases.
The official Santa Clara County Health Twitter account posted the update shortly before 10 a.m. Sunday.
Update: 23 new cases of #COVID19 in Santa Clara County. This brings the total number of cases to 114. We expect numbers to grow and urge everyone to follow Public Health recommendations. For additional information, visit: https://t.co/lcx5wwZSFK pic.twitter.com/Wap36NnifR
— Healthy SCC (@HealthySCC) March 15, 2020
Of those current cases, 48 are being treated in area hospitals. 52 out of the 114 cases were spread by community contact.
Meanwhile, San Francisco health also updated the number of coronavirus cases Sunday, announcing nine new cases. That brings the number of cases in San Francisco to 37 total.
As of Sunday, officials have confirmed the following number of cases in the greater Bay Area region:
Alameda County: 7 cases
Contra Costa County: 29 cases
Marin County: 5 cases
Monterey County: 0 cases
Napa County: 0 cases
San Francisco County: 37 cases
San Mateo County: 32 cases, 1 death
Santa Clara County: 114 cases, 2 deaths
Santa Cruz County: 7 cases
Solano County: 6 cases
Sonoma County: 3 cases
Santa Clara County has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 outbreak. On Friday, officials announced the second death in the county. There have been a total of six deaths in California (including one non-California resident). A total of over 8,000 tests have been administered, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Latest Coronavirus Headlines
- Two UC San Francisco Medical Health Workers Test Positive For Coronavirus
- San Mateo County Limits Gatherings To 50 People
- Sonoma County Reports First Community Transmission Case
- Marin County Reports Its First Cases Of Community Transmission
- Tahoe's Heavenly, Kirkwood, Northstar; Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows Ski Resorts Close Down
- Caltrain, Samtrans Reduce Service As Ridership Drops During Coronavirus Shutdowns
COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
According to officials, the patient who died was an adult woman in her 80s. She was hospitalized March 9 and was among the COVID-19 cases reported by the County Public Health Department on March 13.
The Public Health Department said it was saddened to share the news and expressed its condolences to the woman's family.
Earlier Friday, officials banned all gatherings of more than 100 people and announced that all public schools will be closed beginning Monday to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
The announcement had a ripple effect in the community. Carlos Diaz, who is a deejay and is the owner of Knight Sounds Entertainment in San Jose, said he immediately had four clients cancel their events.
"It's unprecedented, " Diaz said. "We had four cancellations for this Saturday; those four events alone could pay the rent for multiple months."
He's not alone. His entire industry is expected to feel the impact of the coronavirus impact.
"Unfortunately, we had a bunch of cancellations last minute," said Ramyar Siasi.
He's owned Blackistone Florist in Saratoga for 37 years, and said he's had future wedding parties cancel as well as a bridal show that could've brought him potential clients.
He said Santa Clara county's ban would not only impact him, but venues, caterers and photographers in the entertainment and wedding industry as well.
Next door, at Bijan Bakery & Cafe, the owners said sales are down about 40% as customers cancel their cake orders.
"It's a big part of our business and so we're concerned about going forward," Bijan owner Curtis Alling said.
He and Diaz said they're hoping government officials consider giving small business owners relief if they start to struggle in paying rent, similar to relief being given to renters during the outbreak.
"All the deejays and musicians bars and nightclubs, I can't even think of what's going to happen, because if we're going to honor that, basically, we shut down," Diaz said.
On Monday, county officials announced a ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people to limit the spread of coronavirus. The new ban, of 100 people, will be in effect for a minimum of three weeks and went into effect 12 a.m. Saturday.