South Bay Health Official Urges Tougher Restrictions, Stay Home Orders To Get COVID-19 Under Control
SAN JOSE (KPIX) - A Santa Clara County doctor said Wednesday that now is the time to hit the 'reset' button, including tougher restrictions and sheltering in place for weeks to get COVID-19 under control.
"I would certainly advocate for a reset, many people are advocating for a reset," said Santa Clara County Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jeff Smith.
This comes as the State of California electronic database, CalREDIE, is dealing with a glitch in the system. Smith and Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody believes the glitch has caused the system to underreport the number of coronavirus cases statewide for at least three weeks.
Smith said during a news conference Wednesday that it feels like what the county was going through at the beginning of the pandemic when testing was scarce.
"I would say right now we're back to feeling blind," Cody said. "We don't know how the epidemic is trending,"
She said it's a mystery as to whether COVID-19 cases are rising, falling or plateauing.
"It's not just inconvenient, but this lack of data doesn't allow us to know where this epidemic is heading," said Cody.
It also means, Cody and Smith said, that the downward trend the county recently reported is likely inaccurate.
"This is the absolute last thing we need, if you can't measure it, you can't manage it, is the standard saying," said Smith.
He said that without accurate data, contact tracing and managing the virus are difficult. He believes the solution would be tougher restrictions once again, and sheltering in place for four to six weeks, which could cut down on the virus significantly.
"It's definitely time to do a reset," said Smith.
Cody said what was "reassuring," were the number of hospitalizations that appeared to be stabilizing.
