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With cases escalating, Santa Clara County has announced a mandatory 14-day quarantine for residents and travelers entering the area more than 250 miles away. The new rule takes effect Monday and limits hotels in the county to only essential travelers.
The restrictions come on top of the state’s curfew – which applies to counties like Santa Clara that are in the purple level – and come as record numbers of coronavirus patients are hospitalized.
The Bay Area’s largest county, with 2 million people, has seen its highest number of daily cases and hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic. The county reported 760 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday in the past 24 hours. There are 239 COVID-related hospitalizations, including 71 in intensive care units. Along with seven other counties, Santa Clara is in the most restrictive purple level of the state’s reopening plan. Marin is now the only Bay Area county in the red.
“I am gravely concerned about the continuing surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations,” said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County health official. “The number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in our county has doubled in the past two weeks, and we risk exceeding our hospital capacity very soon if current trends continue. During this critical period of increasing transmission of COVID-19 in our community, I urge every resident to exercise caution and, where possible, minimize contact with anyone outside of your immediate home. “
Amid the surge, Santa Clara also called for new capacity limits for retail stores, effective Monday. “All facilities open to the public should have a ‘counting system’ in place to ensure that applicable capacity limits are not exceeded, for example by assigning an employee at the entrance to the facility to track the number. of people entering and exiting, ”the county said. .
Santa Clara County is banning all professional, college, and youth contact sports starting Monday. This includes the San Francisco 49ers, who play at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. They are currently working with the NFL to find a new home to end the season.
All of the new rules will last until December 21, unless county officials decide to extend them.
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