San Mateo County recorded the most coronavirus cases it has logged since the start of the pandemic on Saturday as California and the Bay Area experienced a surge just days before major holiday traveling begins for many.
Public health officials are strongly encouraging people to stay home for Thanksgiving and Christmas as coronavirus cases continue to surge nationwide. In California last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom instituted new restrictions subjecting most of the state to a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in an effort to slow the spread.
The new order was issued on Thursday and will be in effect until Dec. 21 unless modified, and includes all counties in the Bay Area except Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo. Counties which are currently in the Red tier and are exempt from the order.
But San Mateo County could soon find itself in the much more restrictive Purple tier as public health officials on Saturday recorded 215 cases, well above the 105.43 seven-day average. The new cases constitute the most infections recorded in the county since this news organization began tracking cases on April 1.
A total of 13,203 people have been infected with the coronavirus in San Mateo County, and 169 people have died. Despite the alarming rise in new cases, the county recorded no new deaths on Saturday, maintaining a low average for the week.
Meanwhile, the Bay Area is nearing 140,000 total infections and health officials across the region have recorded 1,927 deaths total. Officials said 1,153 new cases were recorded across the Bay, compared to a seven-day average of 1,242 and eight people were reported dead Saturday, just above the average of 6.57 deaths.
The most populous county in the area, Santa Clara County, recorded a 386 new cases for a total of 30,411, about average for the week. In total 463 people have died from the virus but no new deaths were reported Saturday.
San Francisco, a city that has had some success controlling the virus, reported 72 cases on Saturday, well below the 117 average cases reported every day in the past week. Two people were reported dead from the virus in the City, for a total of 158 deaths.
Alameda County, second to Santa Clara County for the most cases in the Bay Area, reported 212 cases on Saturday, below the seven-day average of 239 cases. No new deaths were reported and the total number of people dead from the coronavirus remained at 499.
Contra Costa County reported 221 new cases — above the seven-day average of 195 cases — for a total of 22,412. One person was reported dead from the disease Saturday for a total of 258 deaths.
Marin, Solano, Sonoma and Napa counties collectively reported 47 new cases of the virus for a total of 22,412. The number of new cases is well below the average 237.14 cases officials recorded every day this week. Five people died from the virus in the four-county area, above the 1.14 average death count for a day this week.
