Santa Clara Officials Beg Residents To Stay Home For New Year's

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Santa Clara County officials announced that coronavirus was the leading cause of death in 2020 in the region, just behind cancer and heart disease. The county also recently passed the grim milestone of more than 650 deaths related to the virus.

Both case numbers and record hospitalizations have continued on an upward trajectory, and county officials yet again asked that residents stay home and remain socially distanced for the upcoming New Year holiday.

On Monday, the county held a news conference to make a last ditch plea to residents to avoid in-person celebrations.

"Every day the hospitals in our county work together to support one another and manage the care of our patients," said Gloria Dela Merced, a spokeswoman for St. Louise Hospital in Gilroy. "The number of people with COVID-19 continues to rise, very soon all our hospitals will be out of beds and we'll no longer be able to support each other. This level of hospitalizations has never happened during my career."

The latino community in Santa Clara County appears to be the hardest hit population in the area, officials announced Monday, representing 52 percent of all coronavirus cases. And only 25.8 percent of the county's population is latino, officials said.

The county reported a total of 66,270 cases in the county Monday with 1,715 new cases reported from the weekend and likely a little extra from the Christmas holiday.

"The number of people with COVID-19 continues to rise, very soon all our hospitals will be out of beds and we'll no longer be able to support each other. This level of hospitalizations has never happened during my career."

Nine new deaths were reported Monday, with 652 altogether. Currently, 669 Santa Clara County residents have been hospitalized with the disease, with 110 new patients added over the weekend and on Monday.

"I'm here to ask that everybody get out of our own heads and out of our own little bubble and instead think more frequently about all the people around us who are being affected in many different ways," Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley said at the Monday conference. "Some have lost family members, some have lost their livelihoods, some are losing their spirit."

Amid rising cases and hospitalizations, a small sliver of hope was recognized this week as firefighters joined health care workers in recieving the coronavirus vaccine.

"We encourage you to hold onto hope," said Christina Turner, city manager of Morgan Hill. "Over the next few months, the vaccine will continue to be administered and we will all have the opportunity to be vaccinated," she said. "However, it is ciritical that all county residents wear masks, not gather with others, continue to socially distance from anyone outside their household and stay home as much as possible."

SEE MORE: CA To Begin Vaccinating Nursing Home Residents, Staff

Also on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom shared that teachers, older residents and some other critical workers would hopefully begin to get coronavirus vaccines as early as next month.

Santa Clara County remains under the state's Regional Stay-At-Home order, triggered by an intensive care unit capacity that fell below 15 percent. Capacity was at 9.5 percent in the Bay Area on Monday.

As of Sunday, more than 2.1 million cases of COVID-19 and 24,000 associated deaths had been reported in California. Nearly 38,000 cases, on average, have been diagnosed over the past week.

"The trends have started to come down a little bit, but it's not enough. We need people not to let up their guard, to take this as seriously as possible," California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said Monday. "Right now, it's time to stay laser-focused on what we can do in the next days to come ... we're in charge of the future."