Santa Clara County Reports 1,450 New Coronavirus Cases, 8 Deaths

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — The Santa Clara County Public Health Department reported 1,450 additional coronavirus cases Monday.

The latest report, which covers a two-day period going back to Saturday brings the countywide case count to 40,624.

The county reported eight additional coronavirus-related fatalities Monday, bringing its COVID-19 death toll to 511.

There were 365 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Santa Clara County as of Monday, of which 86 were being treated in intensive care units.

Elsewhere around the Bay Area and beyond, state and local public health officials have encouraged Bay Area residents to exercise outdoors during the region's stay-at-home order, but doing so with people from other households is fully prohibited in most cases.

Health officers in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties and the city of Berkeley issued the stay-at-home order Friday to prevent coronavirus hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions from reaching critically high levels.

The order shut down both outdoor and indoor operations for most non-essential businesses like restaurants, hair salons and barbershops, cardrooms and family entertainment centers.

Indoor activities at gyms and fitness centers were also curtailed under the order, allowing only outdoor fitness and dance classes in which participants are at least 8 feet from each other, wearing face coverings and not sharing equipment.

"You should not meet in-person with anyone you do not live with even in a small group and even outdoors with precautions," Berkeley Public Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez said Friday during a briefing to announce the order.

"If you have a social bubble, it is now popped," she said.

Swim schools across the state of California have been given permission to operate as essential businesses after many swim school owners banded together in order to provide cause for being deemed essential.

"Initially the state of California allowed infant swim classes for ages 12 months and under to be essential.

But we were watching what was happening with kids (ages 1-4) drowning throughout the summer," said Joan Smith, who co-owns San Mateo County-based King's Swim Academy with her husband Jeff.

Swim schools up and down the state worked with an agency addressing injury and accident prevention specializing in children to approach the state with their case.

"We said, you guys need to take a look at this, this is essential," said Smith.

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There have been 1,390,758 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 20,007 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Monday night according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States had 14,944,948 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 283,650 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Monday night.

There have been 67,549,625 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,543,280 deaths reported globally as of Monday night.

— Bay City News contributed to this report