Santa Clara County Reports 281 New Coronavirus Cases, 6 Deaths

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — The Santa Clara County Public Health Department reported 281 additional coronavirus cases Wednesday.

The latest report brings the countywide case count to 29,297.

The county reported six additional coronavirus-related fatalities Wednesday, bringing its COVID-19 death toll to 453.

There were 155 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Santa Clara County as of Wednesday, of which 41 were being treated in intensive care units.

Santa Clara County schools that have resumed in-person classes recently will be allowed to remain open despite the county moving this week to the state's most-restrictive coronavirus pandemic reopening tier, a county spokesman said Wednesday.

Santa Clara County was one of 28 counties on Monday to move back into the "purple" tier of the state's reopening system, which does not allow for in-person classes.

Since implementing the tier system in late summer, the state has required counties to be out of the purple tier for two consecutive weeks before they can resume in-person classes.

Elsewhere around the Bay Area and beyond, San Mateo County's COVID-19 cases are on the rise, mirroring the statewide and national trend, but health officials say the county is prepared.

For the week ending Nov. 10, San Mateo County had an adjusted rate of 5.7 cases per day per 100,000, more than double the previous week's rate of 2.2 cases per 100,000.

The county's test positivity rate rose from 1.3 percent to 2.1 percent, compared to the state's 5.2 percent. County data shows there have been 12,684 total COVID-19 cases so far, including 127 new cases on Monday.

As a result, San Mateo County moved back to the red tier of the state's Blueprint for a Safer Economy, joining other Bay Area counties who moved to more restrictive tiers on Monday.

With Contra Costa County falling back into the most restrictive category of COVID-19 business and social gathering guidelines, District Attorney Diana Becton knows her office will be seeing more complaints about businesses and individuals flouting the rules.

To that end, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office has set up a task force to educate merchants and others about the rules, and to investigate complaints if needed.

So far, Becton told the county Board of Supervisors this week, it's been more guidance and less punishment.

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There have been 1,059,245 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 18,402 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Wednesday afternoon according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States had 11,485,176 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 250,029 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Wednesday afternoon.

There have been 56,075,527 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,346,167 deaths reported globally as of Wednesday afternoon.

— Bay City News contributed to this report