Santa Clara County Reports 347 New Coronavirus Cases, 18 Deaths

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — The Santa Clara County Public Health Department reported 347 additional coronavirus cases Friday.

The latest report brings the countywide case count to 104,076.

The county reported 18 additional coronavirus-related fatalities Friday, bringing its COVID-19 death toll to 1,523.

There were 377 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the county as of Friday of which 105 were being treated in intensive care units.

Elsewhere around the Bay Area and beyond, Dr. Anthony Fauci said the more transmissible UK coronavirus variant could become dominant in the United States, Forbes reports.

It “seems to be very efficient in spreading from person to person,” the nation’s top infectious disease expert said.

Fauci admonished the public to “absolutely not” participate in Super Bowl parties on Sunday due to concerns about spreading the coronavirus.

Berkeley and Alameda County residents age 75 and older can sign up for coronavirus vaccinations through Monday, Berkeley city officials said Friday.

The limited number of drive-thru vaccination appointments will take place at the foot of Buchanan Street near the Albany Bulb in Albany and are available for residents seeking their first of two vaccine doses.

Cal/OSHA fined San Quentin State Prison nearly $421,880 for its coronavirus outbreak, the largest fine the state's workplace safety agency has levied for pandemic-related violations.

San Quentin was slapped with the fine after Cal/OSHA inspectors found that the prison's staff did not have the proper training or protective equipment to interact with inmates and other staffers who had contracted COVID-19.

Cal/OSHA also found that staff who had been exposed to a coronavirus patient were not offered proper services like testing, contact tracing and medical referrals.

"Cal/OSHA issued citations for four willful-serious, five serious, one regulatory and four general category violations, including the employer's failure to institute an effective aerosol transmissible diseases control exposure plan," the agency said in a statement.

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There have been 3,386,269 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 43,218 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Friday afternoon according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States had 26,779,193 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 458,791 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Friday afternoon.

There have been 105,243,379 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,294,180 coronavirus-related deaths reported globally as of Friday afternoon.

— Bay City News contributed to this report