Santa Clara County Reports 384 New Coronavirus Cases, 6 Deaths

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — The Santa Clara County Public Health Department reported 384 additional coronavirus cases Tuesday.

The latest report brings the countywide case count to 35,457.

The county reported six additional coronavirus-related fatalities Tuesday, bringing its COVID-19 death toll to 482.

There were 288 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Santa Clara County as of Tuesday, of which 81 were being treated in intensive care units.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area and beyond, several prominent civic leaders and activists, many from the Bay Area, honored the hundreds of thousands of Americans who've lost their lives to both AIDS and COVID-19 during this year's World AIDS Day on Tuesday.

This year's event marks 40 years since the first cases of AIDS were reported in the U.S. and also coincides with a new major virus -- COVID-19.

During Tuesday's virtual event "World AIDS Day -- A National Conversation," put together by the San Francisco-based National AIDS Memorial, speakers drew several parallels from between the two pandemics.

So far, some 270,000 American lives have been lost so far due to COVID-19, while the AIDS pandemic has taken as many as 700,000 lives nationwide.

San Francisco is likely to implement additional restrictions in the coming days to curb a "dangerous" rise in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, Mayor London Breed said Tuesday.

Breed said the city's rate of new infections has surpassed the peak it reached during the summer as the Bay Area and the state as a whole faces a new wave of cases.

While San Francisco County was moved over the weekend into the most-restrictive "purple" tier of the state's pandemic reopening system, forcing indoor dining, gyms and places of worship to close, Breed said city officials are considering even more restrictions like a 14-day mandatory quarantine period for people entering San Francisco and reducing maximum capacities for some outdoor activities.

"We've been worried for months but now it's real," Breed said during a briefing on the pandemic. "Our dangerous winter has arrived."

San Francisco is currently averaging 16 new cases per day per 100,000 residents, more than quadruple the city's case rate for most of October, when it moved into the least-restrictive "yellow" tier.

Santa Clara County issued more than $115,000 in fines over the weekend to businesses failing to comply with local COVID-19 health guidelines, county officials said.

The county's Business Compliance Unit visited 427 business sites and issued 181 violation notices during the Black Friday weekend, amounting to at least $115,000 in fines.

According to the county, that total may increase until the cited businesses rectify the violations.

"As cases and hospitalizations continue to rise to new record levels, we need everyone in the community to do their part to protect the health of the community," said Michael Balliet, the director of the county's Business Compliance Unit.

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There have been 1,244,157 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 19,269 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Tuesday afternoon according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States had 1,477,976 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 270,450 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Tuesday afternoon.

There have been 63,751,931 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,477,972 deaths reported globally as of Tuesday afternoon.

— Bay City News contributed to this report