Santa Clara County Reports 409 New Coronavirus Cases, 23 Deaths

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — The Santa Clara County Public Health Department reported 409 additional coronavirus cases Friday.

The latest report brings the countywide case count to 96,340.

The county reported 23 additional coronavirus-related fatalities Friday, bringing its COVID-19 death toll to 1,181.

There were 585 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the county as of Friday of which 142 were being treated in intensive care units.

Elsewhere around the Bay Area and beyond, the new U.K. coronavirus variant thought to be more contagious may also be more deadly, BBC reports, citing a statement from Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Data scientists have compared the death rates in those infected by the new versus old COVID-19 versions according to the report.

The data that points to the possibility that the new strain is more deadly, however, is “not yet strong” Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser said according to the report.

"I want to stress that there's a lot of uncertainty around these numbers and we need more work to get a precise handle on it, but it obviously is a concern that this has an increase in mortality as well as an increase in transmissibility," Vallance said.Contra Costa County officials announced their goal Friday to distribute 1 million coronavirus vaccine doses by the Fourth of July.

More than 65,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in the county since Dec. 15, according to county Supervisor Diane Burgis.

On average, 5,800 doses are being administered per day.

However, the county is only receiving around 12,000 doses per week that are quickly distributed to county-run vaccination sites as well as county partners like pharmacies at Safeway and Rite Aid stores.

San Mateo County is suing a Pacifica yoga studio for ignoring COVID-19 public health orders and holding indoor "mask-free" classes, county officials said Thursday.

Judge Danny Chou granted a temporary restraining order Thursday afternoon requiring Pacifica Beach Yoga, at 1615 Oceana Blvd., to close immediately.

The county filed the suit Jan. 14 in the San Mateo County Superior Court, alleging the studio stayed open and did not require face masks, despite state restrictions that require indoor fitness centers to close and public health orders that require masks to be worn in public.

San Francisco on Friday launched the city's first high-volume COVID-19 vaccination site at San Francisco City College--set to help the city reach its goal of vaccinating all residents by June.

The vaccination site at the college's main campus on Ocean Avenue is being operated by the city and staffed with UCSF health care workers.

For now, however, appointments will be by invitation-only as supplies remain limited and the city secures more vaccines.

Once fully operational, the city hopes to be able to vaccinate up to 3,000 per day at the site.

Then, once more vaccine doses are secured, the city hopes to ramp that number up to 10,000 people daily.

"Large vaccination sites like this one at City College are going to be critical for getting people vaccinated quickly and safely, and getting our city on the road to recovery," Mayor London Breed said in a statement.

"San Francisco has a plan and we are ready to distribute 10,000 doses per day once we have enough vaccine. To fully deliver this plan, we need more vaccine and we will continue to do everything we can to be ready when our supply of vaccine does increase."

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There have been 3,106,494 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 35,866 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Friday afternoon according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States had 24,771,973 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 412,936 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Friday afternoon.

There have been 97,986,357 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,101,894 coronavirus-related deaths reported globally as of Friday afternoon.

— Bay City News contributed to this report