State Shuts Down Santa Clara County’s Reopening Plan: Report

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Amid an alarming surge in new cases of the coronavirus in the state and in much of the nation, the state has denied Santa Clara County’s request to expand its reopening, The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody issued a new health order on Thursday that would have moved the county from a phased reopening plan to a risk-aversion plan that was subject to state approval.

The county had requested a variance that would have allowed for the openings of hair and nail salons, gyms and religious gatherings among other activities, the county said in a news release Thursday.

The county’s plan would have taken effect July 13 or within two days of state approval, whichever came later.

Santa Clara County CEO Jeff Smith said it wasn’t clear why the state declined the variance request, according to the report.

“They’ve granted variances to basically every other county that’s applied and they deny ours,” Smith told the Mercury News.

“It makes no sense.”

The decision to decline the variance follows a Mercury News report that the county’s order allowing outdoor dining that went into effect June 5 violated state orders in the estimation of a state law enforcement agency.

Alcohol Beverage Control agents ordered several Morgan Hill and Gilroy restaurants to shut down or risk being cited, according to the report.

Cody said in a statement Thursday outlining the county's new health order that the reopening plans were consistent with a “long-term containment” strategy as the county adapts to life amid a pandemic that has no clear end in sight.

“Our approach from the outset of the pandemic has been careful, based on constant assessments of relevant data, and also the evolving scientific understanding of the virus,” Cody said in a statement Thursday announcing the county’s reopening plan.

“This new order marks the next stage in this consistent approach, reflects the reality that COVID-19 will be with us for a long time, and we need to adapt to that new reality. Today’s order offers a long-term containment strategy that we believe will need to remain in place for the coming months.”

Santa Clara County has been under shelter-in-place orders since March 17 but has allowed for gradual reopening.

Since much of the nation was under lockdown for most of April, reopenings have from an epidemiological standpoint led to disastrous consequences.

As virtually all of the developed world has successfully contained the coronavirus crisis, cases in the United States have surged, with the nation setting a single-day record with 55,220 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, warned last week that if outbreaks raging through much of the country aren’t contained, America’s daily COVID-19 case count could hit 100,000 per day.

There were more than 2,897,600 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States and 130,007 deaths as of Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

At least 6,374 of those deaths were in California. The U.S. has the most confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths in the world.

Santa Clara County reported 226 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing its countywide case count to 5,077.

Read more in The San Jose Mercury News

Patch Editor Nick Garber and Bay City News contributed to this report.

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