Top South Bay Official Urges ‘Reset’ Of Shelter Orders: Report

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — A top South Bay health expert believes the only way to move forward from the coronavirus crisis is to go backward.

Santa Clara County Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jeff Smith said in an interview with KPIX 5 he believes a return to the stricter shelter-in-place orders that went into effect in the early days of the outbreak is needed amid a pandemic that’s spinning out of control as the state’s ability to accurately report its case count has gone off the rails.

“It’s definitely time to do a reset” on shelter-in-place orders, Smith told KPIX5.

As of Wednesday, Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department reported 11,128 coronavirus cases and 196 fatalities. The state has had 528,167 confirmed cases and 9,728 reported deaths according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

But those numbers have come into question amid reports of counting errors that have led to an undercount. Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody is among health officials throughout the state who are alarmed by the tainted numbers. She believes the accounting errors may go back for three weeks.

"Just as we had back in February and March when we didn't have enough testing, we felt blind," Cody said at a news conference Wednesday.

"I would say that right now... we're back to feeling blind."

The coronavirus case count reporting inaccuracies couldn’t happen at a worse moment, Smith said.

“This is the absolute last thing we need,” he said. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it, is the standard saying.”

Smith believes a painful reset for a period of four to six weeks could help the state avoid potentially devastating health crisis and more damage to an already battered economy.

“I would certainly advocate for a reset and many people are advocating for a reset,” he said. “It’s important to get this virus under control and right now it’s out of control.”

Read more at KPIX 5

Full coronavirus coverage: Coronavirus In California: What To Know

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