San Mateo County Events Disrupted By Coronavirus Outbreak: Report

SAN MATEO COUNTY — Following the admonition of top San Mateo Health Officer Scott Morrow that all “non-essential events” be postponed or cancelled amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, local officials have put the brakes on scheduled events countywide.

The cancellations include a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, school plays and award ceremonies, the San Mateo Daily Journal reports.

The county on Monday reported nine COVID-19 cases. Five of the cases are “presumptive positive,” but haven’t yet been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Four cases have been confirmed by the CDC.

“Our local situation surrounding novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is changing rapidly,” Morrow said in a 1,315-word statement posted on the San Mateo County Health website on March 5.

“COVID-19 is spreading in our community, the extent of which is unclear. It has likely been spreading for weeks, perhaps months. I have no reason to believe that how it’s spreading in other countries won’t be replicated to some degree here. We now all need to take assertive actions to inhibit the spread of this new virus. Some of those actions are described below. I advise that individuals, schools, business, and all other sectors of our community take immediate steps to change behaviors and take definitive action.”

According to the Daily Journal, events in San Mateo County that have already been cancelled include “the St. Patrick’s Day dinner in South San Francisco; the South San Francisco Women’s Conference; the Senior Health and Fitness Fair in South San Francisco; state of the city addresses in Belmont and San Carlos; the Sequoia Awards scholarship dinner; the Burlingame Community Education Foundation gala; the San Mateo County Democratic Party’s monthly meeting; and the San Mateo County Office of Education’s Next Big Think seminar.”

Santa Clara County on Monday announced a three-week ban on mass gatherings of 1,000 or more, a move that will force the San Jose Sharks to cancel or play some or all of their last five remaining home games in front of an empty SAP Center or at another arena.

Earlier on Monday Santa Clara County reported its first coronavirus-related death.

Morrow’s statement did not call for school closures, which he said are essential gatherings.

But he warned of the potential disruptions to daily life this pandemic may necessitate.

“Our lives will be significantly disrupted by the measures needed to respond to a global pandemic,” Morrow said.

“A pandemic is a global occurrence of an infectious disease. A pandemic is a disaster with unique characteristics. The two most important differences between a pandemic and other disasters are that the whole world is going through this disaster at the same time, and people may become fearful of other people. The current COVID-19 outbreak clearly has the potential to turn into a severe pandemic.”

Read more in the San Mateo Daily Journal