San Mateo County Reports 138 New Coronavirus Cases, No Deaths

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County Health reported 138 additional coronavirus cases Wednesday.

The latest report brings the countywide case count to 37,277.

The county reported no additional coronavirus-related fatalities Wednesday, leaving its COVID-19 death toll at 447.

The county's reported figures include previously unreported data added retroactively.

There were 96 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in San Mateo County as of Wednesday, of which 26 were being treated in intensive care units.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area and beyond, genomics researchers at Stanford University have confirmed California's first two cases of the South African coronavirus variant in Alameda and Santa Clara counties, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.

The 501Y.V2 variant is one of several recent mutations of the virus, most of which involve changes to its spike protein – the part of the virus that enables it to enter human cells – that may make it more contagious and slightly more resistant to vaccines.

"The issue of mutations is top of mind, not only here in the state of California, across this nation, but increasingly around the globe," Newsom said Wednesday during a briefing in Fresno County.

The state has also confirmed 159 cases of the COVID-19 variant that originated in the United Kingdom and 1,203 cases of the two variants that originated on the West Coast, according to Newsom.

Families that have lost a loved one due to the coronavirus can now receive up to $7,000 in funeral expenses reimbursed, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said Wednesday.

Some $2 billion in funding will be made available to families through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to Lee.

The program is modeled after funeral assistance funding the government provided following Hurricane Katrina.

Marin County's Community Development Agency accepted roughly $7.5 million of emergency rental assistance funds from the federal government at the county Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.

County staff must present the board with recommendations for how to specifically allocate the money, but as in the past, the county will issue payment directly to landlords on behalf of renters, according to Angela Nicholson, assistant county administrator.

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There have been 3,445,816 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 45,167 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Wednesday afternoon according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States had 27,279,523 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 471,195 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Wednesday afternoon.
There have been 107,300,544 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,352,098 coronavirus-related deaths reported globally as of Wednesday afternoon.

— Bay City News contributed to this report