San Mateo County Reports 162 New Coronavirus Cases, 13 Deaths

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County Health reported 162 additional coronavirus cases Wednesday.

The latest report brings the countywide case count to 36,214.

The county reported 13 additional coronavirus-related fatalities Wednesday, bringing its COVID-19 death toll to 395.

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

There were 120 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in San Mateo County as of Wednesday, of which 29 were being treated in intensive care units.

Elsewhere around the Bay Area and beyond, the state of California plans to launch a pilot partnership with federal officials to establish a community COVID-19 vaccination site at the Oakland Coliseum, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.

The state will collaborate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to operate the Coliseum vaccination site, part of a goal of President Joe Biden's administration to establish 100 large-scale vaccination sites nationwide in his first 100 days in office.

"The reason this site was chosen was the framework of making sure that communities that are often left behind are not left behind, they're prioritized in terms of the administration of these vaccines," Newsom said at a briefing at the Coliseum.

The state has already helped establish similar large-scale vaccination sites at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Petco Park in San Diego.

The Coliseum is the first such site in the Bay Area and will have the capacity to administer some 6,000 doses per day once it opens on Feb. 16.

Health officers in eight Bay Area counties urged health systems Wednesday to prioritize COVID-19 vaccinations for older residents amid vaccine supply shortages in the region.

Health departments in Marin, Napa, Santa Cruz and Solano counties and their health care partners are prioritizing vaccinating all residents age 75 and older while Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties will do the same with residents age 65 and older.

The intent, according to health officers in the eight counties, is to limit coronavirus-related deaths by targeting the age demographic with the greatest risk of dying.

As of Jan. 28, an average of 83.6 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the eight counties have been residents age 65 and older.

"Three out of four COVID-19 deaths in Marin are among residents age 75 or older," Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said.

"A vaccine offered to a resident above age 75 is 300 times more likely to save a life than a vaccine offered to someone under the age of 50."

Contra Costa County's COVID-19 case numbers are headed in the right direction, health officials told the county's Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

But there's still plenty of work ahead."Our daily case rate is starting to fall," said county health director Anna Roth.

"This is a trend we're starting to see in Contra Costa County. We do feel we're on the backside of the winter wave. The number of cases per day, per 100,000 residents, in mid-January was about 62. And it's now around 30. We're very relieved to see those numbers moving in that direction."

Countywide hospitalizations are trending the same direction.

"Our high point was at 296 people in the hospital," Roth said. "And today we have about 172. Sadly, we've also lost more than 529 people in this county to this virus, and it's taken a very heavy toll on our community."

Roth said the county's vaccine rollout is moving along successfully but is an area where her department needs more information from the state, as vaccine supply isn't keeping up with demand all over the world.

Don't miss updates about the coronavirus in California as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

There have been 3,365,930 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 43,313 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Wednesday night according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States had 26,554,204 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 450,680 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Wednesday night.

There have been 104,358,117 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,267,768 coronavirus-related deaths reported globally as of Wednesday night.

— Bay City News contributed to this report