San Mateo County Reports 71 New Coronavirus Cases, 3 Deaths

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County Health reported 71 additional coronavirus cases Friday.

The latest report brings the countywide case count to 8,966.

The county reported three additional coronavirus-related fatalities Friday, bringing its COVID-19 death toll to 139.

There were 55 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in San Mateo County as of Friday, of which 15 were being treated in intensive care units.

State public health officials reminded residents across the state to avoid gathering indoors with others as much as possible despite the wildfires burning along the West Coast and the resulting poor air quality.

More than 5,300 people across the state are currently being sheltered in places like empty hotel rooms due to fire-related evacuations, according to Dr. Erica Pan, the state's acting public health officer.

Of those, only 81 are in congregate shelters and 5,231 are in lower-risk non-congregate shelters.

However, sheltered residents usually make up only around 5 percent of evacuees, with the other 95 percent seeking refuge with friends and family members.

Pan said that despite the converging crises, residents should not let their guard down about the danger of spreading the novel coronavirus.

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There have been 753,303 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 14,146 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Friday afternoon according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States had 6,438,739 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 192,834 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Friday afternoon.

There have been 28,301,633 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 911,988 deaths reported globally as of Friday afternoon.

— Bay City News contributed to this report

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