San Mateo County Reports 81 New Coronavirus Cases, No Deaths

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County Health reported 81 additional coronavirus cases Tuesday.

The latest report brings the countywide case count to 37,139.

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

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

There were 93 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in San Mateo County as of Tuesday, of which 26 were being treated in intensive care units.

Elsewhere around the Bay Area and beyond, a team of World Health Organization scientists said Tuesday the coronavirus spread to humans started with the disease jumping from an animal, The Associated Press reports.

The team of WHO scientists issued their report amid a visit to Wuhan, where the first known cases of the virus were reported.

The largest COVID-19 mass vaccination center in the state opened Tuesday at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara and Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials took to the field to celebrate the kickoff.

The vaccination site, which opened for appointments at noon Tuesday, currently has the capacity to vaccinate 5,000 people per day, with plans to increase capacity to 15,000 people per day.

The stadium would only be open to residents of Santa Clara County or health care workers who work in the county.

Currently, residents 65 years and older in addition to health care workers are eligible for the vaccine.

"Santa Clara County is among the leaders [in terms of vaccine administration]," Newsom said at Levi's Stadium.

"I'm honored to be here joining their partners and joining community leaders that are making this site possible.

"County Supervisors Cindy Chavez and Susan Ellenberg as well as state Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, joined the governor on the stadium's field to tout the new site.

The city of San Francisco will move on to the second phase of COVID-19 vaccinations and begin vaccinating more residents beyond health care workers and the elderly later this month, Mayor London Breed said Tuesday.

During a briefing at City Hall, Breed said the city would move to Phase 1B, Tier 1 of the state's vaccine prioritization plan, starting on Feb. 24.

Phase 1B includes educators, child care workers, emergency workers, and those who work in agriculture and in the food industry will be eligible

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There have been 3,438,948 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 44,832 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Tuesday afternoon according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States had 27,184,813 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 467,918 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Tuesday afternoon.

There have been 106,862,101 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,338,004 coronavirus-related deaths reported globally as of Tuesday afternoon.

— Bay City News contributed to this report