Coronavirus Cases Climb In Contra Costa County

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY — The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Contra Costa County grew to 250 on Wednesday, an increase of 28 cases from Tuesday. There were no new deaths, with 3 previously reported.

A more alarming development was the warning by Contra Costa County's health officer to supervisors to expect up to 14,000 coronavirus deaths in this county alone.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, Alameda County reported another death, raising the toll there to 8 fatalities and 359 cases. Santa Clara County reports 32 deaths and San Mateo has 10, according to Johns Hopkins University. No other Bay Area counties are in double digits.

Johns Hopkins statistics for California at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday show 215 deaths statewide, with 9,855 confirmed cases. Los Angeles County is the hardest hit in the state with 66 deaths and more than 3,500 confirmed cases.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom has not issued an order to extend school closures through this school year, but at a news conference Wednesday described his "expectation that schools will not reopen."

To help accommodate remote classes, Newsom announced a state partnership with Google, which he said will provide more than 100,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to improve internet connections across the state.

Earlier Wednesday, the UC System announced it would suspend requirements for SAT scores and letter grades for students who apply to its nine campuses, describing the eased requirements as an effort to "alleviate the tremendous disruption and anxiety" students are facing due to the COVID-19 crisis. The CSU system and community colleges have also agreed not to penalize students for pass-fail class grades, Darling-Hammond said.