Santa Clara County coronavirus: CDC asks county to ban gatherings 250 or more people

WASHINGTON D.C. (KGO) -- The Centers for Disease Control is urging Santa Clara County to ban all community gatherings of 250 or more people.

That includes religious services. The recommendation is part of a 30-day strategy to slow the spreading of the virus.

RELATED: Coronavirus in Santa Clara County: Health department confirms 1st Bay Area death from COVID-19

The task force is also recommending that all businesses screen employees and visitors daily.

The county currently bans gatherings of more than 1,000 people.

Here's more from the statement from the CDC:

"Due to widespread transmission in Santa, Clara, CA, CDC recommends expanded and laser focused community mitigation activities to help slow the spread of respiratory virus infections including the novel coronavirus SARS-C0V-2, the cause of the disease COVID-19. These approaches are used to minimize morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 as well as to minimize the social and economic impacts of COVID-19. Individuals, communities, businesses, and healthcare organizations are all part of a community mitigation strategy. Given the focal community transmission in Santa Clara, CA, and the involvement of multiple health care facilities, substantial interventions should be implemented at this time, based on the urgency of protecting the health care system with expected rise in cases by slowing the spread within the community (Table) and focused on protecting the vulnerable members of the community."

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