Santa Clara County previews new COVID-19 plan despite recent surge in cases
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and officials from the city of San Jose held a joint meeting Monday morning to discuss coronavirus pandemic and the recent surge in cases.
Health officer Dr. Sara Cody said the county is seeing more than 100 confirmed coronavirus cases a day, a rate higher than the pandemic's peak in March and April.
"It's just been really frustrating because it's already at the end of June, and we've been waiting since March 16, and still no date," said stylist Erica Martin.
Employees from hair salons across county gathered outside the public health department Monday afternoon expressing their frustration about not being allowed to reopen since the start of the pandemic.
"We're self-employed, we're independent contractors, we work on what we've built for ourselves, and when that gets completely taken away, we were left with absolutely nothing and no guidance," said stylist Briana Miller.
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Santa Clara County has been slower to reopen sectors of society compared to the rest of the Bay Area.
Public health officials say they've been relying on data and science to inform their decision-making process.
"Our community has done better at controlling this virus than almost any other large community in the United States," said Dr. Cody.
On an earlier Zoom call, Dr. Cody told the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors that in the coming days some sectors will be given the green light to prepare for reopening.
The county says it now has more than 750 contact tracers to help investigate cases and more than 50 testing sites throughout the area.
However, this comes as COVID-19 numbers rise across the region.
"The root cause of this pandemic in the US is a collective national failure to invest in public health preparedness, so we're now in the place where we're just managing this as best we can, county by county," said Dr. Cody.
But for those protesting.
"There's many of us that are going bankrupt because the bills have not stopped, but the money has, so we're really looking for more response." Glenn Sweet, Stylist
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