San Mateo County Reports 50 New Coronavirus Cases, No Deaths

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County Health reported 50 additional coronavirus cases Thursday.

The latest report brings the countywide case count to 9,714.

The county reported no additional coronavirus-related fatality Thursday. The COVID-19 death toll remains at 144.

There were 42 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in San Mateo County as of Thursday, of which 11 were being treated in intensive care units.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area and beyond, nurses, housekeepers, X-ray technicians and other health care workers on Wednesday called on their employer, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, to provide greater protections against COVID-19. The hospital last month experienced an outbreak of the highly infectious disease.

The workers gathered Wednesday across the street from the hospital near downtown Santa Rosa to make their case. They said they needed adequate safety equipment such as N95 face masks; immediate testing for employees exposed to COVID-19 or show symptoms of it; and regularly scheduled testing, not just in response to an outbreak.
They also called for all incoming patients to be isolated until they get COVID-19 tests and results; and for thorough contact tracing protocols.

Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order this week allowing public health officials to join the state's confidential address program in response to threats and harassment they have faced during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The order allows local health officials and public health officers to join the state's Safe at Home program, which is administered by the California Secretary of State's office.

The program is generally used by reproductive health care workers and victims of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, human trafficking and elder abuse.
Program participants are given a substitute address at which they can receive their mail. The substitute address can also be used for city, county and state government business in lieu of a person's actual residential address.

There have been 796,436 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 15,291 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Thursday afternoon, according to data from John Hopkins University.

The United States had 6,971,871 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 202,692 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Thursday afternoon.

There have been 32,068,225 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 979,862 deaths reported globally as of Thursday afternoon.

— Bay City News contributed to this report.