Another ‘swell’ or ‘surge’ of COVID-19 cases is possible, Santa Clara County health officer says
Marking just over two years since Bay Area health officials announced unprecedented shelter-in-place orders, Santa Clara County’s Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said Thursday that despite a steady downward trend of cases, residents should expect and prepare for a COVID-19 “swell” or “surge” at some point in the future.
“Even though many messages out there are ‘We are moving on,’ the virus hasn’t moved on,” said Dr. Cody at a press conference. “And the virus continues to mutate and change and reemerge in different corners of the world. And so we actually need to keep doing many of the things that we’re doing. Looking out for each other and keeping each other safe.”
Cody specifically urged residents to continue ordering at-home tests supplied by the federal government and to maintain a steady supply of masks. However, she did say, “I don’t see us ever going back to shelter in place.”
Though masks, in her view, are likely to come back.
“There probably will come a time when we’re going to need to wear (face masks) much of the time if there’s another surge,” she said. “So now is a great time to get prepared with masks and tests.”
The health officer added that if there is another surge in cases, healthcare providers should “step up” when it comes to testing and vaccinations. Her remarks come as organizations like Kaiser Permanente, Stanford Health Care and others were told at the end of January that they needed to provide testing to their members within 24 hours in an effort to shift more of the responsibility away from the county.
Cody also reacted strongly to recent news out of Washington D.C. that billions of dollars in coronavirus aid was stripped from a $1.5 trillion dollar spending package signed by President Joe Biden Tuesday, calling the developments “breathtaking” and “shocking”.
Like other parts of the Bay Area, Santa Clara County has experienced a precipitous drop in cases over the last two months. The current seven-day average is 186 cases, down from a record-smashing weekly average of 3,882 during omicron’s peak in January.
As cases decline, public health requirements have loosened as well.
Santa Clara County dropped its mask mandate at the beginning of the month, making it one of the last in the state to do so after every one of its neighboring counties lifted their rules in alignment with the state. The county also relaxed its booster mandate for high-risk workers last week, allowing for those with exemptions to stay in their roles.
On Thursday, Cody also addressed the sub lineage of the omicron variant known as BA.2, which has caused concerns around the world as cases rise in South Korea and parts of Western Europe.
While CDC data released this week shows upticks of COVID-19 in wastewater samples across the U.S., Cody said Thursday that BA.2 is so far not posing a major threat to Santa Clara County.
“It is not driving up the levels (of COVID-19) overall,” said Cody. “I don’t know why, but it isn’t. But we’re watching that very, very carefully here and elsewhere.” Most of the BA.2 sub variant is concentrated in the northern part of the county, according to county wastewater data. The first case of it was discovered in the county on Jan. 25.
Cody also used Thursday’s press conference as a way to offered gratitude to county residents who responded to the omicron surge, as well as showcase data that the county has been able to maintain a death rate far below the state or national average. Since the pandemic began, Cody explained, the county has experienced a rate of 104.2 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared to the state’s 198.6 death rate and the country’s 267.5 death rate. So far, 2,180 people have died in the county from COVID-19.
“Without the collective efforts that we all have made,” Cody said, “we would have lost many more.” .