Covid-19

Indoor dining, church services can resume in Santa Clara County

As COVID-19 numbers in the county slowly improve, officials gave Santa Clara County businesses the green light to begin operating indoors — but with caution. Starting Oct. 14, restaurants, churches, movie theaters and other businesses can open at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer. They also can host outdoor gatherings of up to...

Coronavirus LIVE BLOG: September 13 to October 12

Catch up on our current Coronavirus LIVE BLOG here. 11 a.m. Oct 12: Gardner Health Center and county increase testing at Mexican Heritage Plaza COVID-19 Testing Coordinators at the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San Jose say they aim to increase testing as they have exceeded their initial capacity....

Exclusive Q&A: Santa Clara County health chief answers San José Spotlight readers

Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody sat down Oct. 8 to answer San José Spotlight readers’ questions about the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding of the virus has evolved considerably since Cody last answered reader questions in April. The advice, however, has been consistent: People should maintain physical distance from those outside their household, avoid...

Religious leaders plead to increase indoor services in Santa Clara County

Church members from across Santa Clara County are asking supervisors to reconsider restrictions that will limit services to 25 percent of capacity, even as the county moves into a less restrictive tier of pandemic restrictions imposed by the state. For nearly two hours Oct. 6, church members, pastors and representatives asked the Board of Supervisors...

Santa Clara County allows facial services to reopen

Santa Clara County is lifting restrictions on licensed estheticians and other skin care professionals who were previously prohibited from operating due to the coronavirus. County public health officials on Sunday afternoon made the change that will now allow facial services to resume. Previously, the county allowed hair and nails salons to reopen for both indoor...

COVID-19 infections among Latinx seeing sharp decline in Santa Clara County

After data busted the myth that COVID-19 was “the great equalizer” and made it clear the disease has had disproportionate affects on Santa Clara County’s Latinx population, public health officials say rates finally are starting to decrease in the hardest hit communities. “The rates among the Latinx community were really soaring in July. They were...