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In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, rumors and misinformation can spread just as quickly as the disease. In San Jose, social media posts proliferated alleging police officers were stopping people in low-income neighborhoods for violating the state’s “shelter-in-place” order, which asks residents to stay inside unless they need to do essential tasks. The claims alarmed police...
Coronavirus: Q&A with Santa Clara County’s top health official
As the top health official in Santa Clara County, Dr. Sara Cody never imagined she’d be tasked with addressing a major pandemic that has taken root in the South Bay, killing 16 so far and infecting at least 375 as of Tuesday. “This is absolutely unprecedented,” she said Tuesday during a virtual “town hall” call...
Amid criticism, San Jose eases some ‘sunshine’ rules in the wake of coronavirus
Among the emergency laws signed in the wake of the coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded health care for California residents, eased restrictions to qualify for unemployment and issued a statewide stay-at-home order. But tucked inside the slew of measures was an order to loosen the state’s sunshine laws, including the Brown Act, which ensures greater...
Santa Clara council OKs renter protections, small business relief program
The Santa Clara City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an urgency ordinance that immediately halts evictions through May 8 as the financial fallout from the coronavirus continues to wallop the nation. City lawmakers, who ratified a local emergency last week, also approved a 90-day ordinance that will kick in 45 days from now and provide...
San Jose approves $2M for coronavirus homeless prevention fund
Following a statewide directive to shelter-in-place, San Jose leaders on Tuesday unanimously approved allocating $2 million to fund homelessness prevention services for low-income families at risk of being pushed into poverty. Santa Clara County’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday also approved an additional $2 million to the same $11 million fund meant to provide rent assistance...
Silicon Valley officials, tech giants launch program to help residents pay rent
A group of local government, business and philanthropic leaders have launched a program that will help pay rent for low-income residents in Santa Clara County who have had their lives financially upended by the coronavirus. The program, part of the Santa Clara County Homelessness Prevention System, is being led by Sacred Heart Community Service, which...
Santa Clara County releases coronavirus testing numbers, more first responders fall ill
Following three new reported deaths and a jump in coronavirus infections, Santa Clara County officials on Monday released long-awaited information about how many people have been tested for the virus so far, but they still don’t know how many tests have been given outside the county’s facility. The county’s Public Health laboratory has tested 1,044...
Santa Clara Convention Center transitioning into temporary federal hospital
As the number of COVID-19 cases in Santa Clara County continues to rise – up to 302 as of Sunday, with 10 deaths – so does the strain on area hospital staff and resources. In an effort to ease that demand, the Santa Clara Convention Center started the process of transitioning its facilities Monday morning...
Coronavirus: South Bay day laborers struggle for work, resources
Next to a sketch of a waterfall on a whiteboard at the Day Worker Center of Mountain View, Harlan Iverson, a former Silicon Valley software engineer, wrote an equation and graph showing exponential growth of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Iverson, 35, has been next in line for the center’s laborer list, waiting for a job since...
Santa Clara County makes plan for more hospital beds as COVID-19 spreads
Santa Clara County officials say they’re making plans for a projected surge in hospitalizations due to coronavirus just as deaths across the county reached double digits and infections rose by 106 cases in the last two days. As of Sunday night, 10 people had died from the virus, up from eight on Friday, and the...