Santa Clara County Reports 259 New Coronavirus Cases, 2 Deaths
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — The Santa Clara County Public Health Department reported 259 additional coronavirus cases Wednesday.
The latest announcement brings the countywide COVID-19 case count to 9,612.
The county reported two additional coronavirus-related fatalities Wednesday, bringing its COVID-19 death toll to 187.
There were 185 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Santa Clara County as of Wednesday, of which 53 were being treated in intensive care units.
Elsewhere around the Bay Area and beyond, a saliva-based COVID-19 test will be available for two days starting Wednesday in Berkeley with the aim of increasing the speed and availability of testing, city officials said Tuesday. People will be able to swab their own mouth while under supervision at a kiosk at San Pablo Park, 2800 Park St. Appointments are available online athttps://signup.curativeinc.com/welcome.
All available tickets to the Oakland Zoo sold out for Wednesday, the first day the zoo has been open to the public since closing amid COVID-19 shelter orders in March. Attendance was limited to 2,500 people, one-third of its capacity, to be sure visitors were safe amid the pandemic, zoo's officials said.
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance establishing administrative fines for violating public health orders related to the novel coronavirus, including not wearing face coverings, social distancing and improper gatherings. For health order violations involving non-commercial activities, the fine is $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second and $500 for each additional violation within one year of the initial violation. For violations involving commercial activity, the amount is $250 for a first violation, $500 for a second and $1,000 for each additional violation within one year of the initial violation.
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There were 475,806 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 8,748 coronavirus-related deaths in California as of Wednesday afternoon according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The United States had 4,401,599 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 150,090 coronavirus-related fatalities as of Wednesday afternoon.
There have been 16,849,365 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 662,648 deaths reported globally as of Wednesday afternoon.
— Bay City News contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on the Los Gatos Patch
