SAN JOSE, Calif (KRON) — “The transmission rates are rising. We should be concerned. We should be redoubling our efforts. We should be focused. But this isn’t the time to panic.”

White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx called out San Jose as one of 12 cities that she says are “lagging behind” and have new coronavirus cases.

According to the Santa Clara County Health Department, the county has seen 216 new cases and 32 new hospitalizations — San Jose specifically has seen 5,523 cases of the virus.

Dr. Birx said they are tracking cases very closely in San Jose and working with officials.

The mayor of San Jose says what they are doing will not change regardless of what list the White House puts them on. They will continue to wear masks and socially distance.

“I wonder how much of that list is politically motivated frankly,” San Jose City Councilor Dev Davis said.

Davis says people in San Jose are doing well, wearing their masks and socially distancing.

But — Dr. Deborah Birx privately told a group of state and local health officials on Wednesday that she’s concerned about San Jose.

“There are cities that are lagging behind and we have new increases in Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas, San Jose, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Baltimore so we’re tracking this very closely,” Dr. Birx said. “We’re working with the state officials to make sure we’re responding together, but when you first see that increased test positivity, that is when to start the mitigation efforts.”

“I think we have really good leadership in the city and the county and the state and we are all watching the numbers,” Davis said. “So I’m not concerned about that.”

San Jose City Councilor Lan Diep says he trusts the doctor’s statement.

“I don’t think that Dr. Birx is speculating,” he said. “I think if she’s making that list, she’s coming off of data and there’s no arguing data.”

A map from the Santa Clara County Health Department shows a higher rate of coronavirus cases in San Jose compared to some of the other cities in the county.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo explained why he thinks Dr. Birx is concerned with San Jose.

“I’m not going to speculate as to why the White House selected particular cities,” Liccardo said. “What I know is that certainly we are all concerned about rising transmission rates, we are all concerned about rising recent x of our hospitals by COVID-positive patients. People are getting sick more frequently here and that is a problem.”

We asked the San Jose mayor — he says he and the other mayors of the cities mentioned — were not involved in the conversation with Dr. Birx.

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