SAN MATEO COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) — Not all Bay Area counties are locking down early — those are Sonoma, Napa, Solano and San Mateo counties.
Health leaders in San Mateo County say while they do appreciate the measures being taken by other counties, they will not be issuing the new stay at home order. Instead, they want the public to take extra precautions to protect themselves to slow down the spread of COVID-19.
San Mateo County remains in the restrictive purple tier of the state’s reopening phase. Health officials will continue to work with businesses and community leaders on adherence to existing guidelines.
“It’s interesting that all the other counties around us are closed down and it’s just kind of scary because there are some people coming into our store that not exactly follow the guidelines and we have to tell them,” Tawni Richardson said.
Richardson and her coworker Kira say while it’s nice to be able to still have outdoor dining and other limited activities — a stay at home order is necessary.
“I feel like we kind of needed a bigger shutdown in our county at least just so people take it more seriously because I think there is a big majority of people who are but there’s this small few that just don’t take it as serious say as in March or April,” Richardson said.
“I think it’s better to go do something bigger rather than having all these small different guidelines because people don’t take it very seriously,” Kira Spottiswood said. “I don’t think the 10 o’clock curfew makes a huge difference.”>
Officials say San Mateo County is experiencing an increase of COVID cases among young adults driven by indoor social gatherings and not wearing masks.
“Masks are necessary. I think there are a lot of reports stuff about it and I think everyone should be wearing a mask,” Nick Chao said. “You know, just do your part as a community.”
It’s what county leaders are relying on.
“This virus doesn’t know county lines and looking at the numbers in the Bay Area in particular the numbers are trending in a very very bad direction,” David Canepa said.
Despite San Mateo County’s health officer’s decision not to join other Bay Area counties in shutting down, Supervisor David Canepa thinks the county should adopt the new stay-at-home order.
“When it comes to life saving actions and shelter in place is that make no mistake about it, we have to do that,” Canepa said.
As of Friday, San Mateo County has 79 COVID patients in the hospital, 52 in the ICU.
Supervisor Canepa says the current ICU capacity will likely lead to a shelter in place in the coming weeks.
San Mateo County hospitals are preparing for a surge but the hope is people will have the power to curb the spread of COVID and preserve hospital capacity for those who need it.