Redwood City – The County of San Mateo continues to work to protect public health and safety in response to the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.
The County of San Mateo’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) remains open to coordinate countywide response and communications in response to the situation. The EOC’s Joint Information Center will provide status reports every Tuesday and Thursday until further notice. Today’s report:
Child Care Relief Fund Accepts Grant Applications on Aug. 24
Last month the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors allocated $2 million of CARES Act funds to the Child Care Relief Fund to assist licensed child care centers, family child care homes, and license-exempt public recreation and school district programs in the county that have been adversely impacted by COVID-19.
Beginning Monday, Aug. 24, grant applications will be accepted from qualifying child care providers and programs to cover one month of operating expenses up to $10,000 for family child care homes and $55,000 for child care centers.
Priority will be given to child care programs that serve the most vulnerable San Mateo County residents, demonstrate fiscal sustainability, and participate in existing county initiatives such as The Big Lift and Quality Counts.
The Child Care Relief Fund is administered by Community Equity Collaborative and the San Mateo Credit Union in partnership with the SMC Board of Supervisors and the SMC COVID-19 Child Care Response Team.
Applications must be received by Sept. 4 at 5 p.m. For more information and to apply, visit: http://www.communityequitycollaborative.org/child-care-relief-fund.html
San Mateo County Releases Waiver Application to Allow In-Person Instruction for TK-6th Grade Students
The San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) and San Mateo County Health jointly released an application today allowing schools and districts to request a waiver to bring TK-6th grade students on campus for in-person learning.
Since San Mateo County joined the State’s COVID-19 monitoring list on Aug. 2, all of its TK-12 schools – public, private, and charter – have been required to start the school year with distance learning. The State did allow, however, for counties to develop a waiver process to bring TK-6th grade students back on campus for in-person instruction.
SMCOE and San Mateo County Health worked closely together to develop the application and review process released today. The application and instructions can be found on the SMCOE website.
“I encourage schools to explore the waiver option in order to get children in the early elementary grades on campus. In-person instruction is particularly valuable to younger students whose foundational literacy and numeracy skills are paramount to long-term academic success, explained San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Magee. “It’s important to add that while shifting to in-person instruction, schools must continue to be thoughtful and effective in implementing the Four Pillars in the Pandemic Recovery Framework to ensure a healthy and safe learning environment for students and staff.”
COVID-19 Testing Available Aug. 24 - 28
San Mateo County’s free COVID-19 testing is available without restriction to anyone. Because only 500 tests are allocated each day, it is advisable to schedule an appointment with Verily/Project Baseline, San Mateo County’s free testing provider, at https://bit.ly/2xk73OL
If you don’t have access to the internet, there may be a volunteer on site who can assist you. The following locations are open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
San Mateo: Aug. 24
San Mateo County Event Center
1346 Saratoga Drive
Half Moon Bay: Aug. 25
Our Lady of the Pillar
565 Kelly Avenue
San Bruno: Aug. 26
The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints
975 Sneath Lane
North Fair Oaks: Aug. 27 & 28 (New Location)
Stanford Parking Lot
2685 Bay Road
County Manager’s Media Briefing on YouTube
The Aug. 19, 2020, media briefing on the County of San Mateo’s response to COVID-19 hosted by San Mateo County Manager Mike Callagy can be viewed at https://youtu.be/dy5SrGefFYo
Subscribe to the County’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/sanmateocountygov
State’s Underreporting Reflected in San Mateo County COVID-19 Case Count
A significant problem with the State of California’s reporting system for communicable diseases has resulted in significant underreporting of COVID-19 testing results to San Mateo County Health and local health departments statewide. SMC Health continues to work with the California Department of Public Health to identify any remaining potential data gaps to investigate, understand, and resolve additional data issues.
San Mateo County Health has updated the number of positive cases to 7,382 as of Aug. 19, 2020.
County Health provides detailed information on the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths within San Mateo County, including by day, age, race/ethnicity and sex of patients.
Learn more at https://www.smchealth.org/coronavirus
Call Center
Residents with non-medical, non-emergency questions about the coronavirus can call 211 or 800-273-6222 at any time, day or night. Callers from landlines and cellular telephones located within San Mateo County are connected with a trained service professional from 211, a confidential service available in 180 languages.
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