Redwood City – As other Bay Area Health officials today announced that they would impose new local stay-at-home orders, the County of San Mateo remains focused on following the state’s existing metrics and process, while reinforcing the public’s responsibility to comply with existing safety measures – especially avoiding gatherings – to slow the spread of COVID-19 during the holiday season.
Accordingly, while the County understands and appreciates the measures taken by the other Bay Area counties, San Mateo will not at this time be issuing a new local stay-at-home order and will continue to work with business and community leaders on adherence to existing guidelines. San Mateo County remains in the purple Tier 1 on the state’s four-tier, color-coded system for restricting and loosening activities.
County of San Mateo officials urge all residents to act assertively to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 by stepping up vigilance about all health and safety measures – especially avoiding gatherings – to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Like all of the region, the state and the nation, San Mateo County is experiencing increased COVID-19 cases, particularly among young adults. The transmission is substantially driven by indoor social gatherings and insufficient face covering.
“We know our residents have sacrificed and patience is growing thin, but we need you to know that you have the power to curb the spread and preserve hospital capacity for those who will need care in the coming weeks. We can get through this together if each of us takes action now to social distance, wear face coverings and avoid gatherings,” said County Manager Michael Callagy.
“We acknowledge the reality of the pandemic fatigue that residents are experiencing and the need to find sources of support through this challenging period. Our collective focus must be on finding ways to support each other through this crisis safely while limiting gathering and adhering to face covering,” said Louise Rogers, Chief of County Health.
County officials will continue to collaborate and work with the other Bay Area counties on coordinating and facilitating the availability of hospital capacity.
“The measures we are taking emphasize individual and collective responsibility,” said Dr. Scott Morrow, San Mateo County’s Health Officer. “With the vaccine coming soon, now more than ever, this is a critical time to stay focused on the key behaviors that protect our communities.”
Dr. Morrow will continue to closely scrutinize County and regional hospitalization data, including the number of available and staffed intensive care unit beds, to determine whether additional local measures should be mobilized as we all try to bend the current curve in the rise of COVID19 cases in San Mateo County.
