August 11, 2020
  • Aug. 11, 2020
    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:

    Jury Selection Moves to San Mateo County Event Center in September
    To provide additional space for safe social distancing, the San Mateo County Superior Court will move jury selection for trials scheduled for the Hall of Justice in Redwood City to the Event Center in San Mateo.

    The Court may also move jury selection for trials scheduled for the Northern Branch court facility in South San Francisco to the Event Center as well.

    The move to hold jury selection at the Event Center’s Cypress Hall will provide large, well-ventilated space to bring potential jurors together for interviews and selection, according to Neal Taniguchi, court executive officer.

    “The Court hopes to address the large backlog of jury trials that has accumulated as a result of the pandemic and the associated social distancing and shelter-in-place orders,” Taniguchi said.

    Jury selection will occur at the Event Center but trials will be conducted in courtrooms in Redwood City or South San Francisco. Prospective jurors will be provided with free parking next to Cypress Hall.

    The Court will rent Cypress Hall for one year at a cost of approximately $265,000, a price that includes frequent custodial cleanings.

    Prospective jurors will receive reporting instructions on their jury summons once the selection process moves to the Event Center, which is expected sometime after Sept. 7.

    COVID-19 Testing Available Aug. 12­-17
    San Mateo County’s no-cost COIVD-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 no-cost 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 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.:

    Daly City: Aug. 12
    Jefferson Union High School District Office
    699 Serramonte Blvd.

    East Palo Alto: Aug 13 & 14
    2160 Euclid Ave.

    San Mateo: Aug. 17
    San Mateo County Event Center
    1346 Saratoga Drive

    Find the complete calendar and valuable testing information at: https://www.smcgov.org/covid-19-testing

    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 6,318 as of Aug. 10, 2020.

    County Health provides detailed information on cases by age group and date and deaths by age group. 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.