►
Description
County of Santa Clara Public Health officials conduct a press conference to provide updates regarding the COVID-19 surge, increased hospitalizations, and the vaccination roll-out here in Santa Clara County.
Recorded January 6, 2021.
The City of Cupertino would like to express its thanks to the County of Santa Clara for the use of their video materials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information regarding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in Cupertino, please visit https://www.cupertino.org/coronavirus
B
Start
by
saying
happy
new
year,
and
let
me
just
talk
about
the
purpose
of
today's
press
conference.
B
I
know
that
people,
first
of
all,
my
name
is
cindy
chavez.
I'm
on
the
board
of
supervisors,
I'm
president
of
the
board
of
supervisors
until
next
tuesday.
So
so
I'm
really
delighted
to
be
with
all
of
you
to
talk
today,
but
the.
But
the
point
of
today's
press
conference
is
to
have
a
conversation
with
the
public
about
what
we're
experiencing
in
the
hospitals-
and
I
know
that
people
are,
they
don't
want
to
have
their
our
us
wagging
our
fingers
at
you,
and
this
is
not
about
new
rules.
B
We
know
that
we're
we're
seeing
a
continued
surge,
and
this
is
critical
right
now,
because
the
county
is
busy
doing
two
other
things
getting
people
vaccinated
and
making
sure
that
we
have
people
continuing
to
get
tests.
So
we
want
to
continue
to
ask
the
community
to
get
tested
and
vaccines
are
beginning
to
be
administered,
but
today's
focus
is
on
our
emergency
medical
system
and
you're
going
to
hear
today
from
doctors
and
our
county
council
just
to
help
everybody
navigate
through
the
next
few
weeks
and
to
better
understand
what
we're
experiencing.
B
B
C
Thank
you
supervisor,
chavez
and
good
morning.
Everybody,
our
health
care
system,
continues
to
be
under
an
enormous
amount
of
strain.
Every
day
in
our
county,
more
than
1
000
people
are
diagnosed
with
covid19
and
more
than
100
people
are
admitted
to
the
hospital
every
single
day.
This
surge
has
been
relentless
and
it
has
not
stopped,
and
it
is
straining
our
health
care
system
to
a
breaking
point.
C
As
of
right
now,
patients
are
waiting
in
emergency
rooms
to
be
admitted
because
there
are
not
enough
beds
for
them.
As
of
right
now,
staff
are
being
pulled
from
other
areas
of
the
hospital
to
provide
care
to
critically
ill
patients.
This
means
that
other
patients
who
also
have
needs
are
having
to
go
without.
C
D
You
good
morning,
everybody,
my
name
is
jeff
chen,
I'm
the
ed
medical
director
here
at
valley,
medical
emergency
department,
I'm
here
today
to
speak
to
everybody
about
what
we're
experiencing
in
the
emergency
department
in
the
er
we've
been
fighting
this
fight
for
almost
a
year.
Now
it
hasn't
gotten
any
easier.
If
anything
has
gotten
harder.
As
time
has
gone
on,
the
staff
is
fatigued.
They
are
tired.
D
We're
resolved
to
get
this
done,
but
we
need
everyone's
help.
The
er
is
full
folks
are
waiting
for
beds,
we've
got,
we
are
getting
really
creative
with
places
to
see
patients
and
patients
are
suffering
covet
is
no
joke.
Folks
are
struggling
to
breathe.
Folks
are
gasping
for
breath.
Some
folks
look
like
they
are
drowning,
while
they're
sitting
there
in
bed
in
front
of
us
and
there's
a
very
finite
amount,
we
can
do
to
fight
this
new
virus.
D
So
everyone
likes
us
call
the
emergency
providers,
the
healthcare
heroes,
the
first
line
of
defense
against
kovid
folks,
I'm
begging
everyone
to
help
us
out
here,
because
we're
not
the
front
line
we're
the
last
line.
We
need
everyone's
support
so
that
we
can
continue
fighting
for
and
with
everyone
here.
Thank
you.
E
Good
morning,
daniel
franklin,
ems
duty,
chief
for
santa
clara
county,
as
you've
heard,
our
healthcare
system
is
currently
inundated
with
patients.
This
also
includes
our
9-1-1
system
and
how
it's
impacted
us
is
with
the
hospitals
continuing
to
fill
with
patients.
We
have
less
beds
available
in
the
emergency
departments
to
transition
care
from
our
ambulance,
crews
to
the
hospital
staff.
E
E
E
We
want
to
be
able
to
have
ambulances
available
in
our
system
to
handle
every
life-threatening
emergency.
We
want
to
be
able
to
take
care
of
those
that
live
work
and
play
in
our
system,
but
we
need
the
public's
help
in
doing
so.
I,
as
you
heard
from
our
healthcare
professionals,
we
need
people
to
mask
up.
We
need
people
to
social
distance.
We
need
everyone
to
come
together
and
help
stop
the
spread.
We
just
want
you
to
be
aware
that
it
is
also
impacting
the
911
system.
E
F
F
Well,
it's
not
just
a
matter
of
ensuring
access
to
care
for
people
with
covet
19,
although
that
is,
of
course
very
very
important,
but
we
take
for
granted
having
access
to
an
icu
bed
having
access
to
a
paramedic
and
an
ambulance
having
access
to
whatever
care.
We
need
walking
into
an
emergency
department
at
a
hospital
whether
it's
a
car
accident,
a
heart
attack
a
stroke,
any
other
thing
that
might
happen
to
one
of
our
loved
ones
or
ourselves
at
a
moment's
notice.
F
We
know
that
the
tools
that
we
have
that
work
today
right
here
and
right
now
those
tools
are
to
stay
at
home
unless
you're
doing
essential
business
and
when
you're
out
an
essential
business
to
where
your
face
coverings
maintain
social
distancing.
We
know
all
that,
but
it's
hard
months
and
months
and
months
in
it's
hard
when
we're
seeking
the
you
know
the
hope
of
the
vaccinations
coming
in
the
next
coming
months.
F
But
between
now
and
then
we
want
to
get
there
together
as
a
community
with
all
of
our
friends,
all
of
our
family,
all
of
our
loved
ones
and
the
way
we
can
do.
That
is
by
doing
what
we
so
successfully
did
in
march
and
over
the
summer
and
once
again
beating
back
this
surge
in
covet
19
cases
and
hospitalizations.
B
B
F
Yeah,
so
we
don't,
we
don't
have
a
new
update
regarding
kaiser
other
than
we're
continuing
our
investigation,
as
cases
are
reported
in,
and
we
know
that
kaiser
is
continuing
its
testing,
as
I
think
they
have
shared
that
they're
they're
doing
comprehensive
testing
as
that
outbreak
continues.
It's
a
really
tragic
situation,
and
you
know
we
do
of
course
monitor
outbreaks
at
work
sites,
including
health
care
sites
across
the
county
and
and
look
right
now
with
the
level
of
cases
that
we
have.
F
There
are
a
lot
of
outbreaks
at
work
sites,
including
health
care
settings
all
across
the
county.
There
is
a
very
high
level
of
covet
transmission
right
now
in
the
community,
there's
never
been
a
higher
level
and
so
we're
seeing
that
certainly
true
at
different
healthcare
settings,
but
at
every
single
kind
of
work
site.
That's
open,
there's
just
a
large
large
large
volume
of
cases.
F
We
we
are
aware
of
an
of
a
number
of
cases
at
st
louise.
They
have
a
comprehensive
testing
program.
All
the
county
hospitals
do
and
have
for
quite
some
time,
and
so
those
do
catch
cases
and
I
believe,
currently
we're
aware
of
about
eight
cases
on
the
staff
there.
Any.
F
Showing
up
at
all
at
other
hospitals,
I
don't
have
the
exact
data
on
that,
except
to
say
that
there
are
regularly
cases
at
hospitals
and
that's
actually
one
of
the
reasons
why
the
federal
government
and
the
state
government
have
prioritized
healthcare
workers
in
phase
1a
of
vaccination
and
we're
very
pleased
that
many
acute
care
hospital
workers
have
already
received
their
first
dose
of
the
vaccine.
Now
it
will
take
time
for
that
to
be
effective
because
they
need
to
also
get
their
second
dose,
and
it
takes.
F
You
know
several
days
after
that
to
reach
the
the
level
of
immunity.
That's
been
described
in
the
very
studies,
but
we're
on
that
pathway
for
that
workforce,
which
is,
of
course,
extremely
pivotal
at
this
time
when
those
same
systems
are
under
strain.
C
This
has
been
a
very
long
pandemic,
but
january
is
by
far
the
most
challenging
months.
We've
had,
and
the
reason
we're
talking
to
you
today
is
that
awful
as
it
is,
it
could
get
worse
and
there's
no
other
way
to
say
that
right
now
we
haven't
been
in
a
situation
where
there's
two
people
gasping
for
breath
and
only
one
of
them
gets
a
ventilator.
I
How
unusual
was
that
spike
there
and
to
what
extent,
are
other
ers
around
the
county,
vulnerable
susceptible
to
the
same
kind
of
scenario,.
C
So
all
the
emergency
rooms
and
all
the
hospitals
do
have
employee
testing
programs
that
are
mandated
at
various
government
levels.
But,
as
james
said,
when
you
have
so
much
gold
in
the
community,
we
are
all
vulnerable,
we're
vulnerable.
If
we're
in
an
emergency
room,
we're
vulnerable
in
the
community
were
vulnerable
everywhere.
C
I
C
Absolutely
exhausted
health
workers,
people
who
are
just
rushing
from
patient
to
patient
people
who
are
having
to
rapidly
turn
over
beds.
None
of
this
is
conducive
to
having
the
level
of
care
that
we
would
expect
and,
as
you've
heard
today,
we
have
amazing
healthcare
professionals
working
in
world-class
hospitals,
but
every
system
has
its
limits.
H
B
B
B
H
Dashboard,
like
the
the
daily
case,
count
and
then
the
rolling
seven
day
average
seems
to
be
trending
down
a
little
bit.
Am
I
am
I
crazy
when
I
see
that
and
what
are
you
attributing
that
to
do
you
think
that
is
just
holiday
sort
of
break
time
in
the
testing
or
is
the
vet?
Are
we
seeing
some
effect
from
the
vaccine
right
now,.
F
F
So
it's
going
to
take
some
time,
but
the
question
was
really
what's
going
on
with
the
case
counts.
We
had
reduced
testing
over
christmas
and
new
year's
because
of
the
holidays.
Almost
all
testing
providers
were
closed
for
the
holidays,
so
we
expected
to
see
a
dip
in
case
counts
related
to
the
reduction
of
testing,
and
we
also
don't
expect
to
see
cases
show
up
on
the
dashboards
for
at
least
10
days.
F
Two
weeks
has
been
more
typical
from
when
an
event
occurs
and
that's
been
consistent
throughout
and
that's
because
it
takes
time,
of
course,
for
someone
to
test
positive
and
then
it
takes
a
little
time
for
those
results
to
come
in
and
show
up
as
well.
So
if
you
put
all
those
pieces
together,
I
think
we're
not
going
to
get
a
good
picture
of
what
may
have
happened
or
not
happen
around
the
holidays
and
new
year's.
Probably
until
sometime
next.
J
F
F
We're
still
learning
more
about
how
that
will
exactly
be
operationalized,
but
it
is
dependent
on
the
specific
circumstances
at
each
hospital,
as
well
as
with
respect
to
each
individual
patient.
A
patient
transfer
is
an
individualized
determination,
and
so
those
will
be
made
through
the
normal
state.
Mutual
aid.
J
J
F
C
So
the
question
is:
what
is
the
county
doing
to
help
the
hospital
prepare?
So
we
have
been
working
with
the
hospital
since
before
march,
to
prepare
for
the
scenario
we
are
in
right
now,
specifically,
we
have
helped
them
with
procuring
ppe
so
that,
if
you
remember
back
in
the
spring,
there
was
a
huge
concern
about
ppe
shortages.
C
And
fourthly,
and
the
most
challenging
is
around
staffing
and
that's
the
one
thing
that
has
been
really
challenging
throughout
this
pandemic
and
we
continue
to
work
with
them
and
with
our
state
partners
in
order
to
try
to
secure
staffing,
because
that's
really
the
rate
limiting
step
right
now
and
how
much
the
hospital
are
able
to
surge.
And,
unfortunately,
unlike
ppe
and
unlike
medicines,
you
can't
manufacture
staffing
in
the
factory.
There's
a
limited
amount
out
there
and
we're
doing
our
best
to
try
to
draw
what
resources
we
can
and
share
them
equitably.
J
F
Question
is:
when
does
the
stay-at-home
order
expire?
The
order
has
been
is
in
place
here
in
santa
clara
county
through
the
state's
regional
state
home
order
that
currently
it
ends
january
8th.
But
the
state
has
made
very
clear
that
it
will
be
extended
if
icu
capacity
projections
remain
below
15
percent.
The
state
has
already
extended
it
in
southern
california
and
central
california,
and
we
have
every
indication
that
it
will
be
extended
here
in
the
bay
area
as
well,
because
the
hospitalization
situation
has
not
improved
since
it
was
issued.
F
So
that
there's
a
question
about
vaccination
distribution
planning,
the
the
planning
related
to
the
vaccinations
is
happening
in
phases.
So
the
the
centers
for
disease
control
and
prevention
has
issued
specific
guidance
breaking
up
eligible
populations
into
different
phases.
1A
1b,
1c
2..
The
state
is
developing
guidance.
F
We
have
to
build
our
plans
based
on
that
directive
from
the
state,
and
work
is
well
well
well
underway
to
to
provide
for
that,
including
deep
into
phase
1b
1c
and
phase
2,
which
will
be
the
general
population.
So
it'll
be
some
time
since
we're
still
in
the
early
stages
of
phase
1a.
But
we
are
very
much
know
that
that
many
people
in
the
community
are
eager
to
be
vaccinated
and
we
are
very,
very
eager
to
see
vaccinations
happen
on
a
mass
scale.
B
Just
something
can
respond
to
that
one
too.
The
board
both
supervisor
simidian
and
I
have
asked
for
the
the
both
supervisor
sumidian
and
I
have
asked
for
a
plan
to
come
forward
to
the
public,
even
if
it's
not
perfect
just
to
respond
to
that
point
and
recognizing
that,
if
the
more
information
that
we
can
get
out
through
all
of
you
so
that
people
understand
the
vaccines
are
on
the
way
when
their
turn
will
be
that
we
think
it's
going
to
help.
B
People
feel
more
comfortable
and
confident
about
how
you
know
how
long
we're
going
to
be
suffering
from
covid19
as
a
community.
The
other
thing
I
would
just
recommend
is
the
staff
has
done
a
tremendous
job
of
really
act.
Pivoting
with
you
know,
with
vaccines,
arriving
and
and
getting
people
vaccinated,
and
I
think,
have
done
a
really
noble
job.
If
you
look
around
the
country,
we're
a
little
bit
ahead
of
everybody
else
in
part,
because
we
have
such
strong
leadership
from
from
the
county.
B
That
being
said
on
on
tuesdays
at
our
board
meeting
they're,
always
at
times
certain,
there
will
be
a
discussion
about
vaccines
and
getting
being
able
to
get
an
update.
So
I
would
just
recommend
that
at
our
tuesday
board
meeting
at
one
that
you
tune
in
and
you'll
learn
more
about
where
we
are
with
vaccines.
C
The
county
and
other
hospitals
in
the
county
have
been
using
staffing
agencies
and
these
staffing
agencies
source
from
all
over
the
country,
so
we
currently
do
have
nurses
working
in
our
county
from
all
over
the
country.
However,
the
competition
for
these
resources
is
quite
intense
and
it's
it's
it's
just
a
limited
supply
in
general,
but
we
certainly
are
looking
throughout
the
country
to
try
to
get
staffing.
C
Southern
california
has
perhaps
even
a
greater
need
right
now,
but
there
is
also
a
state
level
program
of
calmat
which
can
help
with
resources
as
well,
and
we
have
been
drawing
down
on
that
as
well.
But
you
are
right
in
the
sense
that
those
resources
do
get
allocated
to
great
places
of
greatest
need.
J
H
C
I
don't
have
that
data
with
me.
It's
certainly
something
that
the
hospitals
may
be
able
to
provide
you.
What
I
can
tell
you
is
that
the
wait
time
in
the
emergency
room
is
directly
proportional
to
what's
happening
outside
of
the
emergency
room.
So
when
you
have
a
hospital,
that's
full
and
there
are
no
beds
available.
That
increases
the
wait
time.
So
it's
this
continuum
of
care.
C
E
In
regards
to
wait
times
that
ambulances
are
seeing
at
hospitals
during
the
month
of
december,
we
had,
we
actually
have
a
report
right
now,
that's
been
posted
up
on
the
santa
clara
county
ems
agency's
website.
You
can
actually
get
on
there
and
see
what
the
average
wait
time
for
each
of
our
hospitals
were
based
upon
what
the
ambulances
were
experienced,
but
we've
seen
wait
times
anywhere
between
an
additional
30
minutes,
where
we
even
had
a
case
during
the
month
of
december,
which
it
took
eight
hours
to
offload
one
patient.
E
E
There's
also
a
common
misconception
that
if
you
go
to
the
emergency
room
by
ambulance
that
you're
going
to
get
seen
quicker-
and
I
want
to
dispel
that
because
that's
not
the
case,
the
hospitals
will
triage
each
patient
that
comes
in
regardless,
if
they're,
a
walk-in
or,
if
they're
brought
in
by
ambulance
and
then
they're
going
to
be
treated
based
upon
the
acuity
of
the
care
that
they
need.
So
some
of
our
patients
we've
been
bringing
in
by
ambulance,
have
gone
out
to
the
waiting
room.
So
just
to
make
sure
I
dispel
that.
H
Follow-Up
question:
yes
of
the
of
the
calls
that
come
into
the
9-1-1
center.
How
many
calls
on
a
daily
basis-
and
also
you
mentioned
earlier-
the
push
to
get
more
people
to
think
before
they
make
that
phone
call?
Yes,
so
what
percentage
would
you
say
of
the
phone
calls
that
come
into
the
system
are:
are
cases
that
can
be
handled
by
calling
a
primary
care
physician
or
going
to
an
urgent
care
facility.
E
Great
question,
so
we
also
have
a
report
up
on
our
agency
website,
which
is
open
to
the
public.
Anyone
can
get
on
there,
it's
called
it
and
it's
you
can
actually
see
how
many
transports
we
have
done
each
day
based
upon
and
also
how
many
ambulances
are
being
sent
to
each
hospital
to
give
you
kind
of
a
figure.
Our
our
current
cancellation
rate
is
about
33.
E
So
one
third
of
the
calls
that
we
respond
to.
We
actually
do
not
result
in
a
transport,
but
that
could
be
for
a
multitude
of
reasons.
It
could
be
that
the
patient
elected
to
have
a
family
member
drive
them
to
the
hospital.
It
could
be
that
the
patient
didn't
call
9-1-1,
someone
else
called
9-1-1
on
their
behalf
and
they
truly
weren't
experiencing
any
medical
emergency.
E
B
F
C
So
it
is
true
that
many
workers
do
work
at
multiple
sites.
There's
really
no
way
around
that.
Given
this
tremendous
staffing
crisis
we're
in
right
now,
we
need
all
hands
on
deck,
but
clearly
every
place
where
a
healthcare
worker
is
employed
needs
to
have
a
comprehensive
infection.
Control
program
needs
to
do
testing
to
keep
both
the
workers
and
the
patients
safe.