Santa Clara County is now the only Bay Area county that isn’t moving into Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan.
The county’s public health officer has said nothing will change in the region’s biggest county until some key indicators are met, including increasing testing from 1,000 to 4,000 people per day.
The county’s public health department on Friday unveiled a new COVID-19 test. It’s a nasal swab that testing officer Dr. Marty Fenstersheib showed is much less invasive than the usual method.
Fenstersheib urged anyone who interacts with the public to get tested.
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez is encouraged by the new test and said she understands business owners are feeling the effects of not being able to reopen.
“We’re going to get to 4,000 [tests] a day,” she said. “My guess is by the end of the month, so I think we’re very close on that.”
At this point, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department is keeping its plans quiet and declined to comment on the actions of other counties or any possible changes to its own plans.
Gleim The Jeweler store in downtown Palo Alto has been a popular family-run business since 1931, but it has been closed since March in accordance with Santa Clara County’s public health order. The owning family has mixed feelings watching neighboring San Mateo County ease restrictions.
“We haven’t had a unified, cohesive response to this whole thing,” Vice President Bhuvan Sahney said. “It’s been piecemeal, and that’s how the opening is, too.”
