coronavirus

Santa Clara County to Stop Indoor Dining as COVID-19 Cases Spike

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Santa Clara County's public health officer announced Friday that indoor dining will be shut down come Tuesday as the county heads for a more restrictive reopening tier.

Dr. Sara Cody made the announcements as the county sees a "sudden, rapid spike" in COVID-19 cases and a "significant increase" in hospitalizations, according to the county.

The county is expected to be moved from the state's orange reopening tier to the more restrictive red tier on Tuesday. If the current surge in cases continues, it's possible the county could fall back to the purple tier — the most restrictive tier in the state's reopening guidance — sometime "in the next few weeks," the county said in a statement.

Indoor dining at restaurants resumed with limits in mid-October, but Cody and other local public health experts said shutting down indoor dining is a necessary step in bringing the spread of the virus under control.

"We know that eating indoors without masks is a very high-risk activity, and as we close indoor dining we also strongly urge people not to eat or gather indoors with anyone outside their own household," Cody said in a statement. "We must come together as a community and act now to get the virus under control."

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