Monday marked two years since the first reported COVID-19 case in Santa Clara County.
County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody and other officials addressed the anniversary and provided an update on the county's health order on COVID-19 testing requirements for health care providers during a news conference Monday morning.
Cody, wearing a mask, started the briefing with what she called "a bit of good news," saying "we know we're on the downslope" of the pandemic.
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The first case reported in Santa Clara County came Jan. 31, 2020. About a month later, as the virus began to spread rapidly in what was to become a global pandemic, Cody issued a shelter-at-home order.
As of Monday, the county's cumulative COVID-19 case count stood at 276,344, and deaths related to the virus totaled 2,012.
More than 1.6 million county residents, or 83.5%, have been vaccinated, and more than 900,000, or 63.8%, have received a booster shot, according to the county dashboard.
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Cody in February 2020 was one of the first health officials in the nation to issue a shelter-at-home order, which included a tearful announcement that it would mean closing down schools.
Several other Bay Area counties followed suit with shutdown orders of their own.