Helpful Links

STATE OF CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR'S EXECUTIVE ORDER​

West Coast Governors Vision for Reopening the EconomyOn Monday, April 13, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced an agreement on a shared vision for reopening their economies and controlling COVID-19 into the future.  The pact focuses on three areas of agreement:
1) Our residents’ health comes first.
As home to one in six Americans and gateway to the rest of the world, the West Coast has an outsized stake in controlling and ultimately defeating COVID-19.
2) Health outcomes and science – not politics – will guide these decisions.
Modifications to our states’ stay-at-home orders must be made based off our understanding of the total health impacts of COVID-19, including: the direct impact of the disease on our communities.
3) Our states will only be effective by working together.
Each state plans to work with its local leaders and communities within its borders to understand what’s happening on the ground and adhere to an agreed upon approach. The seven Bay Area health officers who jointly issued our shelter-in-place orders continue to monitor the latest science and data to determine next steps within our region.  Because transmission is localized regionally, a coordinated decision by health officers is essential to protecting lives and preventing disease.


Additionally, on Tuesday, April 14, 2020, Governor Newsom outlined six key indicators that will guide the state’s decision as it considers lifting the stay-at-home order: 
  • The ability to monitor and protect our communities through testing, contact tracing, isolating, and supporting those who are positive or exposed; 
  • The ability to prevent infection in people who are at risk for more severe COVID-19; 
  • The ability of the hospital and health systems to handle surges; 
  • The ability to develop therapeutics to meet the demand; 
  • The ability for businesses, schools, and child care facilities to support physical distancing; and 
  • The ability to determine when to reinstitute certain measures, such as the stay-at-home orders, if necessary. 
The Governor stressed that there is not a precise timeline for modifying the stay-at-home order, but that these six indicators will serve as the framework for making that decision. 

Previous Order:
The Governor’s March 19, 2020 Executive Order directing all Californians to stay home except for essential needs complements the Santa Clara County Public Health Officer’s existing order directing all residents to shelter at home, issued on March 16, 2020. The Governor’s action reinforces the importance of our local order, which remains in effect and will continue to be implemented.

Following the direction and orders of public health leaders to stay home except when necessary is vitally important to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect our most vulnerable community members. The County urges all residents to do their part by following both the County and the State’s orders to stay home except when necessary, and following other guidance from our Public Health Department.

Order of the Health Officer of the County of Santa Clara

The Health Officer Order extends the earlier order to Shelter in Place through May 31, 2020 and allows some businesses and activities to resume. The new order goes into effect on Monday, May 4, 2020. Below is a partial summary of the order. To read the full order, click here. 

What is the difference between this new order and the order that is currently in place? Because we have successfully slowed the spread of COVID-19, the Order allows certain businesses and activities to resume, including the following (for a full list see www.sccgov.org/coronavirus):
  • All construction projects that follow the Construction Project Safety Protocols issued as part of this order;
  • All real estate transactions;
  • Childcare establishments, summer camps, and educational and recreational programs that provide care for children of persons who are allowed to work outside of their homes, so long as those organizations comply with certain protocols;
  • Outdoor businesses such as nurseries, landscaping, and agriculture that normally operated outdoors prior to the shelter in place orders; and 
  • Use of certain outdoor recreational facilities. All businesses operating in the County must update or create a Social Distancing Protocol to reflect new requirements specified in the order. Where there are differences between the local Health Officer’s order and the State’s order, everyone must follow the stricter restrictions. In some areas, the State order is stricter than the local order.
Why do we need to continue to shelter in place? At this stage of the pandemic, it is critical that we do not lose the progress we have achieved in controlling the spread of COVID-19. Hospitalizations have stopped increasing for the time being, but more work is needed to safely re-open our communities. This global pandemic of COVID-19 is still in its early stages. The virus spreads easily, testing capacity is limited and expanding slowly, and vaccine development is just beginning. If we move too fast to ease restrictions, the potential of exponential spread could have grave impacts to health and wellness of our residents as well as the economy.

Previous Order:
Tuesday, March 31, 2020, Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Health Officer and Public Health Director announced an updated order to extend the order to shelter in place through May 3. Additional restrictions were also announced.  These actions were taken to further reduce the number of people with whom all individuals come in contact, every day.  The more quickly we reduce the number of contacts each of us has, the more quickly and effectively we can “flatten the curve,” reducing strain on the health care system and saving lives.
​
New restrictions include:
  • Use of playgrounds, dog parks, public picnic areas, and similar recreational areas is prohibited. These areas must be closed to public use.
  • Use of shared public recreational facilities such as golf courses, tennis and basketball courts, pools, and rock walls is prohibited. These facilities must be closed for recreational use.
  • Sports requiring people to share a ball or other equipment must be limited to people in the same household
  • Requires essential businesses to develop a social distancing protocol before April 3
  • Most construction—residential and commercial—is prohibited
  • Funerals limited to no more than 10 people attending
  • Essential businesses expanded to include service providers that enable residential transactions (notaries, title companies, Realtors, etc.); funeral homes and cemeteries; moving companies, rental car companies and rideshare services that specifically enable essential activities
  • Essential businesses that continue to operate facilities must scale down operations to their essential component only
For your reference, all of the new information can be found at: www.sccphd.org/coronavirus. 

Previous Updates: 
On March 16, the Public health officers of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties announced, with the City of Berkeley, a legal order directing their respective residents to shelter at home for three weeks beginning March 17.  The order limits activity, travel and business functions to only the most essential needs. The guidance comes after substantial input from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and best practices from other health officials around the world. As of now, this order is in effect until April 7. Read the order here.

Shelter in place means Stay home and only leave for "essential activities" or "essential travel." The counties' health order describes the items below as essential travel, essential activities:

  • Tasks essential to your family's health and safety, including your pets
  • Getting necessary services and supplies, including groceries, prescriptions
  • Delivering such goods to family members or other
  • Going to appointments or obtaining services at any healthcare facility, including veterinary care (but not gyms)
  • Travel to care for elderly, minors, dependents, persons with disabilities, or other vulnerable persons. Including pets
  • Travel to educational institutions to receive materials for distance learning or meals and other related services
  • Travel related to providing or accessing services exempted in the order​

“Essential businesses” may keep their facilities open (and are encouraged to keep them open) to continue providing essential services and products to the public. Essential businesses include:
  • Healthcare Operations and Essential Infrastructure
  • Grocery stores 
  • Businesses that provide food, shelter, and social services, and other necessities of life for economically disadvantaged or otherwise needy individuals
  • Newspapers, television, radio, and other media services
  • Gas stations and auto-supply, auto-repair, and related facilities
  • Banks and related financial institutions
  • Hardware stores
  • Plumbers, electricians, exterminators 
  • Businesses providing mailing and shipping services, including post office boxes
  • Laundromats, drycleaners, and laundry service providers
  • Restaurants and other facilities that prepare and serve food, but only for delivery or carry out.
  • Businesses that supply products needed for people to work from home
  • Businesses that supply other essential businesses with the support or supplies necessary to operate
  • Businesses that ship or deliver groceries, food, goods or services directly to residences
  • Airlines, taxis, and other private transportation providers providing transportation services necessary for Essential Activities and other purposes expressly authorized in this Order
  • Home-based care for seniors, adults, or children
  • Residential facilities and shelters for seniors, adults, and children
  • Professional services, such as legal or accounting services, when necessary to assist in compliance with legally mandated activities
  • Childcare facilities providing services that enable employees exempted in this Order to work as allowed. To the extent possible, childcare facilities must operate under the following mandatory conditions:
    • Childcare must be carried out in stable groups of 12 or fewer (“stable” means that the same 12 or fewer children are in the same group each day).
    • Children shall not change from one group to another.
    • If more than one group of children is cared for at one facility, each group shall be in a separate room. Groups shall not mix with each other.
    • Childcare providers shall remain solely with one group of children.
​
With the support and collaboration of the Public Health Officers in their respective counties, the County Superintendent of Schools in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties have made a unified, regional decision to extend school closures and student dismissals from regular school attendance through May 1, 2020, to slow the spread of COVID-19 to the maximum extent possible. The safety and wellness of students, school personnel, and the community are the highest priorities of all schools and districts in these six counties. This action applies to K-12 public schools in these counties. Read the full press release here.
​
It is also important to remember that this is an historic and evolving situation; thus the guidance and directives from Public Health may continue to change.  Please follow the spirit and the letter of the Order and ensure your friends, families, and neighbors are sheltering at home except when absolutely necessary to engage in essential activities. 

Please continue to monitor this situation closely.  More information and regular updates can be found on the County Public Health website and the CDC website.

CITY OF SAN JOSE RESPONSE TO COVID-19

 SiliconValleyStrong calls on leaders from across the region to come together during this crisis. With Silicon Valley Strong, we are launching a hub for people to offer a caring hand to those in need and a centralized location for vulnerable neighbors to find critical resources. Recovery and assistance have no borders. This comprehensive, regional effort seeks volunteers by clicking here to lend their support through food distribution efforts to reach the elderly and medically vulnerable. Please remember: Social distancing does not mean social isolation. During this crisis, #SiliconValleyStrong embraces the ways we can continue to be a community that cares for one another and pulls neighbors up to safer ground.
​Supporting the Food Delivery System: The City has taken the lead in setting up a countywide food distribution system with an initial focus on the most vulnerable populations, seniors (60 years and older) and those with medical conditions. The City is working to keep our non-profit food distribution infrastructure supported and strong. To this end, Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley requested and is receiving assistance from the California National Guard. As the COVID-19 crisis continues, Second Harvest is experiencing a significant increase in calls for food assistance. Calls have increased from an average of 200 to more than 1,000 per day, and all other food distributors are seeing an increase in clients as well. The CA National Guard is helping Second Harvest prepare food quickly and safely for the most vulnerable people in our communities. Volunteers are still needed; visit shfb.org to sign up or donate funds or via the Silicon Valley Strong Initiative, www.siliconvalleystrong.org. Anyone in need of food should call Second Harvest’s Food Connection Hotline at 1-800-984-3663.​​