County permits car parades again, in time for graduation

Loved seeing the request asking if the dog groomer would take a woman's husband for a trim.

Pleased to read 'pet grooming' can re-open. Low on the list of essential services, it's a plus for my pooch who has endured home hose bathing, a GI Joe trim & NO much needed nail clipping. ~Willow

In the meantime, Santa Clara County will not reopen or relax restrictions with no firm date for doing so. The SIP order ends on May 31 but since there are no plans to reopen, it could be extended.

SCC was the first to close and has no definitive plans to reopen, the only county in the Bay Area.

On the other hand, all of us will be driving across the county border to spend our tax dollars where the businesses are open.

2020: the year when many of us were told to wear masks, and also when many of our state leaders and unelected county health directors dropped theirs.

Don’t relinquish your civil liberties.

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It appears that we had 632 tests and 0(!!!) positive tests yesterday (Web Link). Beyond absurd no plans to loosen.

Is the Menlo Park mayor joking? Despite a county health order to wear a mask when outside, during my trip to Menlo today and on other days I consistently encountered many people and whole families and groups of people of all ages WITHOUT a mask in sight!

This is the case in other cities in San Mateo County and also in Santa Clara County cities. I’ve seen workers in banks and grocery stores in our fair city without masks. I thought our order here was everyone needs one when entering the building.

A church group in another city I saw on Facebook was gathering with no one wearing a mask and there was zero social distancing. The pastor was laying hands on the clergy!

Do these people think the ordinances are made for everyone else but them?

Dr. Cody is right to be extremely cautious. Government officials are bowing to public pressure and the result is people think they no longer need to pay attention to precautions.

I sure hope the health officials are “wrong” for all of our sakes.

So, I can still go into Target, Costco and shop for socks, clothes, TVs, Apple products, but cannot do that in shoe stores, Best Buy, or Apple stores because of Science.

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@Wake Up

I am so sorry. I was not able to read your post but I am sure you had something worthwhile reading otherwise it would not have been hidden from the vast majority.

Santa Clara has gone way too far here. The original goals of the SIP were to lower the curve, and to prevent hospital overwhelm. It's clear by the county's own website Web Link that the situation cannot be improved any further. Fewer than 20 cases per day on average for multiple weeks now. The case positivity rate is less than 2% over last several weeks. There's a very large amount of hospital capacity (Stanford Hospital has had to lay off hundreds of people). They just keep pushing the goalpost further and further until we "feel safe and are safe" according to Cody. This has no definition at all. I applaud her early SIP orders, which kept this under control here, but it's well past time to begin easing the restrictions.

I am heartened that Dr. Cody thinks she is coordinating with other health departments and that she is "considering" letting people gather in their cars. Is she unaware that all of the other Bay Area counties are moving towards Phase 2? That everyone in Santa Clara County will be driving to other counties no matter what she orders because she is infantilizing the citizens of SCC by not giving appropriate information and acting with transparency? So far the Board of Supervisors has ignored their constituents and even rewarded Dr. Cody with a 25% raise as our county goes deeper into recession and furloughs in the government have begun.

Through a very, very reputable source within the states government I was told Santa Clara county will go into phase 2 May 25 if new cases continue to trend the way they have been. So hang in there people, we are getting there and thanks to everyone for doing their part. It made a difference.

Cody was behind the curve in ordering schools to close and leaving our kids in harms’ way. Recall Menlo and others closed schools first. She is now taking an overly conservative approach to reopening to make people forget her prior recklessness.

Wow. Allowing "car parades" ... that is really going to help fend off the self-imposed economic disaster.

The SCC decision makers have demonstrated a complete inability to understand complex issues and, sadly, appear to be entirely unaccountable. The medical/health situation here has been stabilized for weeks, our hospitals are empty, and the curve is flat. The real problem is the growing lines at food banks, residents going hungry because they can’t afford food, and deferred medical procedures and evaluations that will lead to a spike in other health areas. Yet our decision makers are myopic and use only one measuring stick. And let’s not get started on how Cody and others could have been working on the “go-forward” plan and protecting nursing home residents. rather than taking a victory lap on national media for the initial SIP. When faced with difficult or complex questions, Cody leave us with only her now-perfected deer-in-the-headlights look.

These challenges is exacerbated by our inexperienced County Counsel and other “Deputy County Executives,” most of whom have no real experience solving any problems. Williams, for example, appears to have fewer than 6 years actually practicing law. Perhaps this why the SIP order is so poorly written and they now need to spend hours discussing whether, and how, to allow drive-through graduations and birthdays. As other counties move forward, SCC won’t be able to enforce their “rules” because there is no rational basis for the continued restrictions.

I sure hope the poster above is right about the county loosening up on May 25th. It’ll be 3-4 weeks later than necessary, but at least that’s something. Could it be that Cody is just trying to hold firm through the long weekend (but doesn’t want to admit as much)?

Pathetic. No response. No answers to pertinent questions. No dates. Not a suggestion that anything will change. And saying that it is in line with out counties is wrong. Whose eyes are they pulling the wool over?

When will we be allowed to congregate outside in groups of up to 10 people, all socially distanced, all wearing masks? When will we be able to go and get haircuts for our dogs even if we can't get a haircut for ourselves? When can small offices get back to work, with social distancing and no break room facilities when only 6 people work in the office? When will any of the rules be relaxed.

If we don't know the answers to those questions, then there are other questions that should be answered?

How many patients are dying of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, but also have Covid and are being classed as Covid deaths? How many patients are actually dying of Covid and were previously healthy? How many patients in ICU units and how long does the average ICU patient remain in ICU? How many patient in ICUs are on ventilators? How long is the average hospital stay of someone in hospital with Covid systems? What percentage of hospitalized Covid cases are returning home and how long before they are free of symptoms?

Why can't we be given some real answers to real questions?

The pandemic has created an opportunity for humans to develop insight into our roles in climate change that created the pandemic.

Saddens me that car parades will be encouraged.

We do not need more fossil fuel burning. Instead notice how much living places have been improved by less traffic and cleaner air from fewer cars on road.

Kudos to the corporations enabling their workers to continue to work from you.

New rituals to honor special transitions can evolve that do not damage our communal home.

I think @member has it just right. There is no coordination, the other counties are doing one thing and SCC is doing another. I worry this will continue during every step in the reopening.

I was in the town hall. Things that seemed important:
1. Dr. Cody implied that we would move to stage 2 before May 31. It was quick and I could have misunderstood.
2. Dr. Cody defended not making information available to the public using a word salad. Supervisor Simitian jumped in to try to defend her saying "do you mean we don't want to say anything until we know what we are talking about." Dr. Cody agreed. I fumed. It is inexcusable how little has been shared.
3. A question was asked as to why public health officers are making decisions rather than politicians. Supervisor Simitian outsourced the question to the legal counsel who gave the legal answer. But that is not the right answer. Politicians who are accountable to the people should be discussing pros and cons, talking to economists about tradeoffs, pushing back on Dr. Cody, etc. Supervisor Simitian and other members of the council are hiding behind the law. I hope people are noticing.

Funny, just after comment saw headline that SCC is allowing curbside retail. One point for honesty of Dr. Cody and coordination.

The Mercury-News says that Santa Clara County is moving to Stage 2 today: Web Link