Seems like Santa Clara County took the prize for the most cases early in COVID and wants to keep that tropy case filled. It's unnerving to see places that have signs that say "mask required" where nobody's observing it and nobody is policing that. The State of California has not rescinded the Public Health Emergency that it declared, and renewed until July 2022, at which time it will be revisited. Until it is rescinded, there IS a Public Health Emergency going on whether people want to acknowledge it or not.

It's an ongoing risk which you can put in the pile with all the other risks we encounter every day and need to take it in consideration. It is not, however, an emergency.

If you are concerned for yourself, we now have enough information for you to know how to protect yourself with PPE (N95+face shield), staying away from other people, and staying current with immunizations.

If you are concerned for other people, well, they may have a different point of view or tolerance for risk from yours. We need to respect each other.

FWIW, you can track this on a more local and more frequently updated basis by looking at the sewage monitoring data:
Web Link

And by looking at what has been happening in the schools, where it looks like Gunn High had an outbreak last week:
Web Link

We're fortunate to have the vaccines available; without it, a lot more of us would be dead:
Web Link

How are a million deaths (half of them in the past year) not an emergency? Our family has rediscovered the beauty of the nearby open spaces and beaches though. Hopefully the virus won't get transmissible enough that it can be easily caught outdoors.

I think it is important that the million deaths are people dying with Covid, not necessarily dying from Covid. Those who have died with Covid may not be alive now as they had other health conditions.

Whichever way it is, all deaths are sad. Those who have died from other pandemic related causes such as depression, suicide, overdoses of drugs or alcohol, domestic abuse, etc. are sad also and we have no figures about those deaths either.

Mental health has been a very big issue during the pandemic. Domestic violence has also been an issue. There has also been less screening for cancers and other conditions and there are many patients who may have been doing much better if they had been able to get screening or early diagnosis.

We have to wake up to the reality that the past 2 1/2 years has caused more death, more hardship and more mental issues on top of the hard numbers of Covid deaths. This is a very sad situation.

What you're saying to me Jane is no different than the anti-maskers have said all along. "Screw anybody who wants to stay healthy and wants to help others stay healthy because I'm selfish and don't care about others." What you need, Jane, is to have three relatives lost to COVID, and one on the permanent disabled list in your immediate family. Then maybe your opinion might change. However, I'm going to keep doing what I've done since the beginning which is take care of myself appropriately and give others THE SAME RESPECT. As in, I am not endangering their life by any of my actions. Non-maskers have a different opinion, yes, I know that. They simply don't care enough about the numbers. Until they or someone they love becomes one of them. They still won't care about me, they will be simply chalking the deaths of their loved ones as "OH WELL" moments.

If I may add my two cents, agree strongly with the 2 1/2 years later--adaptive reasonableness of the posts by Jane and Bystander [portion removed.] It comes to a point, after 3, maybe 4 shots and endless negative tests, that prolonged hand-wringing of the dreaded 'case numbers' falsely equivocated with 'deaths' in endorsements of indefinite PRC-like lockdowns, that EVEN SCC Health Officer Dr. Cody has adjusted, realizing that this makes things worse not better. Bystander is right, think of all the most common traits of those that died and unlike Queen Elizabeth did not defeat it: obesity, smoking, drinking, taking drugs, not exercising, lack of immunity, mental health crisis--even rising suicides, poverty, crime, even hate crimes, and then consider, as schools and gyms were closed, but Baskin Robbins open throughout, are extending fearful, conservative, and conformist COVID mandates indefinitely made things WORSE not better. Even Dr. Cody must know by now, that return to the mask mandates is not equivalent to being self-less and caring to others, but can't help but to call into question the efficacy of the vaxxes. I know I know, they will be better next year, but they work really well, really they do, mask-people! as does building up your own natural immunity by exercise--being out and about, yes, socializing with others, etc.

[Portion removed.] I am disappointed when I see people driving cars by themselves wearing masks, or thin young people wearing them outside walking by themselves in bay area heavy winds. Then I go home and see stadiums full of maskless people at baseball games and inside NBA games--even on planes in Europe now. What is your purpose, mask people? [Portion removed.]

When the lockdowns were started for 3 weeks to relieve pressure on health providers, we reluctantly worked with the restrictions. We have not been treated respectfully in so many areas since. A friend whose parent in their mid 90s said many times, "I know what I am being isolated from, but I have no idea what I am being isolated for", as she was put into isolation in her nursing home room, for weeks at a time and kept away from family visits and friends in the same facility. Her life was through a screen for most of the past 2 1/2 years, with meals brought to her room instead of going to the facility dining room and joining in with what used to be various group activities for the residents. During that time, her life was lonely on a day to day basis. In the past month she died of something completely unrelated to Covid. But her last years were lonely compared to the reasonably active life she had prelockdowns. As she said, at the age of 95 she didn't know what she was being sheltered for as the number of years left to her were limited. She just wanted to enjoy them.