The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes the major cities of San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland, was an early center of the COVID-19 pandemic in California.[2] The first case of COVID-19 in the area was confirmed in Santa Clara County on January 31, 2020.[3] A Santa Clara County resident (with no foreign travel history) was the earliest known death caused by COVID-19 in the United States, on February 6,[4] suggesting that community spread of COVID-19 had been occurring long before any actual documented case. This article covers the 13 members of ABAHO, which includes the nine-county Bay Area plus the counties of Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz.
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Local officials instituted some of the first mitigation efforts in the United States. The first mandatory stay-at-home order in the mainland U.S. took effect throughout the Bay Area on March 16 and 17 and continued until mid-May,[5] affecting nearly 6.7 million people.[6] The early government response is credited with mitigating the spread of infection compared to cities on the East Coast.[2][7]
Closures due to the pandemic have resulted in mass unemployment and significant disruptions to the economy, replacing local governments' budget surpluses with historic deficits. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of distance education among schools and remote work among businesses, especially in the technology industry. Air quality around San Francisco Bay improved as a result of a temporary decline in traffic volume.
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Despite strong economic, cultural, and travel ties between California and China, the Bay Area's hospitalization rate and death toll have stayed below initial projections and have compared favorably to East Coast cities. Researchers have hypothesized that the pandemic's initial impact was blunted by relatively early social distancing measures along with a variety of other factors, including lower population density, a strong car culture and low public transportation ridership, favorable weather in February, and even a loss by the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl LIV, discouraging celebrations.[2][7]
As of May 26, 2020, the nine counties of the Bay Area plus Santa Cruz County have reported a cumulative total of 13,060 confirmed cases and 434 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19. Alameda County has more confirmed cases and deaths than any other county in Northern California, followed by Contra Costa County. Some counties have released breakdowns of cases by jurisdiction.[8] In Alameda County, Hayward has the highest per capita rate of infection at 270.2 people per every 100,000, while Oakland has the highest number of cases. San Mateo and San Jose have the highest number of cases in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, respectively.[9]
As of May 17, 2020, the North Bay counties of Marin, Napa, and Sonoma have reported a cumulative total of 345 recoveries from COVID-19. The other Bay Area counties do not report the number of recoveries, because tracking this number requires more resources per case and federal guidelines are not specific enough to draw conclusions. A study at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is tracking outcomes several months after infection.[10]
The Hispanic population in the Bay Area has been disproportionately affected by infections. The poor, largely Latino neighborhoods in East San Jose account for 34% of Santa Clara County's first deaths due to COVID-19 despite being Latinos making up only 23% of the adult population. Almost 70% of the neighborhoods' working-age population is unable to remote work.[11][12]Filipino Americans in the Bay Area have also been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 infections, and make up the majority of cases in San Mateo County, California.[13] In San Francisco, about 40% of Hispanics have been confirmed infected, compared to 15% of the general population. The largely Latino Mission District has the highest number of cases of any neighborhood, with more than 40 cases per 10,000 residents.[9] UCSF systematically tested 2,959 residents in a 16-block census tract in the Mission District in April, finding that 2% tested positive. Infection rates differed significantly between essential workers and residents who were able to stay at home during the pandemic.[14]
Localized outbreaks of COVID-19 have occurred at factories and care facilities, including the Tesla factory in Fremont where over 130 people tested positive,[15] the Lusamerica Foods fish packing plant in Morgan Hill where 38 people tested positive,[16] the Central Gardens skilled nursing home in San Francisco's Western Addition where four residents died,[17] and the Windsor Vallejo Care Center in Vallejo where more than 130 people became infected and eleven residents died.[18]
The number of confirmed cases is believed to fall significantly short of actual infection rates due to limited testing capacity throughout the pandemic.[19] As of May 20, 2020, San Francisco has collected 5,000 tests for every 100,000 residents, while Santa Clara County has collected about 2,600 tests for every 100,000 residents. Santa Clara County set up three testing sites in San Jose, but the sites are operating well below capacity, in part because of Spanish- and Vietnamese-language barriers.[20]
Several local studies have attempted to determine seroprevalence in the absence of widespread clinical testing. Based on serology tests in early April, a revised preprint study from Stanford University estimated that Santa Clara County up to 54,000 residents, or 2.8% of the population, had been infected, compared to the 1,000 confirmed cases at the time. In an earlier preprint, the study's authors had estimated an even higher rate of infection but therefore calculated a lower mortality rate. Despite academic controversy over the study's methodology, which prompted the revision, the preprint fueled opposition to stay-at-home orders in the United States.[21][22][23][24] The university has begun an investigation into the study.[25] In addition to its study in San Francisco's Mission District, UCSF is conducting a similar study of all 1,680 residents in the rural community of Bolinas, and the University of California, Berkeley, is testing a representative sample of 5,000 East Bay residents.[23]
February 25: Mayor London Breed declares a state of emergency that would allow city officials to assemble resources and personnel to expedite emergency measures in the event of a potential coronavirus case in the city.[48][49]
San Francisco
February 27: Solano County declares a local health emergency to bolster response to COVID-19 cases.
[50]
March 9: Santa Clara County bans public gatherings of more than 1,000 people. Over the next few days, the county expands the bans to cover all gatherings, from games to library story hours, and closes all bars and pubs.[51]
San Jose Sharks
March 16: The "Big Seven" public health departments issued a joint , legally requiring all non-essential businesses to close and residents to stay at home except for essential needs, effective March 17.[52] It was the first such order in the mainland United States, coming a day after Puerto Rico went into lockdown.[53][46]
shelter-in-place order
March 17: The March 16 stay-at-home order is adopted by the remaining Bay Area county health departments. Santa Clara County has enforced its shelter-in-place order with one of the strictest interpretations in the state.[54] The orders were timed to preempt Saint Patrick's Day celebrations.[46]
[46]
March 30: The "Big Seven" health officers extend the shelter-in-place order to May 3, easing some restrictions on outdoor activity.[56]
[55]
April 13: Sonoma County issues a mask mandate effective April 17.
[57]
April 15: issues a mask mandate effective immediately.[58]
Fremont
April 17: Santa Clara County issues a mask advisory. The county refrained from issuing a mandate in order to avoid adding to police departments' enforcement responsibilities.[60]
[59]
April 22: Mask mandates take effect in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties.
[61]
April 24: Mask mandates take effect in and Cupertino.[62]
Milpitas
April 29: The shelter-in-place order is extended again to May 31.
[5]
May 4: Santa Clara County issues a mask mandate for businesses.Palo Alto issued a face mask order on May 13.[60]
[63]
May 7: The Big Cities Health Coalition estimates that the Bay Area's shelter-in-place orders prevented 188,000 hospitalizations and 19,000 deaths in Santa Clara County, Alameda County, and San Francisco.
May 15: issues a new shelter-in-place order ahead of the Bay Area-wide order that expired on May 31. The county's order allowed nonessential retail and other businesses to offer curbside pickup service. This order, which aligned with phase 2 of the state reopening plan, marked the first departure from the unified front that Bay Area health officials had maintained until then.[65]
May 26: Napa, San Benito, Solano, and Sonoma Counties begin allowing hair salons and barbershops to reopen.
[16]
July 13: The reopens to members with reservations required.
San Francisco Zoo
July 14: University of California-Berkeley Botanical Gardens reopens to members with reservations required.
July 15: The reopens to the general public with reservations required.[70]
San Francisco Zoo
July 22: University of California-Berkeley Botanical Gardens reopens to the general public with reservations required.
[71]
August 31
[72]
September 1: San Francisco allows personal care services and indoor malls to reopen.
September 8: Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties are upgraded from Widespread to Substantial. Both counties directly follow the state's reopening guidelines.[74]
[73]
September 14: San Francisco allows indoor nail salons, piercing shops, tattoo parlors, and indoor fitness/dance/yoga studios to reopen.
September 15: Marin County is upgraded from Widespread to Substantial. The county directly follows the state's reopening guidelines.
[75]
September 21: San Francisco allows museums/zoos/aquariums and elementary schools to reopen. Elementary schools in remain closed.
San Francisco Unified School District
September 22
[76]
September 25
de Young Museum
September 29
[80]
September 30: San Francisco allows indoor dining and places of worship to reopen.
October 7
[81]
October 9: Alameda County allows museums, zoos, aquariums, personal care services, libraries, fitness/dance/yoga studios, and outdoor film production to reopen.
October 13
[83]
October 20
[85]
October 22: The California Academy of Sciences reopens to the general public with reservations required. Exhibits and spaces with a high degree of interactivity or where it is difficult to maintain physical distance remain closed, including the Morrison Planetarium, the Naturalist Center, the Curiosity Grove, and the Discovery Tidepool.
[84]
October 23: Alameda County allows places of worship and cultural ceremonies, indoor dining, movie theaters, bowling alleys, and climbing walls to reopen. The county also allows indoor retailers and shopping centers to expand their capacity from 25% to 50% and fitness/dance/yoga studios to expand their capacity from 10% to 25%.
[86]
October 26: Schools in reopen for Grades TK–6. In-person attendance is only on Monday through Thursday.
Mountain House Elementary School District
October 27
[87]
November 3: San Francisco allows swimming pools and bowling alleys to reopen. The city also allows places of worship, museums/zoos/aquariums, indoor dining, and movie theaters to expand their indoor capacity from 25% to 50%.
November 9
[91]
November 10: Contra Costa and Santa Cruz Counties are downgraded from Moderate to Substantial.
November 16
November 28: San Francisco and San Mateo Counties are downgraded from Substantial to Widespread.
November 30: Fremont Christian School reopens for Grades K–2.
December 1: Schools in reopen for Grades K–2.
Piedmont Unified School District
December 6
[92]
December 7: Alameda County preemptively implements the state's stay-at-home order.
[93]
December 8
December 16: San Mateo becomes the final Bay Area county to ban outdoor dining
December 17: 11:59 p.m.: The regional stay-at-home order goes into effect for the Bay Area region, which includes all ABAHO counties excluding San Benito County.
