Name: San Mateo County stays off coronavirus watch list
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San Mateo County stays off coronavirus watch list

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San Mateo County stayed off the state’s watch list Monday, a remarkable twist that has the once-branded county believing it might become a model for California as it tries to overcome the coronavirus outbreak and keep more businesses open.The only one of nine Bay Area counties that has avoided the state’s watch list based on coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, San Mateo almost feels like a pre-pandemic locale. Gyms, salons and malls are open indoors — but outdoors, there are reminders everywhere.Billboards along Highway 101 prompt people to stay at home when possible, and socially distance always. Supervisor David Canepa has taken a more direct tactic with his “Wear your damn mask” campaign.“We’re in lifesaving mode,” Canepa said, “but we’re also working to restore and save the economy. It’s a balancing act.”That balancing act has become crucial, especially since July 13, when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the state’s most recent orders outlawing indoor operations of barbershops/salons, gyms, malls and places of worship for counties on the watch list.San Mateo was expected to join the Bay Area’s eight other counties on the watch list July 21, but that prediction did not come to pass.Coronavirus PandemicSince the state reported that San Mateo has met the necessary thresholds for coronavirus rates and testing Monday, it appears as though the county cannot be added to California’s watch list and subjected to further business closures before Thursday. Because of changes in federal reporting requirements, data for hospitalization hasn’t been updated since July 23.“Nothing has changed since our last statement,” said Diana Rohini LaVigne, the public information officer and chief communications officer for San Mateo County. “We continue to be off the monitoring list.”Going on the watch list is likely to happen soon, she said, but “there is no way to predict when.”Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutesIf a county fails to meet any one of California’s five thresholds for coronavirus testing and hospitalization for three consecutive days, it is added to the watch list — a group that swelled in recent days with Santa Cruz making it 36 of the state’s 58 counties.A county must surpass all five state thresholds for three days in a row to escape the list.San Mateo, a county that stretches from Daly City to Menlo Park and past Pescadero on the coast, has astonishingly avoided that limbo by changing its dashboard to show that 14 of 75 (19%) of hospitalized patients are from out of the county and by a consistent social media message that there have been zero deaths among long-term facilities in the past three weeks.“There’s so much at stake right now. We’re trying to make sure that people on the ground are vigilant,” said Canepa, who wants to empower county workers to inform and cite unmasked and undistanced residents before fines begin at $250. “There’s a tale of two worlds: people like myself, who have the opportunity to stay at home and shelter in place. But what do you say to a guy or gal who is hustling and trying to make it work? That’s what is always on my mind.”Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

San Mateo County stayed off the state’s watch list Monday, a remarkable twist that has the once-branded county believing it might become a model for California as it tries to overcome the coronavirus outbreak and keep more businesses open.The only one of nine Bay Area counties that has avoided the state’s watch list based on coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, San Mateo almost feels like a pre-pandemic locale. Gyms, salons and malls are open indoors — but outdoors, there are reminders everywhere.Billboards along Highway 101 prompt people to stay at home when possible, and socially...

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Rusty Simmons

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San Mateo County stays off coronavirus watch list

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