Name: Morrow: Restrictions loosened, but significant health threat still remains in San Mateo County
Brand: smdailyjournal.com
SKU: smdailyjournal-com-17
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Morrow: Restrictions loosened, but significant health threat still remains in San Mateo County

preview

Please to continue reading.×Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal.We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.×To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading.Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.DIGITAL ACCESS to all our award winning content onlineCommenting capabilities on every storyAccess to our daily e-edition for the past 90 issuesThe good feeling of supporting real, local news in your community$99.00for 365 daysRatePriceDuration1 Year$99.00for 365 days6 Months$72.00for 180 days3 Months$45.00for 90 days1 Month$20.00for 30 days1 Week$8.25for 7 days$60.00for 365 daysRatePriceDuration1 Year$60.00for 365 days6 Months$42.00for 180 days3 Months$27.00for 90 days1 Month$12.00for 30 days1 Week$5.00for 7 daysThank you for visiting our booth at the Rediscover San Mateo Community Fest! Enjoy one free month of access to the San Mateo Daily Journal's website and e-edition. Offer expires September 15, 2022, so sign up today!You have permission to edit this article.Welcome,Society will reopen to a significant public health threat said county Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow, who illustrated the risks associated loosening the stay-at-home order amid a pandemic.Pulling back the shelter-in-place mandate to allow more business and recreation will force hard choices for residents and workers throughout San Mateo County, said Morrow in a statement Monday, May 4.“This is a balancing act of the most unprecedented kind. You will have to make your own decisions as to the level of risk you and your family are willing to take on as the restrictions loosen. And your decisions are not yours alone as they will affect others in unpredictable ways,” he said.The statement arrives the same day certain businesses and recreation facilities were allowed to reopen, while the stay-at-home order continues through the end of May. Under the new orders, all construction projects will be allowed to resume as long as the project complies with safety protocol included with the order. All real estate transactions will also now be able to resume, but with continued restrictions on open houses and limitations on in-person viewings. Any employee allowed to return to work at a facility can also access child care programs that can operate.While noting there are economic and social pressures contributing to the decision made by Bay Area health officers to limit the restrictions, Morrow stayed wary of the prevailing dangers linked to COVID-19.“People at all levels of risk should know, if they venture out, and interact with others outside of their households, that they have a chance of getting infected and passing the virus on to their household members,” he said.In his latest order, Morrow talked of the tradeoffs when it came to summertime educational and programmed activities for children in groups of 12 or fewer. While the chance of virus spread is limited because the groups are smaller, it does not eliminate it.“The balance here is the developmental needs of children, who may have lifelong adverse ramifications if these needs are not met, and the risk of transmission to high risk family members, which may or may not result in serious illness or death,” he said.There were 1,281 confirmed cases reported Monday in San Mateo County, up 13 from the day before. There are 51 deaths linked to the virus, and 61 patients are currently hospitalized, while 17 are staying in intensive care units. Almost 15,000 tests have been conducted throughout the county.Projecting ahead, Morrow anticipated a gradual, further repeal of the restrictions which hopefully will slow an expected rise in virus transmission and allow health care facilities to accommodate any surge in patients.In the immediate term, he anticipated businesses with space to adequately meet social distancing standards will be among the first allowed to open again.“These businesses should now begin thinking about how this would apply to their operations and what modifications need to be made,” he said.More broadly, he said testing, tracing, containment strategies and personal protective equipment supply will be essential in allowing other parts of society to reopen as well.For his part, County Manager Mike Callagy was optimistic more testing will be soon available. He said the county just received 5,000 new test kits and requests for as many as 50,000 kits have been made.He interpreted the availability of additional tests as a positive sign for the supply chain’s growing ability to accommodate demand, which to date has limited access to testing materials.“It is imperative we have enough test kits to do more holistic-based testing,” he said.Once enough tests have been secured, Callagy said decisions can be made to limit the amount of symptoms which must be shown to be eligible for testing. He has said previously the stringent criteria has been a contributing factor in the limited amount of tests administered.As it stands, Callagy said officials are focused on assuring those living in congregate care facilities have access to tests when necessary. Similarly, he said tests must be reserved for first responders and others potentially exposed to the virus. Ultimately, he hoped more tests would be available for grocery store workers and other essential employees in public spaces.Morrow, meanwhile, maintained a measured optimism regarding the loosened stay-at-home order, while remaining mindful that further restrictions may be necessary down the road.“Without doubt, we will get through this, but it will remain difficult for all of us for a long time. You must prepare yourselves for the possibility, that as restrictions loosen now, that they may need to be reinstituted at a later date,” he said.(650) 344-5200 ext. 105×××Sorry, it’s Scott.morrow@smcgov.orgI think that is not correct. I'll try it.I think that is not correct; try smorrow@smcgov.org. But you will still not get through to him. I have tried no luck!Scott.morrow@smcgov.gov is his email. We have the right to share our opinions with him. Here’s the latest San Mateo county statistics draw your own conclusions. Everyone has a different risk profile.Can someone please ask the good doctor why there is so little testing when counties all around us have greatly increased access?Sure, I have his e-mail address; Why do you think there should be more testing? The county manager wants to have universal testing. $$$I did, however I got a reply from someone else. Vague answer. More excuses.SMC needs to put a different lens on this. Dr. Morrow damaged his own credibility and ability to get through to SMC residents with that tirade in March, and doing things like giving interviews to the NYT :-(. SMC should choose someone else to be public facing, and stop Dr. Morrow from addressing the residents. This is already a hard time and his unilateral edicts are not helping.Hey CJM, I'll be the spokesman for SMC! Once I was the chief public health microbiologist for the county. But even then you could not give real information to the public. Everything had to be white washed by the spokesperson who now is Preston Merchant. Poor Dr. Morrow does not have freedom of speech nor freedom of the press. Sounds like the county manager is taking over. More of the same.Be careful, stay safe, be patient.51 deaths, 30+ over the age of 80. 750,000 people in San Mateo county. Do the math it’s not that hard..0001% less than that... their more people dying naturally than this disease.Kyle, you need to look at the morbidity and mortality rates. Also, the 51 deaths need to be adjusted by subtracting the number of deaths (as an estimate) that occurred in the same time period say last year before the epidemic/pandemic. Initially, there was also a graph of co-morbitities on the county webpage at smchealth.org but now it is gone. Don't pick on old people, they might live to be a hundred. Be nice.Agree with MichaelHNachtigall. Morrow's comments are so vague, they are essentially meaningless. Saying that you should be aware that you have a chance of getting infected anytime you go out is like saying you have a chance of getting into an accident anytime you get into a car. What matters is what are the levels of acceptable risk under the circumstances, given the massive impact shelter in place orders have on the economic, physical and mental welfare of our society and individuals. What has he learned about the virus from the data (which seem to show hospitalization rates far lower than capacity) he's seeing in the 6 weeks since he accused county residents of 'spitting in our face', and how can we move forward productively, given the current level of testing and how the virus seems to affect/not affect different ages and populations.Very intelligent reply JAC. How can we move forward productively is a good question for the county manager? I still can't get over "holistic-based testing however!???After reading this article I had to shake my head and smile about the nonsense in it. Dr. Morrow, you can do much better than this. Can you give us the probability or level of risk if we follow physical distancing, wear masks or coverings, and practice good hygiene?A few days ago I calculated the level of risk or probability of exposure and infection to be less than 0.16 in the county. The total number of confirmed tests don't have much meaning, only the positives in the last 14-21 days do; which is around 550. Multiply that times 10 and you have about 5500 positive and carriers walking?around in the county. So the chance of getting infected is less than 1%.I agree that testing and following up on positive persons and isolation of them which you have the authority to do, plus tracing very close contacts and quarantine them is the best strategy for containment.County Manager Mike Callagy could be a little more consistent about tests and testing. He wants to do more "holistic-based testing"! How can you do that if the county can't even get traditional testing for infectious viruses done??? Unbelievable.Be careful, be safe, be patient.dsaKeep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.Error! There was an error processing your request.If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now!© Copyright 2022 , 1720 S. Amphlett Blvd., Suite 123 San Mateo, CA&nbsp;| &nbsp;|Powered by from .

Please to continue reading.×Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal.We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.×To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our...

Morrow: Restrictions loosened, but significant health threat still remains in San Mateo County

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS