Santa Cruz County confirms third and fourth cases of coronavirus
UPDATE 3/11/20 10:15p.m.: One of the two new COVID-19 patients walked the halls at Rio Del Mar Elementary School in February. The Pajaro Valley Unified School District said the school will be getting a deep clean over the next two days.
Gene Martinez has a child attending Rio Del Mar Elementary.
“When I first heard about it, I instantly got worried," Martinez said. "Like, did my daughter touch a ball or anything to get her ill.”
Because of the case, the school district decided to close the school through the rest of the week. And Martinez said he's worried about his kids having close contact with others, especially while playing sports.
“We had just had a tournament and I was kind of shocked that we were shaking hands with the other team," Martinez said. "I thought they weren’t going to be allowing that.”
However, this isn't the only case that has residents like him worried.
On Tuesday, another COVID-19 patient was confirmed in Santa Cruz. That patient, according to officials, is being hospitalized in another county. Like in counties across California, Santa Cruz County officials say this is just the beginning.
“I would want to caution the community that more cases are coming," Santa Cruz County Communications Manager Jason Hoppin said.
To prevent the virus from spreading throughout the community, officials recommend cancelling any gatherings of 50 people or more.
“People have made real sacrifices in cancelling business meetings, conferences, school fundraisers, in order to get a handle on this,” Hoppin said.
PREVIOUS STORY: The County of Santa Cruz Public Health Division is announcing the community’s third and fourth cases of COVID-19.
On the evening of March 10, testing confirmed COVID-19 in a patient who presented with symptoms of coronavirus. The patient is currently isolated and hospitalized in a different county and is recovering.
Officials say although the exposure is still under investigation, it is unlikely that it was acquired through community spread in Santa Cruz County.
On March 11, testing confirmed COVID-19 in a patient associated with Rio Del Mar Elementary in Aptos. The patient is stable and the exposure is still under investigation.
As with previous cases, Santa Cruz County Public Health is conducting thorough investigations to identify potential exposures and notifying contacts.
The patients are now in isolation and recovering.
Santa Cruz County Public Health expects additional cases to be confirmed in the near future, and is urging residents to prepare for the likelihood of ‘community spread’ cases.
