The March 21 status update reviews COVID-19 cases in Marin, reminders on the Shelter in Place order, details on how to donate, information on surveillance data, and provides a video update from Dr. Lisa Santora.
COVID-19 activity in Marin:
Marin County Emergency Operations Center COVID-19 Dashboard
| Confirmed Cases: | 38 |
| Hospitalizations (Positive Patients): | 4 |
| California Cases: | 1,279 |
| Persons Tested (at point of testing site): | 430 |
| Deaths: | 0 |
| California Deaths: | 23 |
Marin County Public Health continues to advance policies to limit community spread and support our excellent healthcare partners’ capacity to respond.
Public Health Order reminder
The Marin County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is urging Bay Area residents not to travel beyond their communities as they engage in outdoor activities during the statewide shelter-in-place order.
Marin County’s coastal communities saw an unusual influx of visitors – residents from around the Bay Area – amassing for the purpose of being outdoors. State and county park parking lots and bathrooms are closed due to the shelter in place order, adding to further congestion and creating problems with sanitation.
Marin County Public Health reminds Marin residents and visitors to:
- Stay local. Many local neighborhoods are walkable or have trails and parks nearby that are easily accessed by foot or bicycle. Avoid driving whenever possible, and stay close to home when enjoying fresh air and outdoor activity.
- Continue to practice social distancing. It’s tempting to meet with friends for a day at the beach, but to prevent the spread of COVID-19 everyone needs to be at least 6 feet away from others when outside the household.
Where to make donations
We’ve been contacted my multiple community members asking about donations. In lieu of physical donations from community members, and in keeping in line with social distancing, the Marin Community Foundation has set up a COVID-19 relief fund. The fund will be used to soften the social and economic impacts of the pandemic with five main efforts:
- Emergency rental assistance for low-income residents
- Expanded food for economically disadvantaged families
- Expanded meals for seniors
- Wi-Fi mobile access for economically disadvantaged students
- Emergency childcare for health care workers and emergency responders
COVID-19 surveillance and data reminder
Marin County Public Health has developed a system to try to detect early outbreak activity. Two main indicators of potential COVID-19 virus transmission locally include the number of confirmed cases and the number of people experiencing severe respiratory illness. Tracking this will help our healthcare providers and partners know when COVID-19 activity may be increasing in Marin.
Marin County Public Health receives regular updates on the number of respiratory illness cases from all Marin County emergency departments (ED’s) and from Emergency Medical Services (EMS), our countywide 9-1-1 ambulance response system. We track these over time, and evaluate these trends by age because older adults infected with COVID-19 experience more severe disease. Knowing there are always ups and downs in our usual activity, we're looking for significant changes. This is mainly intended for our clinicians, but others may be interested in seeing the trends. You can track these trends online by visiting MarinHHS.org/Coronavirus/Data.
A message from your Deputy Public Health Officer
For today’s update, Dr. Lisa Santora talks about the large amount of visitors to our coastal region, the dangers it causes for our vulnerable population and why it is imperative that we adhere to the Public Health Order.
Where to get the latest information:
Visit the official Marin County Coronavirus webpage (MarinHHS.org/coronavirus) to review answers to frequently asked questions, access guidance for special groups and subscribe for email updates. To view past status updates concerning COVID-19 activity in Marin County, click on the resources tab on the Coronavirus webpage.
Have questions? Individuals can contact Marin Health and Human Services with non-medical questions about the coronavirus by calling (415) 473-7191 (Monday – Friday, 9:30am to 12-noon and 1pm to 5pm).