Coronavirus: Santa Clara County sees largest single-day spike in positive tests, 1 new death

Santa Clara County reported 84 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday in what is the largest single-day spike since the county began recording positive tests.

Santa Clara County Public Health Department also reported one additional COVID-19-related death, bringing the countywide death toll to 17. More than half of the deaths have been reported since Saturday.

Details of the latest victim’s age or potential underlying health issues were not immediately made available.

Santa Clara County’s 459 confirmed positive tests, 137 hospitalizations and 17 deaths are the most of any Bay Area county. Nearly half of the total cases, 217, are presumed to have come from community transmission.

After health officials revealed 54 new confirmed cases on Tuesday, more than 30 percent of the positive tests in Santa Clara County have come in the last 48 hours.

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Watch: County of Santa Clara answers questions on what businesses can open when county moves to California’s red tier level Earlier in the day, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state of California has recorded 2,535 positive tests for COVID-19. The numbers indicate nearly 20 percent of the positive tests statewide come from Santa Clara County.

Dr. Sara Cody, the county’s director of public health, addressed the Board of Supervisors in a meeting Tuesday and said the expectation is the case number will continue to climb.

“Our case counts are rising and we anticipate they will continue to do so,” Cody said. “It’s hard to understand where we are in the epidemic curve for a number of reasons.”

Case numbers in other Bay Area counties are also expected to continue increasing as testing becomes more readily available.

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