More Infections Among Younger Adults Than Any Other Group, Health Officer Says

Alameda County health officer Dr. Erica Pan told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that the largest group of people who've tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus so far is those 20 to 44 years old.

In her weekly briefing to the board, Pan said that among the first group of COVID-19 cases to be analyzed by county health officials, more than one-third are between 20 and 44 years old.

However, Pan said most of those people haven't developed serious symptoms and haven't had to be hospitalized.

Earlier on Tuesday county health officials said the county has now had two deaths attributed to COVID-19 and has had 135 cases so far.

Pan told the Board of Supervisors that there's been an "exponential increase" in coronavirus cases in the Bay Area and Alameda County since she gave her first briefing to the board two weeks ago, when only three cases had been reported in the county.

Pan said 64 percent of the county's cases at this point have been "community-acquired," as opposed to cases in which victims had been infected while traveling.

Referring to the virus, Pan said, "This is in our community now."

Pan said, "We don't have as much testing capacity as we'd like now" but testing has ramped up in recent days, particularly at a facility at a Hayward fire station that has the capacity to test up to 350 people a day and get the results in six to nine hours.

However, Pan said that as the number of people tested increases the number of known coronavirus cases also will increase.

Alameda County sheriff's Cmdr. Thomas Madigan told the board that there are no known coronavirus cases at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin so far and said, "We'd like to keep it that way."

Pan said 911 emergency response calls actually have decreased in recent weeks and so far hospital and emergency room availability is stable.

The Board of Supervisors voted to authorize advance payments to county-contracted community-based organizations to help them deal with the financial impact of COVID-19, based on concerns that a decline in service demands due to the county's shelter-in-place order could impact their cash flow and sustainability.

County Administrator Susan Muranishi said the county has contracts with nearly 300 community-based organizations and the county wants to make sure that they're able to continue helping the county provide important services for the long run.

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