Coronavirus updates: Bay Area counties report just 3 new deaths Thursday

FILE - Steamer Lane is a popular surf spot in Santa Cruz. It's now closed due to the spread of the coronavirus. FILE - Steamer Lane is a popular surf spot in Santa Cruz. It's now closed due to the spread of the coronavirus. Photo: Mark Miller Photos/Getty Images Photo: Mark Miller Photos/Getty Images Image 1 of / 49 Caption Close Coronavirus updates: Bay Area counties report just 3 new deaths Thursday 1 / 49 Back to Gallery

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LATEST, April 9, 6:50 p.m. The nine counties that comprise the Bay Area reported just three new COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, the lowest total of the week so far.

The deaths were reported in Alameda County (Berkeley), Contra Costa County and Santa Clara County. The death at a Hayward nursing home that was announced Thursday evening will likely be logged in Alameda County's Friday totals.

The three deaths are down from the five deaths reported Wednesday, the 13 deaths reported Tuesday and the eight deaths reported Monday. Tuesday was the deadliest day of the outbreak in the Bay Area so far.

April 9, 4:50 p.m. A new death was reported at the Hayward nursing home where at least 65 individuals have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Seven people in total have died in total. Of the 65 confirmed cases, 40 are residents and 25 are staff members.

April 9, 4:10 p.m. Santa Clara County announced 62 new cases of the coronavirus Thursday, bringing the total to 1,442. The county also announced an additional death, bringing the death toll to 47.

Santa Clara County also began releasing case data organized by the infected individual's race, age group and gender, following suit with the state of California's recent inclusion of demographics in case reporting.

In the county, 70% of deaths have been men, despite that men make up just 51% of the cases. Additionally, the data breakdown reveals 36% of the cases are in those who are Latino or Hispanic, 34% are in those who are white, 23% are in those who are Asian, and 4% are in those who are black.

April 9, 4 p.m. Dr. Deborah Birx outlined the results of testing efforts across the U.S. thus far, noting that between 118,000 and 120,000 per day are being tested. With an estimated 75% of the data — 1.5 million tests — Dr. Birx released some statistics by age and sex.

- 200,000 tests of individuals 25 years and under yielded 11% positive results

- Over 500,000 tests of individuals aged 25-45 yielded 17% positive results

- Nearly 500,000 tests of individuals aged 45-65 yielded 21% positive results

- Nearly 200,000 tests of those aged 65-85 yielded 22% positive results

- 30,000 tests of those aged over 85yielded 24% positive results

- 56% of those tested were female; 15% of those tests were positive

- 44% of those tested were male; 23% of those tests were positive

April 9, 3:40 p.m. President Donald Trump announced in a press conference at the White House on Thursday that student loans would be suspended for six months and that the end date “may go further.”

Those paying off student loans through Navient and FedLoan, two of the largest American providers, were notified within the past few days of temporary changes to their loans. Included in the changes are zero percent interest rates and optional administrative forbearance.

“The changes to your federal student loans that we explain in this communication will end Sept. 30, 2020,” read an email from Navient to loan recipients on April 6.

It’s currently unclear what accommodations, if any, will be made available to those paying privately held student loans.

April 9, 2:55 p.m. KGO reports "several cases" of the coronavirus have emerged at the Drake Terrace Retirement Community in San Rafael.

According to the network's Dan Noyes, "several residents and associates" have tested positive, but the origin of the virus remains unknown at this time.

April 9, 2:40 p.m. San Francisco's 28 emergency child and youth centers in the city will remain open until June 2, with the possibility of extension, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and the city's Recreation and Parks Department announced Thursday.

The centers, open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., are available to children grades K-8 and health care workers in hospitals working 12-hour shifts.

April 9, 2:30 p.m. The Alameda County D.A.'s Office on Thursday announced a new email address dedicated for tips about retailers price-gouging food and essential supplies during the shelter in place.

Anyone who has been the victim of price gouging, or who has information regarding potential price gouging, is encouraged to file a complaint at pricegouging@acgov.org," reads a tweet.

April 9, 2:05 p.m. As Santa Rita Jail in Dublin grapples with a growing number of coronavirus cases in inmates — a 12th case was announced Thursday — officials have decided to release hundreds of lower-level offenders to lower risk of infection by easing crowding. To date, the jail has released more than 600 of the roughly 2,600 inmates incarcerated at the beginning of March.

More are expected to be released to house arrest. Among them may be Derick Almena, the man awaiting retrial for the Ghost Ship fire, which killed 36 people in Oakland in December 2016. More here.

April 9, 1:50 p.m. San Francisco City Supervisor Gordon Mar, who represents the Sunset District, told the San Francisco Examiner Thursday he is fighting to keep a portion of the Great Highway closed to cars and open to neighborhood cyclists for the duration of the shelter in place. The road between Sloat Blvd. and Lincoln Way was temporarily closed to vehicles on Friday.

“Keeping Upper Great Highway closed to cars and open for people for safe, socially distant exercise makes sense to me,” Mar said, adding that the outlet for exercise would allow locals to socially distance while still enjoying the fresh air by the water.

SFMTA head Jeffrey Tumlin is currently considering the request, but has yet to release a statement on the proposal.

April 9, 1:45 p.m. Berkeley announced its first death from COVID-19 Thursday. The 40-something resident had underlying health conditions. To protect the privacy of the family, other details weren't released on the patient.

“I am deeply saddened at the news of the first COVID-19 death in Berkeley, and my condolences go out to their family,” Mayor Jesse Arreguín said in a statement. “We all have the power to reduce the spread of this virus – and the deaths and heartache it creates. We all must follow the shelter in place order to protect ourselves, our neighbors, friends, family, and those most at risk. Together, we can get through these difficult times.”

The Berkeley resident who passed away is one of the 34 people in the East Bay city infected with COVID-19. This death is one of the 17 lab-confirmed fatalities in Alameda County.

April 9, 1:25 p.m. California Gov. Gavin Newsom provided an overview of the latest coronavirus numbers from the state Thursday and said 50 people have died in the last 24 hours. The state now has a death toll of 492.

Newsom said 2,825 patients are currently hospitalized, a 4.1% increase from Wednesday. There are 1,132 individuals in intensive care units and he said this is a 1.9% decrease from yesterday.

Newsom was happy to announce a decrease in ICU patients, but emphasized, “One data point is not a trend. One data point is not a headline.”

To date, more than 86,000 people have applied for California Health Corps, a program bringing retired or out-of-the-industry healthcare workers back to work and building up a reserve of people to help care for COVID-19 patients. Newsom said the state will provide healthcare workers with hotel vouchers if they are exposed to the virus or test positive and need a room for isolation. Workers will also have access to free flights from United Airlines.

The California Fish and Game Commission is meeting Thursday to discuss delaying the recreational sport fishing season that starts in some places in April. Newsom said, "We’re not ending the season, we just want to delay it." Newsom said the state had heard from officials in Mono and Inyo counties where the season opens April 26 and there were concerns about the region becoming overwhelmed with visitors amid the pandemic. Newsom said the healthcare systems in these counties wouldn't have the resources to care for both COVID-19 patients and any visitors who might injure themselves on streams.

April 9, 12:30 p.m. Contra Costa County announced an additional death Thursday afternoon, bringing the county death toll to eight. The county also has 22 more cases for a total case count of 484. Health officials also said 31 people in the county are hospitalized due to the virus.

The county saw its first case on March 4.

April 9, 12:10 p.m. Marin County announced Thursday that officials will begin enforcing restrictions against nonessential car trips — one not for buying food or picking up medicine — to parks and open spaces throughout unincorporated parts of the county. No-parking zones will be enforced with fines of up to $100. While trails and parks are not closed, their parking lots are, so people have been illegally parking near near access points to parks and open spaces.

"Unfortunately, we continue to see a large number of visitors travelling to Marin County for non-essential reasons," a statement from the county said. "More specifically, a multitude of visitors not practicing social distancing and crowding our trails, parks and neighborhoods, which puts the health and safety of our county at risk."

April 9, 9:45 a.m. San Francisco County reported 48 new coronavirus cases Thursday morning, bringing the total to 724. The death toll remains 10. San Mateo County identified 22 new cases and now has a total of 633. The death count remains 21.

Nine Northern Californian residents who were on the Grand Princess Hawaii cruise sued Princess Cruise Lines and its parent company, Carnival Corp., in federal court in San Francisco Wednesday for alleged negligence in exposing them to the virus, according to the East Bay Times. Two passengers and one crew member died from COVID-19 complications; 103 individuals on board the ship tested positive.

April 9, 7 a.m. Santa Cruz County officials issued a new health order Wednesday closing all parks and beaches through April 15, which includes the upcoming Easter weekend.

The order specifically prohibits surfing.

“While the vast majority of Santa Cruz County residents are staying home and following the direction of the County Health Officer, unfortunately some visitors and community members are treating this extraordinary crisis as a holiday,” Sheriff Jim Hart said. “We are at a critical moment in our efforts to reduce the impacts of COVID-19, and we need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to halt the spread of this disease.”

Anyone who violates the order could be hit with a misdemeanor and fine up to $1,000.

The popular wave forecasting website Surfline encouraged surfers to obey the order. "There’s much uncertainty around whether we should surf or not," Surfline forecaster Matt Kibby wrote. "In taking stock of the current situation, our view is this: shred at home — and we don’t say this lightly, as connecting surfers with their passion is our entire mission. We know now that in order to beat the coronavirus, we all need to isolate ourselves as much as possible for the foreseeable future. The sooner and more completely we do that, the sooner we can get back to what we love."

The order officially went into effect at midnight Wednesday and yesterday afternoon many surfers were catching their last waves. The Santa Cruz Sentinel shared an image of surfers in the water at Pleasure Point.

Cumulative cases in the greater Bay Area (due to limited testing these numbers reflect only a small portion of likely cases):

ALAMEDA COUNTY: 681 confirmed cases, 16 deaths*

For more information on Alameda County cases, visit the public health department website.

*Number excludes infected patients in city of Berkeley, which has its own health department and 34 cases and 1 death.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: 484 confirmed cases, 8 deaths

For more information on Contra Costa County cases, visit the public health department website.

LAKE COUNTY: 2 confirmed cases

For information on Lake County and coronavirus, visit the public health department website.

MARIN COUNTY: 154 confirmed cases, 10 deaths

Fore more information on Marin County cases, visit the public health department website.

MONTEREY COUNTY: 71 confirmed cases, 3 deaths

For more information on Monterey County cases, visit the public health department website.

NAPA COUNTY: 28 cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Napa County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN BENITO COUNTY: 34 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on San Benito County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY: 724 confirmed cases, 10 deaths

For more information on San Francisco County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN MATEO COUNTY: 633 confirmed cases, 21 deaths

For more information on San Mateo County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY: 1,442 confirmed cases, 47 deaths

Fore more information on Santa Clara County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: 80 confirmed cases, 1 death

For more information on Santa Cruz County cases, visit the public health department website.

SOLANO COUNTY: 115 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Solano County cases, visit the public health department website.

SONOMA COUNTY: 136 confirmed cases, 1 death

For more information on Sonoma County cases, visit the public health department website.

In California, 559 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University. For comparison, New York has 7,067, New Jersey 1,700 and Louisiana 702.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.