SAN MATEO COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) – As San Mateo County works to limit the spread of COVID-19, health officials released a new health advisory on Wednesday focusing on three main practices.
The following practices are being enforced in the advisory:
- Always mask in public, particularly when talking.
- Insulate your household and any small, stable “Social Support Bubble” from the virus.
- Mask – Isolate – Quarantine – Test. Immediately for any symptoms, or after exposure.
“The surge of cases has been alarming, and we need to increase our response immediately. We recommend that community leaders, health care, and public health work together more than ever,” said Curtis Chan, MD, the county’s deputy health officer. “Community leaders have told us that people want to learn more about how transmission occurs. Clear information that the virus is transmitted by someone without having symptoms helps people plan their lives under pandemic rules and quickly respond if a household member develops symptoms.”
The county is continuing to update these measues with guidance from the California Department of Public Health and the CDC.
The county is urging residents to stop the spread of COVID-19 by not attending social gatherings, which is defined as bringing people from multiple different households together in the same space.
“Much of the preventable transmission occurs because of social gatherings and within households, particularly from asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic individuals,” said Catherine Sallenave, MD, the County’s communicable disease controller. “Our case investigators and contact tracers are listening to the worsening stress and circumstances that families are experiencing and hearing the need for psychosocial support to increase their wellness and ability to function in these unprecedented times.”
Social-support bubbles, that were developed by behavioral health physicians, are one to two households coming together to provide necessary physical, emotional, and social support.
As cases continue to rise, the county is discouraging social gatherings over the coming weeks and reminds residents who are experiencing symptoms to get tested and isolate.
Residents without a health care provider should call 211 to be connected to San Mateo County’s system of support.