City of Santa Clara Proclaims Local State of Emergency due to Coronavirus Outbreak

Last Night, Santa Clara City Manager Deanna J. Santana officially proclaimed a local state of emergency to prepare for the growing spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the community. Per the City Code, the City Manager, as the City of Santa Clara’s Director of Emergency Services, has the authority to proclaim a local emergency. The Santa Clara City Council is scheduled to ratify the proclamation at their Tuesday, March 17 meeting in Council Chambers.

“This proclamation will help ensure the City’s continuity of essential operations in response to this emerging public health threat,” said the City in a press release.

As of March 11, the City of Santa Clara Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has partially activated to increase the City’s ability to maintain situational awareness and coordinate public information for this rapidly evolving situation.

In compliance with the County of Santa Clara’s mandatory order and County of Santa Clara Public Health Department’s recommendations, the City has canceled all library programs, reduced hours and canceled programs with large groups at the Santa Clara Senior Center, and canceled or postponed community events such as Family Movie Night and Egg-Stravaganza.

“The City took this action for the health and welfare of Santa Clarans in order to reduce potential exposure to this virus, especially for those individuals who are at higher risk of severe illness,” said the City’s press release.

Late last night, the City of Santa Clara received Governor Gavin Newsom’s statement regarding statewide recommendations for all events with more than 250 people to be cancelled or postponed due to coronavirus concerns.  The City of Santa Clara will provide further instructions and communications about how these recommendations will be implemented.

At this time, the County Public Health Department has reported 48 confirmed coronavirus cases in the county.

The State of California is also under a State of Emergency proclamation due to the coronavirus outbreak.