By the Daily Post staff
While Santa Clara County health officials have emphasized that people of all ages have tested positive for the coronavirus, more than half of those who have died were 71 or older.
The COVID-19 death toll in the county went up by three Sunday to 54.
According to the county Health Department’s COVID-19 “dashboard,” the number of cases was well distributed among different age groups, with 53% of those infected between the ages of 31 and 60.
But the age breakdown changes when it comes to deaths. Only 25% of those who died were between the ages of 31 and 60.
The dashboard shows that 59% of those who died were between 71 and 90. That’s about 30 people out of the 54 who had died.
Men are twice as likely to die than women from COVID-19. The dashboard showed that as of Sunday, men represented 69% of deaths.
City-by-city breakdown
The county is now breaking down cases by city. It has previously refused to do so, saying it would violate the privacy of victims.
As of Sunday, Palo Alto had 61 people who were infected with COVID-19, up from 57 on Thursday.
In Mountain View, the number of COVID-19 cases increased from 30 on Thursday to 34 Sunday.
The number of cases stayed the same in Los Altos — 18.
When the city-by-city numbers came out on Thursday, the dashboard showed there were no cases in Los Altos Hills. However, yesterday the dashboard was updated to say that there were fewer than 10 cases in that town, though no specific number was given.
Sheriff’s employees test positive
In other news about COVID-19, two employees at the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office in Redwood City have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the sheriff’s office said.
The employees, whose job descriptions were not released, are not jail officers or deputies, the sheriff’s office said.
The two are quarantined at home and under the treatment of their doctors. They haven’t been at work since late March and the two cases don’t appear to be related, according to the sheriff’s office.
The areas where the infected employees work have been professionally cleaned and disinfected. In addition, screening is in place for anyone entering the facilities and medical personnel are on alert for symptoms, the sheriff’s office said.
No inmates have been tested, but with decreased inmate populations, there is ample space to quarantine if needed, according to the sheriff’s office.
In San Jose, a dozen staff members of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office have tested positive for the coronavirus, sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.
Of those infected, one deputy was on patrol duty, and eight deputies were assigned to the sheriff’s office’s custody bureau. Two employees were custody support assistants at the county’s main jail and the 12th employee member was a sheriff’s records technician.
Two deputies have recovered from illness and are back to work, and the other 10 are self-quarantining at home, according to the sheriff’s office.
— Bay City News contributed to this report.
The two civilians who tested positive in San Mateo County sheriff’s office did, in fact, work in the jail. They may not have been deputies, but the press release from the sheriff should have said they were at the jail. Now that they’ve tested positive, the inmates should all be checked as well.