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Dear friends and neighbors,

Santa Clara County has moved into the Red Tier of the Blueprint for Reopening the Economy! Click HERE to read the County's statement. This is incredibly good news, but this does not mean we may become complacent about staying safe and healthy. We hope the following information helps you understand what this tier change means and what it will take for us to get into the Orange Tier. 

Vaccine Changes Prioritize Equity and Modified Reopening 
Governor Gavin Newsom announced important changes to vaccine prioritization and California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy today. The state will now earmark 40 percent of its COVID-19 vaccine doses for low-income communities spread out across 400 of the state’s Zip Codes, or the lower quartile of the state’s Healthy Places Index.

VACCINATION EXPANSION!
Va
ccine eligibility has expanded! As of February 28th, workers in education and childcare, food and agriculture, and emergency services are now eligible! With more vaccines arriving, we're opening more pop-up sites countywide and mobile vaccination clinics. If it's your turn, please sign up as soon as possible.

We now have twenty sites open across the county including Levi's Stadium, Emmanuel Baptist Church, East Valley Health Clinic, East Ridge Mall (roller rink) and Gilroy High School. We have new pop-up sites opening each week. Plus mobile vaccine deliveries which recently vaccinated farm workers on site in South County.

If it's your turn, please make your appointment Please visit SCCFreeVax.org to find for vaccination eligibility or make an appointment. REMINDER - Santa Clara County is under a “no wrong door” access to vaccines - which means you may register for a vaccine regardless of insurance or vaccination site. 

Mask Guidance Updated
The state updated its mask guidance today with a focus on fit and effectiveness. View the updated guidance here, or see the simple chart below for a quick rundown of mask effectiveness.

Least Effective Masks  Better Masks Best Mask 
  • Cloth mask with
    1 or 2 layers
  • Bandana
  • Gaiter
  • Fitted medical mask
  • Cloth mask with 3 layers
  • Double mask
    (Medical + cloth)
  • KN95
  • N95


Reopening Recreation & Youth Sports
Additionally, as of February 26, 2021, a range of social and recreational outdoor activities will be allowed to resume safely, including youth sports, performing arts, and enrichment activities, so long as they occur only outdoors. Restrictions on outdoor gatherings of all kinds will also be relaxed to encourage people not to gather indoors, where there is a much worse risk of transmission. Read more.

Getting To Orange Tier
Our move to the red tier will only be successful if we can move into orange tier. The State's guidelines require us to be in the red tier for a minimum of three weeks, and have met the next tier's criteria for two consecutive weeks. The criteria is based around case rates, positive test rates, and we could see additional criteria related to vaccination rates be added. This means we may not be able to move to orange for another month, so we need to be safe. The included chart shows the current rate criteria:

Here's a checklist that we can all utilize to do our part to help our county reach the next lower tier:

  • Stay home. Do our best to limit risk and exposure.
  • Wear a mask in public. We encourage double masking too!
  • Wash your hands regularly. Stay conscious about our health.
  • Socially distance. Keep at least six feet of physical distance.
  • Limit mixing with people you don’t live with or a part of your bubble.
  • Get vaccinated!
  • Be smart, do our part.


U.S. Senate Votes to Take Up $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Package
The Senate bill also would make several notable changes to provisions of the House-passed Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund,including reducing the overall amount of federal financial assistance that local governments would receive. Under the Senate measure, counties and cities would split $120.2 billion in federal fiscal aid, or $10 billion less than the amount that was included in HR 1319. The upper chamber’s bill also specifies that the funding would be available through December 31, 2024 and could be used to cover costs incurred for the following purposes:

  •  to respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts, including assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits or to aid impacted industries such as tourism, travel, and hospitality;
  • for the provision of government services to the extent there was a reduction in revenue due to the health emergency; and,
  • to make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.

Governor Newsom Extends Commercial Eviction Moratorium 
Lastly, we want to update you on Executive Order N-03-21, which extends the commercial eviction moratorium. This allows local jurisdictions to continue to halt evictions for commercial renters affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through June 30, 2021.

The text of the Governor’s executive order can be found here and a copy can be found here.


Please continue to stay safe and healthy. We're here to help you, contact us anytime.

Warm regards,


Supervisor.Lee@bos.sccgov.org
SupervisorLee.org

News & Updates
COVID-19 Dashboards
County News & Information

Resource Links:

COVID-19 Testing Sites in District 3
Visit SCCFreeTest.org for the most current schedule of times and sites. Available in EnglishEspañol中文Tiếng Việt & Tagalog

Vaccination Information
Visit SCCFreeVax.org for the latest updates and to schedule an appointment. Available in English, Español中文Tiếng Việt & Tagalog.

Santa Clara County’s Small Business Loan Program
You can apply for the County’s Small Business Loan Program through the California Rebuilding Fund here. You will need to fill out the pre-application to begin the loan process. The loans will need to be paid back over a 3- or 5-year term with a fixed annual interest rate that is currently 4.25%. Please see the Loan Terms tab for details.

Housing Support Services
The County Office of Supportive Housing (OSH) is leading efforts to find shelter for our unhoused neighbors and to help keep families in their homes. Click HERE to visit the OSH website for resources and links.
Speaking at East Valley Health Clinic for vaccination site opening
County Supervisor Otto Lee Website - SupervisorLee.org
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