Santa Clara Co. surpasses 1,000 COVID deaths
Santa Clara Co. surpasses 1,000 COVID deaths, herd immunity likely several months away
Even with the slow rollout of vaccinations, health officials say COVID-19 isn't going away anytime soon. A Santa Clara County executive says we won't see herd immunity for another 6 to 9 months. The county has now surpassed 1,000 COVID-related deaths.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Santa Clara County health officials announced a grim milestone. The county has surpassed 1,000 coronavirus deaths as cases and hospitalizations continue to surge. County Executive Jeff Smith said the county is on the road to recovery but it will take time.
"First of all, I’m happy to be alive and I’m happy to be here," said Rolando Bonilla of San Jose.
Bonilla is on the mend after contracting COVID-19. He was hospitalized for a week on oxygen support. As he recovers, he's also grieving. His 65-year-old uncle did not survive the virus. His funeral was last Friday.
"In many ways, he was a grandfather to my kids," said Bonilla. "He was dearly loved, dearly missed."
999 other families in Santa Clara County share similar pain. Santa Clara County is the first Bay Area county to record 1,000 COVID-19 deaths.
"It’s profoundly sad," said Smith. "We know this is a deadly virus. It started in the Bay Area almost a year ago."
It was January 31, 2020, Santa Clara County announced the Bay Area’s first case. It was a man returning to San Jose from a trip to Wuhan, China.
Months into the pandemic, countless lives have been upended, not just from the virus itself but the economic fallout. All normalcy is gone.
Now, there’s promising news of a vaccine yet deaths are soaring.
"Even though we are all very fatigued and sick and tired of the pandemic, the virus is not giving up," said Smith.
At Regional Medical Center in San Jose, the head nurse of the COVID unit said it’s a full house. Nurses are often the last person at a dying patient’s bedside.
"It’s been one of the heartbreaking things, the loneliness and isolation which patients have passed," said Thurstone.
To help her cope, she focuses on the patients saved.
"In spite of the grim statistic, I like to look at the other side of the coin and look at all those people who were able to go home," said Thurstone.
Bonilla said to beat the virus, he urges people to go to the hospital if they have symptoms, mask up and social distance for a chance for deaths to decline.
"Unfortunately, a lot of families like mine will forever look at 2020 not just the year of COVID, but the year COVID took a loved one from us," said Bonilla.
Health officials said, even with a vaccine, the pandemic is not going away anytime soon. County Executive Jeff Smith said he anticipates it will be six to nine months until there's herd immunity and another before we'll have some sense of normalcy.