Today marks the start of week two of the shelter-in-place order in Santa Cruz County—the order by health officials to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19. Here’s a round-up of a few important issues:
• There is a coronavirus phone hotline in Santa Cruz County: 831-454-4242.
• Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart is urging people to not congregate at area beaches and to maintain social distancing, especially in light of spring break for college and university students.
• Olympic officials have agreed to postpone the Olympics in Japan until next summer.
• The justice department will now prosecute those that horde essential products, like face masks, sanitizers, disinfectants and wipes for high-profit resale.
• China’s shelter-in-place order will end on April 8 as the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to drop in that country. The Chinese government imposed strict orders to stay indoors and their plan appears to be working.
• CVS is now looking into hiring 50,000 workers to help deal with the load of work put on such stores.
• I saw on TV news that all jury trials have been suspended for 60 days in California.
• President Trump has given the go-ahead for the DMV to extend the Real ID compliance deadline. A new extension date has not been released.
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Scattered showers will pass through today that will set the stage for the next several days. The National Weather Service said it will be 5-12 degrees cooler than normal. Our high today will be in the upper 50s. There’s also a possibility of a dusting of snow in higher elevations.
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A 22-year-old man died early Tuesday morning in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 17 in Los Gatos. California Highway Patrol officer Ross Lee said the man was driving a 2017 Mazda Protege 5 when for unknown reasons he veered onto the right shoulder around 2:55 a.m. His car then shot back across both southbound lanes before overturning.
The driver apparently removed his seatbelt, Lee said, and was attempting to get out of his car when the Mazda was struck by another car. The impact partially ejected the Mazda driver who was pronounced dead at the scene. Lee said it did not appear that alcohol or drugs played a role in the incident, which is still under investigation.
