County releases more than 20,000 free at-home COVID-19 antigen tests
By Staff Report
Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Public Health Department leader
Two years to the day when on Jan. 31, 2020, Santa Clara County officially began a long fight for public health against the COVID-19 pandemic, officials say the battle continues with the omicron variant.
More than 1.6 million county residents, or 83.5 percent, have been vaccinated, and more than 900,000, or 63.8 percent, have received a booster shot, according to the Public Health Department’s online dashboard. As a result, the current case rate has dropped by about half, said county public health director, Dr. Sara Cody.
In an online “town hall” meeting hosted by Congressman Ro Khanna on Jan. 25, Cody said the more contagious omicron is the dominant variant in the county since it arrived in early December.
About 95 percent of the cases now in the county are omicron. Cody noted the county is starting to see several cases of the subvariant of omicron, BA.2, which is slightly more contagious.
“The omicron wave really took us by the collar and sent us spinning rapidly at the time,” Cody said. “Starting today, I am pleased to say that we are past the peak. It looks like it probably happened somewhere between the seventh and tenth of January. And we’re just beginning to see early signs that our hospitals may be seeing a little bit of a reprieve . . . The spread is beginning to come down, but, that being said, it’s of course still quite high.”
Asked by Khanna if public health officers know if the new sub-type may be more dangerous, Cody said, “So far we don’t know. It has a different pattern, but so far we don’t really know how it behaves. My guess is that it will behave as the dominant Omicron, but we will see.”
Many county residents are exhausted by the two-year slog of COVID-19, but they must resist becoming complacent in taking action to preserve their health, she said.
“The road ahead comes with a lot of uncertainty,” she said. “We’ve been through five waves locally. I imagine there will be more waves to come. It comes in peaks and valleys and what we don’t know is what the next peak will look like.
Getting vaccinated, wearing masks and getting tested can make a difference in stopping the spread of COVID-19. Last month, the county offered limited additional free at-home COVID-19 antigen tests to people who live, work, or attend school in the county. More than 20,000 tests have been distributed.
“We are glad to provide additional at-home tests for our community at a time when testing is still very important,” said Miguel Márquez, chief operations officer for the county. “When people have the opportunity to test, it allows everyone to limit the spread of the virus.”
The county opted to purchase and distribute the tests due to the scarcity of tests and enormous demand. Additional tests are being distributed through the county’s outreach teams to disproportionately impacted communities, through nonprofit partner organizations, as well as to first responders and other essential workers.
