Santa Cruz County Public Health Division Press Release
The Santa Cruz County Public Health Division regrets to announce that a resident with COVID-19 has died, marking the County’s first death due to complications from the novel coronavirus.
The individual was an adult male in his early 70s with an underlying health condition. He was admitted to a local hospital on March 19th with symptoms including fever and shortness of breath and was confirmed by laboratory testing to be positive for COVID-19. He died in the hospital on March 28th. The Public Health Division expresses its sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Dr. Gail Newel
“We are deeply saddened to have one of our community members die due to this outbreak”, Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said. “Our top priority is protecting the lives of our community members, and we are working hard to make sure these solemn occasions are as rare as possible.”
The patient was employed in both Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. He had not recently traveled and had not had contact with another known case. After a thorough investigation, Public Health’s Communicable Disease Unit determined that this infection was community acquired.
Santa Cruz County now has 41 confirmed cases, with the vast majority between the ages of 18 and 65 years old. The first known COVID-19 case in the county was identified on March 6. The Public Health Division thanks Santa Cruz County residents for their diligence in following the Shelter in Place order and physical distancing guidelines, which are critical to protecting vulnerable residents.
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For local information on COVID-19, go to www.santacruzhealth.org/coronavirus, call 211 or text “COVID19” to 211211. Residents may also call (831) 454-4242 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., seven days a week.