Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael Callagy, County Manager
Subject: Proclamation of Local Emergency
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution ratifying and extending the proclamation of local emergency by the San Mateo County Director of Emergency Services.
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BACKGROUND:
Section 8630 of the Government Code and Chapter 2.46 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code authorize the Director of Emergency Services (“Director”) of San Mateo County to proclaim a local emergency when the County is threatened by conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the County that are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of the County and require the combined forces of other political subdivisions to combat and the Board of Supervisors is not in session. (Pursuant to the County Ordinance Code, the County Manager also serves as the County Director of Emergency Services.)
Under the Government Code and Chapter 2.46 of the County Ordinance Code, the Director’s Proclamation of Local Emergency shall remain in effect for no more than seven days, unless the proclamation has been ratified by the Board of Supervisors.
DISCUSSION:
On March 3, 2020, I issued a proclamation of local emergency in San Mateo County due to the introduction in the County of a novel coronavirus, named “COVID-19” by the World Health Organization (“WHO”). My proclamation notes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) has stated that COVID-19 is a serious public health threat.
It also states that the number of reported COVID-19 cases has escalated dramatically over a short period of time and that, as of March 1, 2020, the WHO reported 87,137 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 79,968 cases in China and the remaining 7,169 cases in 58 other countries. The WHO also reported that, as of March 1, 2020, there have been 2,873 deaths in China due to COVID-19, and another 104 deaths in other countries. (These numbers continue to increase; in its March 3, 2020 update, the WHO reports 90,870 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 10,566 outside of China in 72 countries, along with a total of 3,112 deaths.)
My proclamation also states that, as of March 2, 2020, the CDC reported 43 cases of COVID-19 in the United States, not including 48 individuals returned to the United States from overseas flights. (Again, these number continue to increase, with the CDC reporting on March 3, 2020 that 60 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, in addition to the 48 individuals returned from overseas.)
Finally, I note that cases of COVID-19 have been identified in San Mateo County, as well as in other Bay Area counties, and other counties, including the County of Santa Clara, the County of Alameda, the County of Solano, and the City and County of San Francisco, have made declarations of local health emergency and/or proclamations of local emergency. On the same day that I issued the proclamation of local emergency, the County Health Officer, Dr. Scott Morrow, declared a local health emergency, pursuant to Section 101080 of the California Health and Safety Code.
As noted, under the Government Code and the County Ordinance Code, a proclamation of local emergency declared by the Director of Emergency Services shall remain in effect for no more than seven days unless it is ratified and extended by the Board of Supervisors.
In light of current circumstances, I recommend that the Board of Supervisors ratify and extend the proclamation of local emergency. Under the Government Code and the County Ordinance Code, the Board of Supervisors must review the proclamation of local emergency at least once every sixty days to determine the need for continuing the local emergency.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Approving the action recommended here may assist with the receipt of mutual aid resources from the State of California and from neighboring jurisdictions. Further, in the event that the Governor proclaims a state of emergency and requests a Presidential Declaration, the County could become eligible for cost recovery funds related to the COVID-19 outbreak.