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CDC’s recommendations for 30 day Mitigation 

Strategies for Santa Clara County, California, based on 

current situation with COVID-19 Transmission and 

affected health care facilities

Note: Santa Clara County has recently implemented many interventions included in the 

CDC guidance (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html).

 

The most recent recommendations from Santa Clara County can be found at 

https://www.sccoe.org/news/featured/PublishingImages/Pages/Novel-CoronavirusInformation/03-09-20-Updated-Guidance-and-Orders%20ENGLISH.pdf. 

The following describes CDC recommendations for community interventions in Santa Clara 

County. 

Bottom Line Up Front:

Due to widespread transmission in Santa, Clara, CA, CDC recommends expanded and laser focused 

community mitigation activities to help slow the spread of respiratory virus infections including the 

novel coronavirus SARS-C0V-2, the cause of the disease COVID-19. These approaches are used to 

minimize morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 as well as to minimize the social and economic impacts 

of COVID-19. Individuals, communities, businesses, and healthcare organizations are all part of a 

community mitigation strategy. Given the focal community transmission in Santa Clara, CA, and the 

involvement of multiple health care facilities, substantial interventions should be implemented at this 

time, based on the urgency of protecting the health care system with expected rise in cases by slowing 

the spread within the community (Table) and focused on protecting the vulnerable members of the 

community. 

Goals

The goals for using mitigation strategies for Santa Clara County at this time are to protect:

• Individuals at risk for severe illness, including persons of any age with underlying health conditions,

particularly among elderly adults (See Appendix A).

• The healthcare workforce and critical infrastructure workforces

These approaches are used to minimize morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19 and minimize 

social and economic impacts of COVID-19. Individuals, communities, businesses, and healthcare 

organizations are all part of a community mitigation strategy. 

Implementation emphasizes:

• Emphasizing individual responsibility for implementation of recommended personal-level actions,
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• Empowering businesses, schools, and community organizations to implement recommended actions,

particularly in ways that protect persons at risk of severe illness such as older adults and persons with

serious underlying health conditions (e.g., Dialysis patients, congestive heart failure, emphysema)

• Focusing on settings that provide critical services to implement recommended actions to protect

critical infrastructure and individuals at risk of severe disease
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Table Community mitigation strategies for Santa Clara County, 

For Every Individual 

and Family at Home

• Monitor local information about COVID-19 in your community.

• Practice personal protective measures (e.g. hand washing).

• Put household plan into action

• Ensure 30 day supply of all medicines.

• Individuals at risk of severe illness should stay at home avoiding gatherings or

other situations of potential exposures, including travel, church attendance, social

events with 10 or more people

• Other individuals without such risk factors should adapt to disruptions in routine

activities (e.g., school and/or work closures) by using remote participation such as

telework where feasible or online classes or home study (E-learning).

For Every 

School/childcare

• Schools should arrange for students at risk of severe illness for distance learning,

e-learning.

• Implement social distancing measures, e.g.:

o Cancel large gatherings (e.g., assemblies)

o Alter schedules to reduce mixing (e.g., stagger recess, entry/dismissal

times)

o Limit all classroom mixing

o Limit inter-school interactions of all types

o Consider distance or e-learning in schools with higher risk populations

(e.g., greater proportion of special needs children)

• Consider regular health checks (e.g., temperature and respiratory symptom

screening on arrival at school) of students, staff, and visitors or home monitoring.

• Short-term dismissals for school and extracurricular activities as needed (e.g., if

cases in staff/students) for cleaning and contact tracing

• Upcoming spring breaks could be extended (start early or extend by one week) to

gain additional time for health care facilities to increase preparedness.

• Cancellation of all school-associated congregations, particularly those with

participation of high-risk individuals.

• Consider implementing distance learning if feasible

Every assisted living 

facility, senior living 

facility and adult day 

program 

• Implement social distancing measures, e.g.:

o Cancel large gatherings (e.g., group social events with 10 or more people)

o Alter schedules to reduce mixing (e.g., stagger meal, activity,

arrival/departure times)

o Limit programs with external staff

• Daily upon arrival temperature and respiratory symptom screening of attendees,

staff.

• Staff should wear masks and wash hands thoroughly before entering and after exit

of room of inhabitants

• Consider suspension of new admissions to facilities

• Short-term closures as needed (e.g., if cases in staff, residents or clients who live

elsewhere) for cleaning and contact tracing

• Longer-term closure or quarantine of facility until situation resolved.

Community Mitigation Strategies
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• Suspend visitor access but arrange for alternate means for family members to

communicate (e.g., staff assist with phone calls or videoconferences with visitors).

• Exceptions for end-of-life family visits need to be considered, with limited access

of visitors to other areas or people in the facility and these patients should be in a

different areas to ensure other clients are not exposed to outside guests.

Every Workplace • Encourage staff to telework (when feasible depending on job type)

• Expand sick leave policies

• Implement social distancing measures, e.g.:

o Spacing workers at the worksite

o Staggering work schedules

o Decreasing social contacts in the workplace (limit in-person meetings)

o All break areas must accommodate distancing with regular disinfection of

all eating surfaces

• Eliminate large work-related gatherings (e.g., staff meetings, after-work functions)

• Cancel non-essential work travel

• Regular health checks on arrival each day (e.g., temperature and respiratory

symptom screening) of staff and visitors entering buildings.

• Implement extended telework arrangements (when feasible)

• Ensure flexible leave policies for staff who need to stay home due to

school/childcare dismissals and to encourage individuals to stay home if they are

sick.

• Cancel work-sponsored conferences, tradeshows, etc.

Every Community and 

Faith-based 

Organization

• Implement social distancing. Reduce activities (e.g., religious services, group

congregation), especially for organizations with individuals at risk of severe illness.

Offer video/audio of events.

• Determine methods to continue providing support services to individuals at risk of

severe disease (services, meals, checking in) while limiting group settings and

exposures

• Cancel large gatherings (e.g., >250 people) or move to smaller groupings.

Professional and college sporting events as well as concerts should be cancelled or

broadcast without audience participation.

• For organizations that serve high-risk communities, cancel gatherings of more than

10 people and stagger access to support services.

• Consider canceling faith-based and community gatherings of any size or move to

video-accessible venues or postpone/cancel.
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Healthcare settings 

and healthcare 

provider (includes 

outpatient, nursing 

homes/long-term care 

facilities, inpatient, 

telehealth) 

• Consider implementing temperature/symptom checks for staff, visitors, limit

visitor movement in the facility

• Implement triage before entering facilities (e.g. parking lot triage, front door);

phone triage and telemedicine; limit unnecessary healthcare visits

• Actively monitor HCP absenteeism and respiratory illness among HCP and patients

• Actively monitor PPE supplies

• Establish processes to evaluate and test large numbers of patients and HCP with

respiratory symptoms (e.g. designated clinics for people with fever, surge tent for

overflow triage, offsite testing locations)

• Permit asymptomatic exposed HCP to work while wearing a facemask

• Cross train HCP for working in other units to support staffing shortages

• Restrict all visitors from facility entry to reduce facility-based transmission;

exceptions for end-of-life visitors but restrict such visitors movement within the

facility.

• Identify areas of operations that may be subject to alternative standards of care

and implement necessary changes (e.g., allowing mildly symptomatic HCP to work

while wearing a facemask)

• Cancel elective and non-urgent procedures

• Consider suspension of new admissions to facilities

• Establish cohort units or facilities for large numbers of patients

• Consider requiring all HCP to wear a facemask when in the facility depending on

supply

Appendix A: Underlying medical conditions that may increase the risk of serious COVID-19 for 

individuals of any age. 

• Blood disorders (e.g., sickle cell disease or on blood thinners)

• Chronic kidney disease as defined by your doctor. Patient has been told

to avoid or reduce the dose of medications because kidney disease, or is

under treatment for kidney disease, including receiving dialysis

• Chronic liver disease as defined by your doctor. (e.g., cirrhosis, chronic

hepatitis) Patient has been told to avoid or reduce the dose of

medications because liver disease or is under treatment for liver

disease.
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• Compromised immune system (immunosuppression) (e.g., seeing a

doctor for cancer and treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation,

received an organ or bone marrow transplant, taking high doses of

corticosteroids or other immunosuppressant medications, HIV or AIDS)

• Current or recent pregnancy in the last two weeks

• Endocrine disorders (e.g., diabetes mellitus)

• Metabolic disorders (such as inherited metabolic disorders and

mitochondrial disorders)

• Heart disease (such as congenital heart disease, congestive heart failure

and coronary artery disease)

• Lung disease including asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary

disease (chronic bronchitis or emphysema) or other chronic conditions

associated with impaired lung function or that require home oxygen

• Neurological and neurologic and neurodevelopment

conditions [including disorders of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral

nerve, and muscle such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy (seizure disorders),

stroke, intellectual disability, moderate to severe developmental delay,

muscular dystrophy, or spinal cord injury].