page_title: COVID-19 pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area
section_title: Military response
hierarchical_section_title: COVID-19 pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area / Military response
caption_attribution_description: English: California National Guard staff set up equipment for a Federal Medical Station to support San Mateo County's COVID-19 response. Housed at the San Mateo County Event Center (fairgrounds), the FMS will provide sub-acute, non-traumatic, non-surgical treatment when local hospital capacity has been exceeded. Photo: San Mateo County
context_page_description: The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes the major cities of San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland, was an early center of the COVID-19 pandemic in California. The first case of COVID-19 in the area was confirmed in Santa Clara County on January 31, 2020. A Santa Clara County resident was the earliest known death caused by COVID-19 in the United States, on February 6.
  Local officials instituted some of the first mitigation efforts in the United States. The first mandatory shelter-in-place order in the mainland U.S. took effect throughout the Bay Area on March 16 and 17 and continued until mid-May, affecting nearly 6.7 million people. The early government response is credited with mitigating the spread of infection compared to cities on the East Coast.
  Closures due to the pandemic have resulted in mass unemployment and significant disruptions to the economy, replacing local governments' budget surpluses with historic deficits. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of distance learning among schools and telecommuting among businesses, especially in the technology industry. Air quality around San Francisco Bay improved as a result of a temporary decline in traffic volume.
context_section_description: The California National Guard and California State Guard activated medical units in the Bay Area to assist local and state government agencies in their COVID-19 response.
  In the Bay Area, the California Air National Guard has set up Federal Medical Stations at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara (known as the Field Respite Center), the San Mateo County Event Center in San Mateo, and Craneway Pavilion in Richmond. The temporary field hospitals, which are managed by the Strategic National Stockpile Division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, can receive noncritical patients from local hospitals for convalescent care. The Santa Clara location was converted on March 21 and admitted its first two patients on April 5. The Air National Guard converted the San Mateo location on April 1 and the Richmond location the following day.
caption: California National Guard staff set up a Federal Medical Station at the San Mateo County Event Center.
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