Santa Clara County Releases COVID-19 Case Data by ZIP Code

Three-and-a-half months after COVID-19 surfaced in Santa Clara County, health officials have finally released data on the number of cases in each ZIP code.

The new information comes after The Mercury News released its own analysis, which showed that people in poor, predominantly Latino neighborhoods in San Jose are dying of the virus at much higher rate.

According to the health department’s coronavirus data dashboard, 31 percent of the 2,453 COVID-19 cases in the county are located within five ZIP codes in East San Jose.

As of today, there are 222 cases in 95116, 194 cases in 95127, 154 cases in 95122, 107 cases in 95111 and 102 cases in 95112. Three of those ZIP codes—95116, 95127 and 95122—were included in the Merc’s analysis that found more than a third of the first 100 victims of COVID-19 lived in four ZIP codes on the East Side of San Jose. In 95116, 104 of those cases have been attributed to residents at Canyon Springs Post-Acute Care.

San Jose Councilwoman Magdalena Carrasco says the pandemic has “highlighted the inequities” in the city. “We know what the prime elements are to help [COVID-19] run like wildfire, which is close contact,” she told San Jose Inside. “In the East Side, we live in very close proximity, very crowded conditions and multi-generational households.”

The District 5 councilwoman added that many of her constituents are also essential workers, exposing them to the virus at higher rates than individuals living in wealthier parts of the city. In contrast, Almaden Valley, which has one of the highest median incomes in San Jose per recent census data, has only 23 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

To help stop the spread and isolate people with COVID-19, Carrasco said the city and county need to conduct more testing. Earlier this month, two testing sites opened up in East San Jose: one at James Lick High and the other at PAL Stadium.

“Especially for a community that is aging, intergenerational and lives in over crowded conditions, that’s critical,” she said of testing. “You have to make sure that the workers are healthy when they come [to work] at the very least.”

Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, who represents Campbell, Santa Clara and parts of San Jose, has been one of the many local elected officials who have pushed the health department to release the number of cases by ZIP code.

In a statement, she applauded officials for finally releasing the information. “Throughout this shelter in place, now almost 10 weeks in, our community has been vocal about the level of information that they need to see from us in order to trust the decisions being made,” she said. “I am glad to see that our County is providing additional information to our residents in every iteration, including today’s addition of cases by zip codes.”

27 Comments

  1. Morgan Hill wasnt even included in the list DESPITE being part of the county. Its seldom included in ANY covid reporting….over 40,000 people!!!

  2. I live in 95127. Whenever I drive In this area, I see people gathered in groups not social distancing, not wearing masks so I don’t think it’s right to blame the high numbers on their types of jobs or The City for “inequities”. What about all of the social services and agencies that should be more proactive and send out messages regarding the importance of social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands. This last weekend I heard parties going on. Let’s be real about this.

  3. I too live in 95127 and see many people gather wearing no mask and not keeping there social distance. Councilmemeber you too live in 95127 why are you not pushing social distance instead of saying it’s their jobs. I see these food stands everywhere and no one wearing mask either. Every weekend I hear people having parties …if i can hear the music I know you can too councilmemeber.

  4. I’ve observed the improper use of masks by many individuals in the service industries e.g meat cutter’s, security officers, customer service reps, curbside and pick up employees to name several.
    Wearing a mask only over the mouth with nostrils exposed defeats the purpose of even donning the protection measure.
    Wearing only a face shield without a mask over your nose and mouth is also ineffective at preventing mists while talking, sneezing, coughing or working on a food line or food processing environment.
    Please discuss and or bring attention to these significant mist prevention best practices that are falling short.
    The subjects would make for an excellent photo gathering project.
    You cant fake wearing a mask properly.

  5. I live in 95122 and my neighbor’s have parties every weekend till 3am u can still hear the music dont believe in the virus they think its the goverment doing this im latino but i do take all the precautions thanks to this people every latino gets blame i cant babysitting every grownup its sad how i try to make them realize its real and they think im crazy but thanks to them we be sheltering longer while they party like any normal weekend.

  6. Wow it’s interesting how media tries to create friction by naming race as the main criteria. How about educating them and teaching them social distancing at this time. Stop dividing people.

  7. For work I drive all over San Jose . In the East side I’ve seen numerous instances of people just hanging out with no masks or distancing . I’ve seen bbq’s and birthday parties . Seen 30+ kids at the skate park . I think deep down they just don’t care

  8. Education level and income is a lot more representative than skin color. The liberals’ non stop attempts to race bait every time is getting annoying.

  9. Transit-dependent essential workers, VTA drivers and those needing to make essential trips are at increased risk of being infected. Every trip someone takes on a bus or light rail vehicle increases their risk of illness and death. The VTA says it’s doing everything it can. But the General Manager has not yet committed to implementing the state’s industry-specific guidance for transit. Who will pressure the VTA to follow the Governor’s lead?

  10. I’ve been able to view data by zip code on the county’s portal for some time now. This inaccuracy portion makes me question the integrity, ulterior motivation, and bias of the entire article.

    • Santa Clara County had previously only had the number of cases on its data dashboard by city NOT by ZIP code. That information was added last week.

  11. The map appears to show nursing home and retirement home cases. I live in 95124, and cannot locate the zip area or number of cases. Thank you

  12. I live in the 95121 zip code and work here also . I am 52 years old and have lung disease. I have to work to survive but am very scared every day of contacting the Corona virus . I can’t get This virus because I am at high risk of serious complications or death. It is so upsetting to see soo many of the youth walking around with no masks on. I think their parents aren’t sitting them down and explaining well , the seriousness of the. Corona Virus. We live in a selfish , hedonistic world. So very sad. All lives matter. All we are doing with all this upheaval , is separating ourselves even further!

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