COVID-19 Information: Santa Clara County and Bay Area, California

The purpose of this guide is to collect information on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 that is:

• accurate (to the best of our knowledge),
• up to date, and
• verified

so that people in our communities (Santa Clara County, California) and throughout the U.S. can make their best choices for their own health and the health of their families and neighbors during this crisis.

Our medical librarian staff sort through the news sources, social media, hearsay, and hype so you don't have to. The links included here are factual to the best of our knowledge, and updated frequently (sometimes daily!). Look for the New! icon  to locate recent updates.

County, state, and federal health authorities track many different data points - the number of positive tests, of hospitalizations, of deaths, etc. -to figure out how COVID-19 is trending through our communities. Infection rate is tracked quite closely, This is an estimated number, based on positive tests and hospitalizations as well as on what we know so far about how this disease behaves.It is often expressed in terms of a 7-day average, calculated each day ("rolling").

Here are those numbers for the Bay Area counties for the last couple of weeks:

COVID-19 infection rate in the Bay Area counties in the previous weeks, 7-day rolling average per 100,000 people

    County                 as of Nov. 12   as of Nov. 18     as of Nov. 25

Latest news bulletins, guidance, and information for the state of California:

These webpages will have links to the most current bulletins for Bay Area Counties. 

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has created a hub for relevant scientific / medical research articles. It is divided into sections for general information, mechanism [of infection and disease], transmission, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, case reports, and forecasting).

​Be sure to discuss information gathered from these resources with your health care providers to see if it is relevant to your individual situation. Health and medical information accessed through these websites is not intended to substitute for or to replace the advice or instruction of a health care professional.