(KRON) — The Bay Space well being official who issued the primary COVID-19 stay-at-home order within the nation is stepping down subsequent month. Dr. Sara Cody, the County of Santa Clara’s Well being Officer and Director of Public Well being, will retire in April, after greater than 25 years in public well being.
Cody issued the primary stay-at-home order within the U.S. in March of 2020. The announcement of her retirement comes on the five-year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic by the World Well being Group.
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“Serving the community in this role has been an extraordinary privilege, and I am grateful for the support and guidance I’ve received along the way, from community members, staff, and county leaders,” Cody stated. “Now is the right time to pass the baton to the next set of public health leaders. I know the Department and the County will continue to make thoughtful public health decisions and support the critical work that so many across the county rely on every day.”
When Cody issued Santa Clara’s stay-at-home order almost 5 years in the past, Santa Clara was the toughest hit county by the virus within the Bay Space with 20 deaths.
Cody’s early motion, together with these of her Bay Space friends, helped the area preserve one of many nation’s lowest loss of life charges throughout the pandemic, in line with a press release from the county. “When the COVID-19 crisis reached 1 million deaths nationally, the COVID-19 death rate in the Bay Area ranked lower than all but two U.S. states,” the county stated. “Under Dr. Cody’s leadership, Santa Clara County also became the second most vaccinated large county in the country.”
Cody first joined the Santa Clara County Public Well being Division in 1998.