Sara Cody

Last updated

Along with other public health officers in the region, Cody was largely credited for promptly advocating for measures that would limit the spread of COVID-19 when the pandemic reached the United States in 2020. [10] [11] She led the Santa Clara County Public Health Department to establish an incident command center on January 23, three days after the first confirmed case in the country, then established a contact tracing mechanism in an effort to stop the propagation of the disease. [7] Cody issued the first guidelines on the closure and cancellation of public gatherings on March 3, extending them on March 9 to sporting events, festivals, and bars. [7]

She was an early advocate of requiring residents to "shelter-in-place", leading to the order imposed on March 16, 2020 in seven Bay Area counties, the first such order in the United States. [7] California Governor Gavin Newsom extended the policy to the whole state three days later. [12] [11] Cody later explained: "If you are going to do something really drastic like shelter-in-place, you want to do it as early as you possibly can. Because if you wait to do it, you get all the harms, all of the social and economic disruptions, but you miss a lot of the benefit." [13]

Sara H. Cody
Sara Cody.jpg
Public health director of Santa Clara County, California
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 6, 2015 [1]

Cody has made regular appearances on Bay Area press and video conferences, explaining county health policy and reminding residents that the COVID-19 battle is a long-term health concern. [3] [19] In a press conference in April 2020, Cody confirmed that the first United States COVID-19 death had actually occurred in the Bay Area on February 6, some 23 days prior to the previously known first death. This was the first of three early COVID-19 deaths that Cody described as "iceberg tips", suggesting a "vast and unseen propagation" of the virus. [20] Following one news conference, she became the subject of a viral meme, after she implored citizens to refrain from touching their faces, then licked her finger to turn a page. [7]

Cody received threats from residents unhappy with the drastic nature the measures put in place. In late August, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office announced that they had arrested a man suspected of sending her several threatening letters that used language typical of far-right movements. Police found 138 firearms at his residence. Charged with stalking and threatening a public official, he remained in jail while waiting for court proceedings. Cody was under 24-hour police protection. [21] [22]

Criticism

On several occasions Cody has cited the effectiveness of the enacted mandates without providing data or evidence to back up her claims. [23] The mandates were set without any exit metrics to be tracked. [24] At a meeting of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in September 2021, Cody cited masks as the reason why Santa Clara County had minimal influenza cases in the winter of 2021, and was reminded by a supervisor that the entire area was under shelter in place at that time, with only essential businesses open. [24]

Awards

Cody received numerous awards for her role in the COVID-19 pandemic response, including: [9]

Personal life

Cody lives in Palo Alto near her childhood home. She has a son and a daughter with her husband, a Stanford University professor of medicine and health policy. [7] [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "County of Santa Clara Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody to Lead Public Health Department". County of Santa Clara (press release). April 14, 2020 [June 26, 2015]. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Public Health Department Directory". Santa Clara County Public Health. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Dremann, Sue (April 20, 2022) [April 15, 2022]. "Dr. Sara Cody reflects on her front-and-center role during the pandemic". Palo Alto Online. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  4. ↑ Cody SH, Glynn MK, Farrar JA, Cairns KL, Griffin PM, Kobayashi J, Fyfe M, Hoffman R, King AS, Lewis JH, Swaminathan B, Bryant RG, Vugia DJ (February 2, 1999). "An outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection from unpasteurized commercial apple juice" . Annals of Internal Medicine . 130 (3): 202–209. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-130-3-199902020-00005. PMID   10049198. S2CID   27811829 . Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  5. ↑ Smith, Perry (February 8, 2012). "Disease Detectives: An Inside Look at the Epidemic Intelligence Service". Stanford Journal of Public Health. 2 (1). Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Dr. Sara Cody". Santa Clara County Public Health. April 14, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sulk, Julia (January 24, 2021) [March 29, 2020]. "Meet the doctor who ordered the Bay Area's coronavirus lockdown, the first in the U.S." Mercury News. Bay Area News Group. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Santa Clara County Public Health Department announces dual role for officer". Marin Independent Journal. Bay Area News Group. July 28, 2018 [July 7, 2015]. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Bensen, Hannah (March 14, 2025). "Santa Clara County's top public health official retiring in April". Palo Alto Weekly . Palo Alto, California. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  10. ↑ Maddow, Rachel. "Doctor Whose Prescience Saved Countless Lives Reflects On First Stay-at-home Order". MSNBC. NBC Universal. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  11. 1 2 Khanna, Ro (April 13, 2020). "Why Silicon Valley got coronavirus response right". San Francisco Chronicle (opinion). Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  12. ↑ Rodriguez, Olga G. (April 19, 2020). "Fast decisions in San Francisco Bay Area helped slow virus spread". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. AP. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  13. ↑ Kerman, Dan (April 6, 2020). "What Santa Clara County's Dr. Sara Cody knew that led to declaring health emergency". KRON4 (video interview). Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  14. ↑ "COVID cases and deaths dashboard". Santa Clara County Public Health Department. November 13, 2025.
  15. ↑ "COVID-19 cases by gender". County of Santa Clara Open Data Portal. Santa Clara County Public Health Department. November 13, 2025.
  16. ↑ "COVID-19 hospitalizations by date". County of Santa Clara Open Data Portal. Santa Clara County Public Health Department. November 13, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Count of deaths with COVID-19 by date". County of Santa Clara Open Data Portal. Santa Clara County Public Health Department. November 13, 2025.
  18. ↑ "Deaths with COVID-19 by age group". County of Santa Clara Open Data Portal. Santa Clara County Public Health Department. November 13, 2025.
  19. ↑ Crowley, Kerry (April 22, 2020) [April 21, 2020]. "Santa Clara County health officer: 'COVID-19 is something we're going to be managing for a very long time'". Mercury News. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  20. ↑ Hamilton, Matt; St. John, Paige (April 22, 2020). "A healthy woman suddenly died. She was the first known coronavirus fatality in the U.S." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Police: Teacher with far-right ties harassed health officer". ABC News. Associated Press. September 1, 2020. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  22. ↑ Green, Jason; Salonga, Robert; Webeck, Evan (August 31, 2020). "Gilroy man with apparent ties to 'Boogaloo' movement charged after mailing threats to Santa Clara County health officer". Mercury News. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  23. ↑ "San Francisco Bay Area to drop some indoor mask mandates". KCRA. October 7, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  24. 1 2 Ting, Eric (September 29, 2021). "'Concerned': Bay Area elected officials battle health officers on masks". SFGate. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
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