Santa Clara County will be using the city of Santa Clara’s convention center as a federal medical station where patients infected with the coronavirus can be treated, county officials said Tuesday.
The space will be outfitted with medical supplies, medicine and beds for up to 250 people.
Patients at the facility will be “less-acute” cases of the COVID-19 infection, according to the county.
The federal medical station, managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can support between 50 and 250 people for up to three days before resupply is needed, according to the CDC.
The site goes online as the county prepares for widespread testing — something county health officials and legislators have said has not been a possibility without help from privatized and commercial testing labs — and expected exponential increases in confirmed COVID-19 cases throughout the South Bay and greater Bay Area.
As of Tuesday evening, the county reported 16 deaths and 375 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.