San Francisco Bay Area reports zero COVID-19 deaths 2 days in a row for the 1st time since early March

• There have been zero reported coronavirus-related deaths in the San Francisco Bay Area in the last two days.
• That's the first time that's happened since early March.
• The news comes as the region continues to experience lower case counts than other parts of the US.
• It also comes as Bay Area counties take part in California's Stage 2 reopening plan allowing retailers to reopen for curbside pickup.

For the first time since early March, there have been zero reported deaths from the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, in the San Francisco Bay Area for two straight days.

As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, the last two consecutive days that the region went without a reported coronavirus-related death were March 10 through March 12. Before Sunday, the last day without reported virus-related deaths was March 21.

The region's single-day death count peaked on April 22, with 20 reported deaths, the Chronicle notes. But the region also reported 196 new confirmed cases of the disease on Sunday, its largest single-day spike since May 2.

This news comes as Bay Area counties take part in California's Stage 2 reopening plan, allowing some retailers to reopen for curbside pickup.

There are currently 11,120 confirmed cases in the San Francisco Bay Area, with 390 reported deaths.

The San Francisco Bay Area was the first region in the US to issue a shelter-in-place order that went into effect on March 17. The state of California followed suit two days later.

The Bay Area has been lauded nationwide for its quick public health response, mandating that people stay inside their homes as much as possible and for nonessential businesses to shutter. That early action led California, which had some of the first reported coronavirus cases in the US, to see lower case and death numbers than other parts of the country. California is currently on Stage 2 of a phased reopening plan, a phase that Bay Area counties are implementing as well. This phase of reopening allows retailers to reopen for curbside pickup as well as manufacturers to resume operations, with physical distancing measures in place.

As much as some experts say the region has successfully "flattened the curve," contact tracing and widespread testing are still needed to more efficiently combat the spread of the disease.

And a deadly second wave of the disease in the fall is also a cause for concern if reopenings are made too hastily.