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19 New Covid Cases Confirmed

Health Officer Confirms 19 New Covid-19 Cases and First Outbreak at a Skilled Nursing Facility

Post Date: 07/12/2020 4:30 PM

Today, Mendocino County Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan confirmed 19 new cases of COVID-19 reported to the County over the last 2 days. County staff has been working all weekend conducting case investigation and contact tracing.  The number of Mendocino County COVID-19 cases is now 132 (91 Recovered; 1 hospitalized; 40 on home isolation).

RegionNumber in Isolation
North Coast6
South Coast 0
South County2
Ukiah Valley24
North County8
Total:40

Mendocino County is experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases and it’s important every resident help slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our community safe by wearing a facial covering that covering the nose and mouth; practicing social distancing; avoiding gatherings, confined spaces and close contact with others. COVID-19 incubation period is up to 14 days and Public Health is concerned we may experience an additional spike in cases resulting from increased activity county-wide over the 4th of July holiday weekend.

Of the 19 new cases, 3 are residents at Sherwood Oaks Skilled Nursing Facility in Fort Bragg. On July 7 an employee of the facility tested positive for COVID-19 and was promptly placed into isolation.  Following the positive case an immediate plan was made in collaboration with Public Health to test all the employees and residents. The results of these tests included 3 positive test for COVID-19, all of whom were residents of the facility.  These results were reported to Public Health on July 11. Once the COVID-19 status of the employee was reported to the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) on July 7, the facility went immediately into outbreak response with full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for all staff and isolation of residents in their rooms.  In addition, the facility was following the Health Officer’s Medical Masking Order which provides additional protections to SNFs.

The 3 new cases in the SNF were identified through testing conducted by the SNF on July 8 and processed at the Public Health Viral and Rickettsial Disease Lab (VRDL) in Richmond.  The VRDL is available to the County for COVID-19 outbreak testing. All 3 individuals are currently asymptomatic.  Case investigation and contract tracing was immediately initiated. The recent death at the facility tested negative for COVID-19 and the cause of death at this time is presumed to be unrelated to COVID-19. Public Health is doing further investigation and awaiting the death certificate. In addition, Public Health has reported this outbreak to the State as required and will be working with the State in support and review of the actions to contain the outbreak. Thus far Mendocino County is not on the State watch list.  Additional testing will be conducted Monday, July 13, in effort to monitor and continue timely response to this outbreak.

Public Health and the SNFs throughout the County have been meeting weekly for months, led by our Medical Health Operational Area Coordinator (MHOAC), to allow a coordinated response to potential outbreaks and to ensure SNFs have sufficient PPE and prevention protection protocols in place. The County and SNFs follow all the State guidelines including; using Optum Serve to do surveillance testing for 100% of SNF staff monthly and offering SNF surveillance testing to residents through Public Health. The preparation, planning, frequently testing and adherence to State guidelines were a key factor in the quick and coordinated response to this outbreak. 


SUPERVISOR TED WILLIAMS: "I have been in contact with the skilled nursing facility over the past days. Everything required and beyond is being done by the dedicated hard-working staff. County and state public health officials are monitoring the situation and the facility is complying with all regulations. Some of the staff cannot return to work because of exposure to the positive person or because their families are scared."

8 Comments

  1. Mark Laszlo Post author | July 12, 2020

    Thanks to all working to save lives in our beautiful county!

  2. Pat Kittle July 13, 2020

    Regarding those media-condoned “largely peaceful” George Floyd rioters — they certainly weren’t practicing “social distancing” as they screamed & screamed with spittle flying.

    Curiously, no one seems willing to suggest they have anything to do with the pandemic recently rebounding.

    • George Hollister July 13, 2020

      Most of the rebounding is coming from the Latino community. A likely reason is they live in crowded living conditions, and do work that exposes them more than it does others. These people put food on our tables, so we need to deal with this.

      • Susie de Castro July 13, 2020

        George,

        How about a little finesse, Jorge, which also happens to be the truth.

        Hispanics have LARGE, loving families, George, and LARGE extended families with muchos tíos y tías, abuelos y abuelas, primos y primas, nietos y nietas, vecinos y vecinas, comadres y muchos hermanos y muchas hermanas, and their friends.

        • Pat Kittle July 13, 2020

          Over-population is a time-honored vector for disease transmission.

          One more excellent reason not to over-breed.

          • Susie de Castro July 14, 2020

            Explain Hong Kong. Comparable population numbers as New York City with only 400 infections.

          • Pat Kittle July 16, 2020

            Susie de Castro, over-population enthusiast extraordinaire:

            Smart people are more likely to be smart about preventing disease transmission.

            Hong Kong has the world’s hightest IQ:
            — [ https://brainstats.com/average-iq-in-hong-kong.html ]

            Even Scientific American recognizes the link between dense populations & disease:

            “What 11 Billion People Mean for Disease Outbreaks –
            [The explosive growth of the human population—
            from 2.5 billion to 6 billion
            since the second half of the 20th century —
            may have already started changing
            how infectious diseases emerge]”
            (By Bahar Gholipour, LiveScience; November 26, 2013):

            —–“There’s a strong correlation between the risk of pandemic and human population density. We’ve done the math and we’ve proved it,” said Dr. Peter Daszak, a disease ecologist and the president of Eco Health Alliance, who examined the link in a 2008 study published in the journal Nature…
            —–“All known emerging diseases were linked to sudden human population growth…
            —–“With future population growth, simple math suggests that there’s going to be more travelers, potentially helping epidemics grow by quickly spreading the contagion….”
            — [ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-11-billion-people-mean-disease-outbreaks/ ]

      • Pat Kittle July 13, 2020

        Let’s see if I’ve got this straight…

        So if we gather in huge nationwide mobs, masks purely optional, “distancing” purely optional, screaming for hours with spittle flying, with the media blatantly fanning the flames, that’s OK?

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