Saying That Healthcare Systems Elsewhere Are ‘Teetering on Collapse,’ Mendocino County Health Officer Tightens Shelter-in-Place Order
Press release from the County of Mendocino:
On March 17, 2020, the Mendocino County Public Health Officer announced a Public Health Order that states residents shall stay home except when participating in essential activity, beginning at 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, effective through 11:59 p.m. on April 7, 2020. The County Health Officer will be issuing a revised Health Order, tomorrow, March 24, 2020, to align more closely with the Governor’s Executive Order and Statewide Health Order issued on March 19, 2020, requiring all Californians to shelter in their place of residence, except as necessary to maintain or access critical systems and services. We urge all residents to closely follow the requirements in both the County and State Orders.
The State and Local Health Order requires Sheltering-In-Place. The term “Shelter-In-Place” means to stay in your home and not leave unless necessary for one of the designated exceptions listed in the Order. Everyone shall stay home to slow the spread of the virus. You must limit your essential outings as much as possible. You may leave your home to get food, to fill a prescription, to see a doctor, to go to work if your work is essential as defined in the Order, to take your child(ren) to and from childcare that is authorized under the order, and to help people you care for get the things they need to live, be healthy and stay safe.
The County’s Public Health Order requires people to stay home except for essential needs:
- Everyone should stay home except to go to the grocery store, pharmacy and gas station.
- Caring for a relative or friend.
- Getting necessary health care.
- Going to an essential job.
Things you can do:
- It is OK to go outside for walks if you are not in a group.
- Stay at least 6 feet apart when leaving your home for essential activities.
- The Mendocino County Order is in effect through April 7, 2020. It may be extended depending on recommendations from public health officials.
- The Governor’s Order is in place until further notice.
It is important to note vulnerable populations must stay home (older adults, individuals with serious chronic medical conditions, individuals with compromised immune systems).
“This pandemic is hitting our nation with brutal force in places we never imagined it would. Today three of our healthcare systems – among the best in the world – are teetering on collapse – in Seattle, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. The only chance we have of protecting our beloved Mendocino County is by Sheltering in Place (SIP) and obeying social distancing rules. Without a vaccine or treatment for this deadly virus, SIP is our only defense. We must be prepared to continue social distancing for weeks and months. It is my duty to protect our public’s health, and the health of our rural healthcare system – the new and stricter SIP orders I release tomorrow are meant to ensure that we use the best weapon we have against COVID-19. Stay home and keep the Virus from spreading throughout our county like wildfire.
Why are we doing this?
This is a critical intervention to reduce harm from the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in our community. This is a mandatory order. Now is the time to do everything we can to prevent the situation from getting much worse in the upcoming days or weeks. Every hour counts. We need and appreciate the cooperation of everyone who lives and works in Mendocino County to act immediately. Please be patient and kind to one another. If we all as individuals do our part, we can help protect our community’s health.
County Deputy Health Officer Dr. James Flaherty stated, “We still have a chance to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Mendocino County. The virus is running rampant in New York City because of the rise in community spread. The City’s healthcare system is at critical capacity on the verge of collapse. New York City’s population density and close quarters combined with a lack of social distancing has had the result that is just like what is going on in Italy and other parts of Europe. The Bay Area is not far behind New York City. Here in Mendocino County, we are in a better position, because we get to peer into what our future will look like if we do not prepare now – we can look like a smaller version of New York if we do not act right this minute. With our wide open spaces combined with a community absolutely focused on frequent hand-washing and cleaning, Sheltering-In-Place, and social distancing, we can stop community spread in Mendocino County.”
Violations of this Order are considered a threat to our county’s health, and adherence is enforceable by law. A coordinated response of all law enforcement agencies in Mendocino County has been implemented. The Health Officer will continue to evaluate this rapidly evolving situation, and may modify this Order if needed.
Official information on the coronavirus and shelter-in-place frequently asked questions can be found at www.mendocinocounty.org.
For more on COVID-19:
Call Center: (707) 234-6052 or email [email protected]
The call center is open Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
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Ya know no matter what youre thinking about this, at this point its a better safe than sorry situation. Why risk it? You’re making harder on everyone by doing so and those actions, obviously, have made it so things have to be even more restricted because no one’s listening. Take some personal responsibility! Be a model for your kids and friends.
Lets hope in a month we are all a bit irritated because hardly anyone got sick rather than burying our family, friends & neighbors and losing a number of our very needed health professionals while having our local economy tank even further.
This is not vacation time.
When they say stay home, stay home. Yes it may be uncomfortable and not enjoyable but our society could do with a little lesson on giving up something for the betterment of all. We have an opportunity to do just that right now. Make the best of it!! Its just a few weeks, chin up, once we understand the transmission and viability of the virus under various lab testing, things will shift. We just dont know yet.
WELL Said!!!!
“It is important to note vulnerable populations must stay home (older adults, individuals with serious chronic medical conditions, individuals with compromised immune systems).”
How does one do this if they live alone and have no one to shop for them. I have all three of the criteria and still have to go out into the world. It’s starting to have an eerie feeling to it all.
There are probably plenty of people who would be happy to help you do your shopping or chores out in the world. Reach out to some younger folks or research some volunteer organizations in your area.
Call the phone number 211 for county resources.
Yikes. Pandemic panic. Next, shoot on site orders. All the overreacting governors are lefties. Liberal fascism marches on.
Say what you want, but please stay in your house. Be like Mitt, stay put. Don’t be like Rand, don’t spread a contagion.
We all have a choice: we can be part of the problem or part of the solution. I’m guessing that you’ve been part of the problem for a long time.
Johnny, you should stop pushing on a ‘pull’ door. Expect the worst and you will be happily rewarded.
You never let up,do you? Even during a potentially lethal pandemic. Sad…
I wonder if, when this is all over, there will be a correlation between infection rates and political ideology. We could have a lot of right-wingers walking the streets and slipping each other the tongue to show their defiance of the librul conspiracy.
Here in round valley (covelo) the Spanish speaking vendors are still out on the streetcorner selling shoes, t-shirts and fresh fruit with plenty of customers, all comp!etly disregarding any awareness of the “shelter in place, essential businesses only” directives. What is the responsible thing to do?
Mendocino Co Health was on the coast Friday going place by place to businesses. Give them a call and see when they plan to come inland.
Farmers markets are protected a d essential services, sounds like your real problem is they are spanish speaking imho
Close the airport. Shut down the highways, allow access for RESIDENTS ONLY!
There were thousands of tourists up from the Bay Area into Mendo & Humboldt this past weekend, in defiance of the various county and state orders. The virus most definitely continued its spread as a result.
Wake the f’ up people!
I absolutely 100 percent Agree! Mendo and Humboldt are not safe havens for you city folk! We were ordered to shelter in place! Please don’t come up to our County’s where we live and work to seek sanctuary from the virus! We don’t have enough respirators in our hospitals to manage the locals getting sick let alone travelers! Please stay in your homes!
Shelter cove has seen a huge influx of people from the Bay Area and Sacramento. We supposed to shelter in place while getting bombarded by people from the most infected places in the US? This is a retirement community for crying out loud!
Inform the governor. Call the sheriff. We have to communicate these issues, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Exactly, with zero community spread we should be locking our County borders from the hoards of possibly virus carrying Bay Area residents filtering into our counties, why are we under lockdown yet continue to allow bay area residents from the epicenter in California to pour into our counties and having possible sick people in our communities on vacation, we need to be like Hawaii and say ,sorry tourists, but Mendocino County is now on vacation and you are not welcome while this crisis is happening. Mendocino needs a vacation from tourists. It is the only way to protect our County, lock it down and let us go out of our homes and return to work. If we keep then out we will remain safe!
The healthcare systems listed are not “among the best in the world”, maybe the best in the U.S.
Which ones out side the USA are better than UCSF, Stanford, Mayo Clinic and the long st goes on. Just curious.
Most American COVID-19 patients are not going to be going to UCSF, Stanford, or the Mayo Clinic. And intensive care capabilities are only one facet of the overall quality of a healthcare system. The US health care system is great for rescue care but sucks at everything else.
China’s ability to clobber a major outbreak speaks very well of their healthcare system. Would we be able to get a similar result under the same circumstances?
Graphic added.
Mendocino press release doesn’t say anything about the five new caes of COVID-19 in the county.
Either substantiate that or STFU. We don’t need rumors.
Here is a new case tracker I found today. They have an App that lets you self report positive test results and see where the virus is spreading city by city.
https://www.healthlynked.com/corona-virus-tracker/
kinda like the human feces app they have for San Francisco sidewalks?
Or kind of like the app that tracks Trumps lies and misstatements.
Or the app that gauges the level of adderall in his system by counting the number of snuffs and garbled words.
You’re a boring one-trick pony.
thirdeye
You nailed it …never ending garbage & always trying to start a political ruckus.
I guess that’s what you do when you can’t think of anything to add to conversation.
If Mendocino County is so concerned then why do they have over a thousand county employees forced to come to work in crowded office spaces with half of the services shut down? That’s where it’s going to spread from workers to home, to stores, gas stations, doctor offices, kids, family members, daycares, etc. if this is our only chance to get it right then Mendocino County needs to be bold and stand by their own employees and protect them and their families too. Do they not matter? Do they think the spread can’t or won’t happen in crowded county buildings. This is a pandemic. Like they said, “ every minute counts”.
It seems they should be on skeleton crew, if that…I also am wondering why mendocino county is not updating their number of infected cases, and oddly they have had the same number of cases pending for some time now… how long does it take to confirm the tests neg or pos? I would be interested in a condensed graphic done at the end of each month that shows the data of total cases, deaths, and pending for humboldt, mendocino, and trinity counties for the month. I feel if folks can see this info in a graphic perhaps they would be inspired to stay home, better safe than sorry!
Liberties and Freedom, swooosh, Out the window! Those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither! There has been 1 case in Mendocino with zero community spread, why are we not closing the highways and roads into Mendocino County at out County Borders, why are we having to go on lock down with zero community spread, why not close the county borders instead? Why is Sheriff Kendall doing nothing to defend our constitutional rights. We will be forming and organizing a mass protest to demand our County borders are closed to all except essential goods and services. There is zero reason we should be on lockdown with zero community spread. Solve the real problem Sheriff Kendall: Stop the cars and visitors coming into Mendocino County! People from San Francisco ,(the West Coast Epicenter) continue to pour into our county, our hospitals and nursing care facilities are full, our old folks needing rehab already have to go to Lakeport and Santa Rosa because nursing homes are full in Willits! This is overstepping and ridiculous to lock us all in our homes to protect us, you have the power to stop all visitors from coming into or passing through our county, do your job and protect us by closing the county border immediately!