COVID Crisis Humboldt as of June 1

Information from Humboldt County:

County Health Officer Dr. Teresa Frankovich and Sheriff William Honsal sat down on Monday to discuss where Humboldt County stands in the reopening process, including how the county’s COVID-19 case count and transmission rates impact the pace at which we move forward. Watch this short video to learn more.

Summary Transcript- What’s Next June 1st

Humboldt County’s Public Health Officer Dr. Teresa Frankovich, and county Sheriff-Coroner William Honsal released an informational video today, addressing the status of Humbold’s reopening and how they see the county moving forward with measures to cope with COVID.

Here, we provide a transcript of the statements presented in the video.

Dr. Frankovich: “So this morning we wanted to talk a little bit about all the changes that are happening across the state. As many people know we had started on this roadmap to recovery and, not too long ago.

Actually we submitted a variance to be permitted on a local level through stage two in mid May. Since that time, things have progressed really rapidly both at the state level and locally, and we wanted to take the opportunity to just walk through a little bit what all of this means.

So, when the Governor started this, we had laid out six things that we needed to have in place to be able to move forward and that included things like testing capacity, ability to conduct surveillance, ability to do contact investigations to protect some fragile populations, all of those indicators needed to be in place for us to actually take the next step.

We submitted a variance to the state in the second week of May that basically said we have met those preparedness guidelines and we would like the ability to have local control to navigate through Stage 2- which were the lower risk entities and activities were next in the roadmap going forward.

We were granted that variance and I believe that Friday we began opening retail establishments and that process is ongoing. And then after that we have continued to monitor our numbers and this past Friday we actually began with restaurant openings. And we have approved over 100 restaurants for opening at this time, actually most of the applications that were received to date.”

2 mins in:
Sheriff Honsal: “Yes absolutely. So right now we are utilizing a process through our online service at Humboldtgov.org where we have guidance from the state, we use that guidance to assist businesses to prepare their plans, because it’s a part of the state reopening that businesses have to create a plan. We’ve created an online service for our local businesses to connect and do that. To walk through all those steps. And it really is a painless step, and it really is a service to help businesses prepare.

There’s 6500 businesses here in Humboldt County. And we have about 1000 businesses that have put forth, have plans so far. So it is slowly happening. We are doing our best here to keep up with those. As they submit, we are reviewing them. If they don’t meet the state standards, we are working with the business owner and to create, to help them create their plan that’s going to be essentially approved by the state through their standards.

So, we do all of those approvals here, the state has given us local control which we have asked for and that’s what we have wanted. And so we have control over that and so we are working with community groups, we are working with our businesses to make sure that they, when available, they can establish their businesses and restore faith because, two things we want to happen- is once businesses to open up- we want customers to feel comfortable, and employees to come feel comfortable coming back to a workplace that’s going to prioritize their safety. And so that’s what these plans do.”

3 mins 30 secs in:
Dr. Frankovich: “Yeah, I think that’s been a really good step, and a lot of businesses have appreciated the feedback they’ve gotten. Because sometimes even though the guidance is there it’s hard to imagine how that guidance will look in your particular business. And so I think that having people who are looking at tons of these applications, give you some feedback has been really helpful.

Anyway there we were navigating nicely through stage two, and this past week the governor basically moved forward and said OK we are going to add things at stage III to the mix. So they provided guidance for beauty salons and barbershops, that are on our platter now to be able to add to the mix locally when we are ready. And they have said that they will also be adding additional business going forward and additional entities from Stage 3. So, guidance will be provided for each of those things. For instance, nail salons, there is no guidance right now from the state and Cal OSHA how those should operate but those will be forthcoming. Same thing for fitness establishments, that guidance will be forthcoming.

I am sure people are aware churches, and services, which were in Stage 3, the state provides guidance for and that is also available online right now. And we have made that move to allow churches and places of worship overall to operate within certain guidelines. I strongly encourage these groups to go online, look at the guidance and to submit actually, an application because it’s a great way to get feedback about your plan. And I know everyone is concerned about the safety of their parishioners. So when we look at those entities, the group size is one of the most important things and that is 25% of normal capacity, or 100 people, which ever is the smaller number and so we really want people to adhere to that and all of the other practices that are mentioned there so that we are safe.

5 mins 30 secs in:
Dr Frankovich: So in Stage 3 now I think what’s important is that the governor framed it this way, the state will tell us how we can safely open, locally we will determine when. And so all these various guidances start to emerge for stage three, it’s really important for us all to remember that we are moving forward in a pace. It was never the intent of the state, or locally, for us to just flip the light switch and open everything back to normal in one fell swoop. The reason for that is we know that each change we make has the ability to change the dynamics of the virus in our county.

So, things that we have added to the mix may contribute to increased case numbers and we need time to be able to see that impact. It can take anywhere from about 2 weeks to 12 weeks to see that change. At the beginning, I think we might have said ‘well I think we’re gonna go a little bit longer in between’ because I think we’ve looked good, and I think people are being responsible, for the most part.

What we are looking at is at least the two-week interval to give us some realistic ability to look and see where our numbers are. The reason for that is if the numbers suddenly got worrisome, we need to be able to take a longer pause and catch up., and quiet things down a little bit.

So what we’re looking at is basically we open the restaurants Friday, so in the next two weeks those will be opening. And then we are basically pacing ourselves for a next opening about two weeks from then, assuming all the numbers look good. And the thing on deck are salons. So I know we have been getting a lot of applications for those and we have been reviewing those as well so that people are ready to go when we have that moment.”

7 mins 10 secs in:
Sheriff Honsal: Yeah, I think it’s important too, that the guidelines just got released on barbers and salons just last week, and so businesses take this time to prepare. They can cement their plans and prepare.

Next week will make the announcement saying what dates do you know you were able to open up. And so again, after that there’s gonna be guidance coming out from the state and we expect more this week. And so we’re gonna be looking at those guidances to see what we could open up during that two-week period. But just because the guidance is made available through the state and the governor’s office, doesn’t mean that we can immediately open up here. I just want to just reemphasize that because there was some confusion last week when the governor made announcement, and then we’re thinking all this stuff was open, but that is not the case. We have, now have local control, and so we are going to again, slowly open up those sectors as the data allows.”

8 mins in:
Dr. Frankovich: “And I think that was one big piece that was sort of hard to see in the messaging, that came out. Is that it really was just providing us that opportunity locally without determining the timeline. And so I think it’s going to be important going forward to read the subtleties in some of those releases because we have to, you know a lot of times we are hearing the guidance at the time it is happening, when the governor makes this announcement. We are not getting a whole lot of heads up either. So, we are watching here very carefully as well and then trying to bring you information about how this will look going forward.”

8 mins 35 secs in:
Sheriff Honsal: “And I think it’s important too, while we are the advocates for the state, Dr. Frankovich is on a state phone call, I’m on a state phone call as well, talking about more guidance from the state level as well. Like, when groups can start getting back together, I think Dr. Frankovich has been asking that question a lot on the state level, trying to seek guidance from the governor’s office- saying, ‘when can this happen?’ We’re getting churches together, we’re getting all of these stuff together, when is the state going to allow groups to go together? So the community needs to kind of understand that we are advocating for this community as well because we would like to see that. And so Dr. Frankovich has been asking that question and hopefully get some guidance from the state regarding that, too.”

9 mins 15 secs:
Dr. Frankovich: Yeah, there are many ways to move forward and we are looking for that, that guidance for sure too. Because we want to, again, I think it becomes easier, if in general for some of these big things, if everyone across the state understands it the same way. Going forward I think it’s a whole lot easier for all of us to do that. Again if people have questions about how this should unfold or what it means for their business it’s a great idea to call our information center at 441-5000. There are lots of folks there that can answer those questions and direct you to the guidance that you need. And again I guess the big heads up would be for salons and barbershops, which are sort of on deck for the next… probably sometimes next week if our numbers are good, and will just keep trying to move forward.

10 mins in:
Sheriff Honsal: “Exactly. So, information is coming in daily, as well. So subscribe to our news channel and visit our website. And again, call 441-5000 if you have any information or have any request for information- we have it there.”

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12 Comments
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Mike
Guest
Mike
3 years ago

Nope, we’re not doing covid anymore, we have moved on to civil unrest.

Willie Bray
Guest
3 years ago

🕯🌳So gym’s and Bars are not allowed to be open yet ,right?🖖🌍🐸🕊

gunther
Guest
gunther
3 years ago
Reply to  Willie Bray

You can’t grow and sell weed without a permit either.

Willie Bray
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  gunther

🕯🌳Huh I think a certain pair I mentioned above might need that information. 👁👁⚖🇺🇸⚖🇺🇸

Hemp-Roots-radical
Guest
Hemp-Roots-radical
3 years ago

Why is the census creeping around dirt roads .. trespassing in willow creek behind locked gates .. 1/2 a mile up a hill , he was wearing a mask but no gloves .. carrying a computer … really sweaty from walking.. just wrong.

Mr. Curious
Guest
Mr. Curious
3 years ago

Are hotels and/ or RV parks open to guests from out of the county yet?

Swine
Guest
Swine
3 years ago

Lets not forget how these people make money. Almost looks like shes smirking behind that mask. Sorry lady. You have no control over me. 0.

Alf
Guest
Alf
3 years ago

Sounded like a lot of bla bla bla for the most part. Still a very disjointed plan for reopening. “We have the authority from the state,” “we get to decide when businesses reopen.” Sounds like the local PICs can’t blame it on the Governor anymore. Let’s make sure we hold these two individuals accountable…

Me
Guest
Me
3 years ago

There are literally thousands of people in the streets of America looting and rioting. Nobody gives a shit about covid anymore .

FanOfGuest
Guest
FanOfGuest
3 years ago

Crisis is exactly what all this is. Covid didn’t make it a crisis. We did.

Third world county
Guest
Third world county
3 years ago

Teresa, you touched your mask 28 times during this video that’s not very sanitary. If the mask isn’t working then maybe you should get a new one.
I went to town yesterday to Dazeys and Shop Smart in Redway and it was almost impossible to avoid so many people shopping without masks. Three CHP officers Without masks were in Redway walking around the Shop Smart parking lot approaching people. No six foot space between them. I hope the CHP is not infected.

Third world county
Guest
Third world county
3 years ago

In front of the post office CHP no mask.