Mendocino County Health Officer Confirms 19 New COVID-19 Cases and First Outbreak at a Skilled Nursing Facility
Press release from the County of Mendocino:
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).
Region
Number in Isolation
North Coast 6
South Coast 0
South County 2
Ukiah Valley 24
North County 8
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.
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Lets lock the whole County down to be safe, after all, there is 1 single hospitalization….
LIARS TIGERS AND BEARS OH MY, LIARS, TIGERS AND BEARS….
One Hospitalization.. exactly, lets call in the national guard and set up checkpoints. Were not safe….. ?????????????????
Yep
Any time there is a case in a nursing home, it is a very serious risk to all patients there. So yes, it is a big deal.
Recent research shows that actual care, attention from focused skilled nursing, may reduce severity and mortality among vulnerable populations by almost half. I hope the care facility is raising its level of care.
What is the difference between fear mongering and keeping people informed of what is good for them to know? The parts of the press release that explains what is being done in the SNF to deal with the outbreak are the opposite of fear mongering. It is reassuring. For fear mongering to take place, there must be exaggeration or deception used in generating fear in order to get something. Maybe warnings of increased cases is reasonable factual notice. Maybe the part of the release that says that public health is worried that this increase of cases is related to socializing on the 4th of July weekend is fear mongering because it is relatively too soon for cases to be hitting the stats and, even if not, Public Health should have a pretty good idea of the origin of the cases and not be speculating unreasonably in order to coerce following their directives when a more measured reaction is appropriate.
The majority of cases and deaths are in skilled nursing facilities for obvious reasons : crowded living conditions, advanced age and preexisting risk factors like obesity, diabetes and COPD .
And let’s remember a peak is exactly that ; case load grows and grows until we have the day of highest number of infections. Right now nationwide we are at about 60,000 plus per day. Ok, if this is hypothetically the peak the first day AFTER that peak there’s still going to be another 59,000 right? … And so forth . We have to ride it out.
Fortify yourself . Try not to be diabetic , obese or stuck in a nursing home .
Covid 19 is not an automatic death sentence and if you remove the deaths of those over 90 or with preexisting diabetes etc the death rate in the general population is extremely low as to be inconsequential.
There are far more deaths due to coronary artery disease — 650,000 annually in USA—with many more disabled, than the corona will ever produce. Granted, it’s not overtly infectious but our universal shared SAD and the acceptance of super sized humans , and widespread alcohol and tobacco abuse puts everyone at risk.
Inconsequential? Probably not to the family and friends of the deceased. Maybe a better choice of words?
It may not be inconsequential to an individual or family but for society as a whole it is. Sorry. People die every single day from a infinite list of possible deaths.
There is no reason to think that we are near a peak. The peak may be 100,000 cases per day.
Death is not the only risk, and no the risk of death for those with no know preexisting condition is not inconsequentual.
We can’t stop coronary artery disease with masks and distancing. Coronary artery disease is literally the leading cause of death in the world.
Never claimed this is the peak no one has been able to make that call. It was hypothetically spelling out the long descent from the peak . And no, we aren’t stopping cardiovascular disease OR the corona with flimsy bandanas and distancing.
You highlight my point clearly thank you .
Cardiovascular disease IS the leading cause of death globally, with cancer right behind it and both are ironically linked to the consumption of animal products.
If avoiding death and long term disability was the goal , our culture and our world would be much different . Instead we have 650k dead and hundreds of thousands of more compromised and disabled due to the largely preventable effects of cardiovascular disease.
Tofu doesn’t start plagues.
Just saying.
This and many other pandemics are novel viruses- they cross over to humans from animals through consumption of contaminated animal flesh.
It’s gross
Industrial animal production is creating dead zones at sea and in our families, and eliminating it will save lives and is also one step toward combatting global warming .
When will we respond in kind to that crisis? ??????????????
Raise your own. And stay away from.my homegrown meat
Where is the logic in saying a disease that is just less deadly for young people is inconsequential?
Only focusing on death rates is misleading and an incomplete viewpoint. Many who get Covid-19 will have ongoing and future health issues. Also, we do not know the long-term effects of this virus and since it’s a virus once you get it, you have it for the rest of your life. Will it rear its head later in life like shingles or herpes outbreaks?
The flu is also a virus and doesn’t stay with you the rest of your life. I think youre confused. You’re talking about RNA viruses like hepatitis C
Coronaviruses are all rna voruses
Got logic? – Well said, thank you. If you want to ride this out, folks, work on your general health!! Address your comorbidities.
??65% of the new cases being reported since the beginning of July are in the age group of 19 to 49. And there death rate is climbing. ???
Wrong
??Afraid so. State, National and World Health Organizations Trump your little chart. ????
Thank you Willie. Stay protected.
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).
So the 91 recovered never get removed as active cases??
40 at home as contact tracing or actual tested patients???
leaving 1 definitely sick.