First COVID-19 Related Death in Lake County
Press release from Lake County:
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought sudden and life-changing loss to many thousands of Californians. Each of the more than 6,000 deaths unsettled the worlds of friends, family members and neighbors.
It is my solemn responsibility to report the first COVID-19-related death in Lake County. The exact circumstances are still being investigated, but this person became ill at home, was transported by ambulance, and died in the Emergency Department; they later tested positive for COVID-19. Our sincere condolences go out to family and friends in this deeply sad situation.
COVID-19 infections continue to rise in Lake County. As of this morning, we have confirmed a total of 86 cases, with 39 considered active. 4 are currently hospitalized, with 2 in-County. The other 2 have been transferred to a higher level of care out of county, and 1 of those is now considered COVID-free, but remains under hospital care.
Investigation into the outbreak in the farmworker community remains ongoing, and we are grateful both workers and employers have been highly responsible and cooperative in managing this challenging situation. All of those infected are on home isolation, and cooperating with Public Health.
Several other cases have been identified from various sources. Many of them have been traced to known cases; either household members or cases from out of the county.
A handful of the recent cases, though, have no identifiable source. Community transmission is presumed.
This is Not a Normal July 4 – We All Must Take Precautions
Given the increase in cases in California, our region, and Lake County, specifically, we all must take extra precautions this weekend. Because of their considerable proactive efforts to plan for safety, the fireworks display in Clearlake will proceed as a drive-in event.
However, from a Public Health standpoint, I highly recommend people celebrate with immediate household members at home. It is traditional to gather in public places for the 4th, but this is not a normal year. Given we are already experiencing a significant surge in viral activity heading into this holiday, it is not a stretch to imagine our healthcare system may become strained in the coming weeks, and we may see some activities further restricted, if Lake County residents and visitors do not take appropriate care. Reopening efforts have already contracted in 19 counties.
Whatever you do this weekend, please avoid crowds. Wear face coverings and practice social distancing when leaving home for any reason, and stay in, if possible. Gatherings, even with close family and friends, are not advisable. Social groups of any kind should be kept as small as possible, and any gatherings that do proceed should be held outdoors with proper distancing.
If you are feeling ill, stay home and away from others. Particularly if you are vulnerable to severe complications, please understand the virus is already more present in our communities than it has been at any previous stage of the pandemic, and we expect to see increased tourist activity this weekend.
We all must do our part to prevent the kind of spread we have seen in other areas around California and the U.S. Washing your hands, wearing a mask, canceling the large gathering you had hoped to host; these things are not only sensible under the circumstances — they can literally save lives.
Thank you for showing care and regard for others, and respect for all that is at stake, both for public health and our local economy, by staying safe this 4th of July weekend.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
New case in Trinity too. (3rd)
now that concerns me, cause Trinity folk are subject to travelers/vacationers.
Thank you, Kym, for posting this. Last week we had 41 confirmed cases in Lake Co. A week later (or a little less) this number has more than doubled and we have seen our first death. For the first 12 weeks or so of local quarantine orders we had fewer than 30 cases. In Lake County we have two hospitals. Each has 25 beds; each has two negative-air-pressure isolation rooms for highly contagious cases in addition to ICU (not sure how many ICU beds). I believe we have 11 ventilators, maybe more now. I believe the reason we had no deaths and very few hospitalized cases in this county up until now is because our health director took this pandemic totally seriously, as did most of our residents. We successfully flattened the curve! … until now.
Yes, we sure need to get our businesses open — we are heavily reliant on tourism — and yes, we residents are getting a little crazy from self-quarantine and social distancing — and darn, I personally just love the big public fireworks event in Lakeport every year, which has been cancelled. But we came this far without a disaster because of early, strict action that kept our local health care providers from being overwhelmed (over 1/3 of our population is over 60).
I am totally fed up with self-styled freedom-lovers who feel it’s their patriotic duty NOT to wear masks or follow social distancing regulation. Masks and social distancing are not perfect, but they help a LOT; the numbers here and in many other places show it. No one’s “freedom” includes being allowed to Interfere with the most basic of all freedoms . The Declaration of Independence says all humans have inalienable rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Note that “life” comes before “liberty” and “the pursuit of happiness.” Get over yourselves — wear a mask, practice social distancing, or stay self-quarantined on your private property.
I’m signing my own name to this.
Thank you for giving that recap, Virgina. I hope the numbers of positive tests drop.
I find both “sides” of the argument depressing myself. Both seem mostly to want to convince themselves that they and people who think like them are right.
One side rants that anti-American communists are conspiring to take away ALL OF OUR FREEDOMS. This seems designed to allow the right wing angry people to show their concern for the greater good without experiencing or showing any “sissy” feelings, especially not compassion. Wouldn’t it be better to talk about effectiveness and the need to show and receive basic human affection in a community? Is it only our freedom to rage you are protecting or is it also our freedom to care and Love and grow?
The other side rants that anyone who doesn’t march to the orders for safety (as constructed) is a non-caring murderer, ignoring everyone else’s real needs. All people who die of the designated threat (this time COVID 19, at other times “racism”, at others Global Climate Change) are implied to be victims of the non-believers’ selfishness. We forget that the proposed solutions are only one idea and do not contain all truth. We ignore or forget that the orders are approximations and that there are no “side-effects” only effects. Would it not be better to refine our own behavior (the only behavior any of us actually has much influence on) thereby actually lowering the risks? Would it not be wise to encourage our public officials to try the least harmful and most effective means of LIMITING THE DAMAGE? Do we not care that our opponents also are compassionate or is it our purpose to show ourselves that they are inferior?
To the partisans of both sides: Do you know that the ability to share and perceive feelings is learned by humans through interaction with other people’s faces and bodies? Doesn’t the need for this connection speak to both freedom and the long-term health and compassion of the community? Doesn’t an indefinite time period of “social isolation” sound like an idea that we should all be looking for many alternatives to, TOGETHER? Isn’t that a much better use of our energy than ranting or sneering at each other?
Hi Virginia, as another Lake County resident, ditto X 3. BTW, all the rumors are true, Konocti Vista Casino states having a fireworks show on the lake tonight for 4th of July, its not Lakeport, but close enough to smell the gun powder. Should be a fair amount of boats on the lake tonight, hope its not busy, need a day off…
https://konocti-vista-casino.com/event/fireworks-show/?fbclid=IwAR0u3i-NtyeRwZv44E08imFqyz-KSQ-ZHGFxewvMrDpyU4JALDFWNvQi6xY
Kym,
That’s not going to happen; it’s not even what the epidemiologists or the governor are looking for. Nathan Hale has it right about the number of tests. The closest thing to a number to watch is the “positivity” which tells how many positives for each hundred tests. The target number is 4% positivity of below. Two things can make that number go up.
One of them is “getting lucky” and testing more positive people even though the rate of spread is not going up. What would happen is that contact tracing would bring in more of the people who have even a mild case. That would be “good” (in the sense that it would indicate that we’re catching the transmission sequences and reducing their length) but the public health officials want a lot of resources looking out in the general population so that they can actually catch whether the measures they are taking are working. The other way that the positivity number can go up is if the same number of tests in the same circumstances are catching a greater number of cases. That means either random tests are catching more positives so there is (probably) more virus out there to be caught in the general population. Or it means that people who have had contact are transmitting it more. Both ways there is an increase in transmission. The public health officials want to see that go slowly because stopping it is impossible.
Two other big numbers are the case fatality rate and the number of hospitalized cases. Case fatality is obviously important. The hospitalization numbers are important because we have made bad choices to reduce care and increase technology in medicine beyond what makes actual health sense. We don’t have enough beds and we don’t have enough resources allocated to patient care unless it is highly profitable machines. We run out quickly and then lots of people die without anyone making money. Nurses have been objecting to this for years, striking for staffing levels that would allow for direct patient care but all the while being pushed further and further into functioning as technicians or extremely overworked sanitation workers.
Of course we all want no one to die. Of course we are all going to die, and someone is going to die today.
More tests, more positives. Basic math. Deaths are way, way down. This is not close to flu season so the statistics are skewed. Normal flu season takes thousands of lives.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are relevant here, not the Declaration. We have a right to be free, to our liberty, which includes living and dying. The Medical Industrial Complex is not the peoples republic. Dr. Fauci is not God. The economy was destroyed by mass flu hysteria. Many are still unemployed and many have been evicted. Others have sadly committed suicide. America may never recover. The flu strain was Part 1. The riots and destruction of our cultural history Part 2. The Marxist fascist agenda rolls on. No doubt a more restrictive lockdown is coming in the Fall. When the people of this constitutional republic are completely flattened, the tyrants have won. They despise the Founders and those sacred documents. They are toppling our monuments if you haven’t noticed.
Wear your mask unto your grave. Perhaps it will comfort you as the country burns ….
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
Benjamin Franklin
Bullshit.
Virginia is on point.
You’re right “Virginia is ON POINT.” She is on the talking point that fear is the proper motivator and that not following orders is what makes people sick. Much of what she says about the founding documents is good sense.
However Nathan Hale is also correct about more tests making for more positives. Outdoor transmission is almost non-existant, about 1,000 times lower under similar circumstances than indoor. We need more effective action not more obedient action– although people differ on which actions are effective and in what way. The danger of all these tourists is not that they will infect everyone at the beach but they will infect one of the clerks at the store. Who will then infect their entire family (the most consistent method of spread the way we are managing this).
I think Nathan is wrong on the monuments, especially considering that the British blew up the Parthenon and the French (I think) shot the nose off of the sphinx. It seems that the desecration of cultural icons is a common act as civilizations change. Consider also that the statues currently being toppled are of the losers in a pathetic brutal war that was largely lost because their side could not mobilize the enslaved millions who had created the wealth that they were defending. I think it’s good to watch as the symbols of post-reconstruction backlash are removed.
B,
Fair enough comment.
Your description of beachgoers being safer than shopping is not inaccurate.
However you point to the problem correctly, that infecteds will go in a store and infect a clerk or someone else.
I think that’s why it makes sense to close beaches.
We all need stores for food. However, the beach being open for tourism, or at all, just excites the risk and invites more exposures locally while it truly is “non essential”.
Yes close the beaches because this virus is extremely contagious in the sitting position, especially when people are spread out, however, its ok to protest en masse because the virus is not very contagious in the standing position and even less so in the walking position.
Or shopping
Brian,
Vitamin D levels seem to be one of the best preventatives against severe and fatal infections. I can’t confirm the report I read, but it seems that Indonesian researchers found extremely high fatalities among vitamin D defficient patients and also found that vitamin D sufficient people had extremely low death rates. Vitamin D is an immune supportive hormone.
I spoke with a documentary medical researcher this morning who confirmed this from her following of the research. She pointed out that sunlight exposure is the best way to raise levels of D, since the body produces its own when time is spent in the sun. Taking vitamin D supplements can be less effective, because the body works much better with its own D.
Since outdoor transmission is so low and the COVID 19 health effects as well as other mental and physical health effects are so high, I believe that all outdoor activities (with precautions appropriate to the risk of the activity) should be encouraged.
The story that says we’re too stupid to work this out with actual information and should simply follow rules is perhaps as toxic as the story that working any of this out is simply submission to facist or communist opression.
I guess I think the beach may be “essential.” Repeated partisan argument about Covid 19 is not.
More nonsense from the Kombover Kult. By the way you can be a Marxist or a Fascist you can’t be both.
What’s with all the capital K’s Dave?
Part of the Kult of the Kombover Klown. The new KKK
you wearing your kente cloth while makin that statement Dave?
Which political party has the most ties to the KKK?
Both parties are slime, but one of them has definitely been more entangled with white supremacists. Which is it again?
History Channel link:
https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/reconstruction/ku-klux-klan
Check this out:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_members_in_United_States_politics
Interesting huh?
What kind of history does the current Presidential candidate of that party have with regard to race issues?
Which one refuses to denounce white supremacists, who make up part of his base?
???
https://www.npr.org/2017/08/14/543477490/racism-is-evil-trump-denounces-the-kkk-neo-nazis-and-white-supremacists
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4454847/vice-president-biden-eulogizes-senator-byrd
Are you sure you really know what’s up?
Okay, he did denounce them. Once, anyway. They still make up part of his base.
The Biden/Byrd thing was 7 years ago. Not that I am in favor of Biden in any way. They both stink, but Trump needs to go. I will vote for Biden and hope he dies ASAP and his female VP becomes POTUS.
Who, AOC? A lady so crazy that even Pelosi thinks she’s wacko?
Yes, I’m in. A former waitress vs a delusional narcissist born with silver spoon. Let’s give it a try. Let the chicks have a turn.
Trump tweeted out a “white power” shout from a supporter.
Don’t confuse his backtracking or attempts of appeasement with the reality of his positions, psyche and policies.
Which one are currently rape deniers? Hashtag I only take rape serious if the other guy does it hashtag
Both! Trump has 30 accusers.
Both is right. So they’re both old, white, rich guys, who’ve been accused of rape, overseen the same crisis at the border, both presided over the middle eas and systemic racism. Don’t forget both are involved in small scandals in Ukraine. At this point voting for biden is like crapping your pants and changing your shirt. The only difference is the system prefers Biden, hashtag not rape when it’s our guy.
But you can be neither.
There are other options.
Well done Graz, your local news reporting is missed!
Well said Auntie Gin.
How is it that I am allowed to celebrate my LIBERTIES, and my life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, when the Govt. has taken my liberties away, ie: not allowed to go over 50 miles, still have to shelter in place, cannot go have a drink with some friends, or go to a ball game with them…or not allowed to take my kids to the playground, or the beach because they are shut down. Not to mention that I’m forced to wear a mask that makes me want to pass out and get a panic attack while in a store to get necessities. Not only am I not allowed to live my life normally anymore, my liberties have definitely been taken away(not to mention all our history is being destroyed, taken down, no longer in production, etc.) and now because of the govt. intrusions into my life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, you have to shame others, and tell us to enjoy what we have??? Some dam nerve you have lady…
Mask or ventilator, your choice.
https://youtu.be/xNTTBQX-HQQ
Whats happening in other countries? This data raises alot of questions.
Without a basic description of the incident, such as patient age, pre-existing conditions or not, it just comes across as fear-mongering in the context of this epidemic. Just “be afraid” whether or not the fear is warranted for most of us, is not constructive.
Imagine if the daily news reported that “over 100 Americans died today while sitting in their cars”.
🕯🌳Why do keep on preaching hate? Knowledge is always welcomed to the educated mind.🖖🇺🇸
I guess they are going on the assumption that we are living in a society, and owe something to one another. See, many people care about people other than themselves. So a concern can be warranted even if it is not a threat to them personally.
Let’s say it was an old person with a preexisting condition. There are lot’s of old people with preexisting conditions. Do their lives not matter?
Only quarantining the most vulnerable cant work. For one, many younger people get very sick, and have potentially life long repercussions. Also, 24 percent of adults between the ages of 55 and 64, and 21 percent of those over age 65, live in a multigenerational household. This means millions of barracks would have to be crated for temporary housing, but that would create a dangerous situation in itself.
And what about people in higher risk groups having to seek medical treatment in hospitals nearly full of covid patients?
Same song, same drum. Flattening the curve was a good idea, but doing it indefinitely is like taking your vehicle to a mechanic because it’s tranmission is breaking and his advice is that if you don’t drive it for a year it won’t get worse for a year. What about year 2 you ask? Yeah don’t drive it year 2 if you don’t want it to break either. What about year three you ask?
From the press release: “The exact circumstances are still being investigated, but this person became ill at home, was transported by ambulance, and died in the Emergency Department; they later tested positive for COVID-19.”
This person may have died from something un-related to the virus, such as appendicitis, which sometimes is difficult to diagnose in time. They only discovered them to be positive for Covid-19 after they were dead. Even then, they weren’t sure about cause of death, implying that it wasn’t a classic case of the virus. Yet they moved forward despite this lack of information to further their end.
Mortality rate for age 45 and younger is basically 0%.
For ages 46-69 it’s 0.03% – 0.05%.
People in these age groups with comorbidities are at additional risk.
The risk of mortality goes up significantly at age 70. Most of that has to do with the fact that we have acquired a number of additional conditions or comorbidities by that age.
Increased testing reveals more positives, and it is now thought (by scientists and doctors without a horse running in the NWO ) that worldwide we may have 150,000,000 who are positive but not ill or dying. Meanwhile the death rate in U.S. has gone down 39% due to correct treatments which do not involve ventilators (c-pap or other non forcible ventilation is fine) and the ending of placing covid patients in nursing homes.
Hydroxycloroquine plus Zinc works.
And masks are bad for the healthy… to be worn only by the actively ill.
Can’t say it any plainer.
🕯🌳Please tell me it’s not fog?🖖🇺🇸
RIP. The article alludes it was coved but does not say so. Many non related deaths have been attributed to Coved. It would be intresting to know age, medical issues etc. I used to work in EMS and the fact they called an ambulance make me think it was another cause. Just because they tested positive for coved does not mean that is what killed them. The family deserves to know the truth. Here is a link to a case in colorado where a guy drank himslef to death and the state changed it to Coved.
https://www.foxnews.com/health/colorado-man-died-alcohol-poisoning-death-classified-coronavirus-report
“A Colorado man who died of alcohol poisoning had his death classified as due to the coronavirus, possibly shedding light on a skewed virus death toll in the state, according to a report on Thursday.
Sebastian Yellow, 35, was found dead by police on May 4. Montezuma County Coroner George Deavers later determined that his death was due to acute alcohol poisoning. His blood-alcohol content measured in at .55. The legal limit in the state is .08.”
But before Deavers signed the death certificate, Colorado health officials reportedly categorized Yellow’s death as being due to COVID-19.”
Great, you found one case to base your denial on. It’s generally acknowledged that cases (and deaths) are under-reported. BTW hospital ERs encourage people with Covid not to come in, because they may infect others. So maybe they waited until it was a true emergency.
Good job, Virginia. You’re the best. Let’s social distance and wear our masks and live through this so we can go to lunch again one of these days. We’ve set the car port up so we can sit six feet apart and talk all we want.
Thank you. Outdoor transmission of COVID 19 is very limited. An epidemiologist I have spoken to estimates from reading the current literature that the difference is a factor of 1,000. The virus is transmitted in sufficient quantity to cause infection by breathing the same indoor air space for 10 minutes or more. Housemates and co-workers are much more likely than casual contacts to transmit. Contracting the disease is much more likely if there is repeated exposure. However, the Chinese found NO virus presence in the air of outdoor public spaces at the height of their outbreak. That doesn’t mean that mouth spray or microscopic lung mist from a nearby stranger won’t ever infect anyone, but the magnitude of the risk is what’s important.
Prime spaces for transmission are bars, restaurants, AIRPLANES, and cruise ships. Crowded indoor spaces where people talk loud or sing (or cry vocally, such as funerals) are ripe for superspread events Following the rules is not a guarantee that you are “saving lives.” If you have lunch with anyone who has flown recently or gone to a bar or returned from a funeral, you are “risking people’s lives.” Breathing through your nose is a way to decrease both contracting and transmitting the virus. Will we all be attacking “mouth breathers?” Should talking in public be attacked and prohibited; it is more dangerous than not talking while nose breathing.
I have mid-range connection with two COVID 19 suicides and have two close associates who are clear that they are at much greater suicide risk because of the orders that are supposed to be promoting everyone’s safety.
I find both “sides” of the argument depressing myself. Both seem mostly to want to convince themselves that they and people who think like them are right.
One side rants that anti-American communists are conspiring to take away ALL OF OUR FREEDOMS. This seems designed to allow the right wing angry people to show their concern for the greater good without experiencing or showing any “sissy” feelings, especially not compassion. Wouldn’t it be better to talk about effectiveness and the need to show and receive basic human affection in a community? Is it only our freedom to rage you are protecting or is it also our freedom to care and Love and grow?
The other side rants that anyone who doesn’t march to the orders for safety (as constructed) is a non-caring murderer, ignoring everyone else’s real needs. All people who die of the designated threat (this time COVID 19, at other times “racism”, at others Global Climate Change) are implied to be victims of the non-believers’ selfishness. We forget that the proposed solutions are only one idea and do not contain all truth. We ignore or forget that the orders are approximations and that there are no “side-effects” only effects. Would it not be better to refine your own behavior (the only behavior any of us actually has much influence on) thereby actually lowering the risks? Would it not be wise to encourage your public officials to try the least harmful and most effective means of LIMITING THE DAMAGE? Do you not care that your opponents also are compassionate or is it your purpose to show them to be inferior to you?
Do you know that the ability to share and perceive feelings is learned by humans through interaction with other people’s faces and bodies? Doesn’t the need for this connection speak to both freedom and the long-term health and compassion of the community? Doesn’t an indefinite time period of “social isolation” sound like an idea that we should all be looking for many alternatives to TOGETHER? Isn’t that a much better use of our energy than ranting or sneering at each other?
It’s possible to care for others by complying with masks and distancing and at the same time detest the over reach and abuse of politicians that blow off the fact they work for us and we are not their wards of state.
Absolute power absolutely corrupts.
All i know is that BlueLake has been pretty busy lately. I see large groups of people having a good time. And many travelers passing through. Not judging. Just saying.