One New Case; New Law Requires Employers to Notify Employees If Exposed to COVID in One Business Day

novel coronavirus Covid-19 HumboldtPress release from Humboldt County COVID19 – Joint Information Center:

One new case of COVID-19 was reported today, bringing to 482 the total number of county residents who have tested positive for the virus.

In related news, California Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed AB 685, which requires employers to notify employees within one business day if they were exposed to COVID-19 in the workplace. The law also requires employers to report cases directly to Humboldt County Public Health. The Humboldt County Joint Information Center will release more information about these new requirements as it becomes available.

Today’s alert level stands at two or level yellow. Visit humboldtgov.org/dashboard to view the county’s Alert Level Assessment tool.

For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting [email protected] or calling 707-441-5000.

Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard: humboldtgov.org/dashboard,
Follow us on Facebook: @HumCoCOVID19,
Instagram: @HumCoCOVID19,
Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19, and
Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert

Earlier Test Results: (See also here)
Facebooktwitterpinterestmail

Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules

Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

24 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Ernie Branscomb
Guest
3 years ago

Another stupid law, just what we need, another STUPID law. First, we would tell our crew the instant that we knew that they were exposed. Why wouldn’t we?

What happens if we don’t know for a month that they were exposed? Do we still have to tell them within twenty-four hours? Does Governor Newsom think that we don’t already have enough to deal with?

Does every opportunist have to grandstand just because they are in position of power? Does anyone else get tired of every Governor, Mayor, dogcatcher, and politician grabbing a microphone and tv camera and haranguing us just because they have the opportunity? No wonder everyone is moving to Idaho.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
3 years ago

Chill man, it’s part of the “15 days to flatten the curve” program. We’re almost there.

Mike
Guest
Mike
3 years ago
Reply to  Ullr Rover

Happy 6 month anniversary to our 14 day flatten the curve, which means the government is right in schedule. They get to it around the same time as the roads.

Geist
Guest
Geist
3 years ago

Corporatist suckups. OF COURSE employers should be required to tell employees they’ve been exposed to known hazards!!

tax payer
Guest
tax payer
3 years ago
Reply to  Geist

like the prop 65 warning that is on everything even food. glad they make them print that on everything. maybe we should figure out a way to make our car exhaust spell it out in the sky so people who dont buy gas or burn it can be warned

Taking Responsibility
Guest
Taking Responsibility
3 years ago

To TaxPayer
So move to Idaho already…you will never be part of the solution!!!

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago

A little cranky today?

Would you rather have politicians never tell you anything they do?

The law sets a welcome precedent for lawsuits should an employer be an idiot, an arse or a deusche- which is quite common.

Idaho is cheaper. It’s common for retirees to save money as they may not have income beyond SSI. Plus, Idaho is beautiful – like Ca.

No biggie. It’s all going to be okay Ernie.

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Lawsuits are good, look what they have done for our current society. Not sure how people survived in the early 19th century without the ability to sue their employer because they contracted the common cold at their work place.

Third World County
Guest
Third World County
3 years ago

Good.
I want to know if someone is infected working next to me. The sooner the better.

b.
Guest
b.
3 years ago

We need a law to dictate every proper or perceived proper behavior, NOT. My favorite theory is that cars lead to the nanny-state. https://kymkemp.com/2020/08/09/columbia-professor-sarah-seo-to-talk-about-cars-police-and-freedom-in-the-united-states-on-thursday/

I’ve thought this since I was in my early twenties: we traded our freedom for a ride.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

“The right to travel is a part of the liberty of which the citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law under the Fifth Amendment.”
[Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116, 125 (1958)]

“The right to travel, to go from place to place as the means of transportation permit, is a natural right subject to the rights of others and to reasonable regulation under law. A restraint imposed by the Government of the United States upon this liberty, therefore, must conform with the provision of the Fifth Amendment that ‘No person shall be * * * deprived of * * * liberty * * * without due process of law’.”
[Schactman v. Dulles, 96 App DC 287, 225 F.2d 938, at 941]

Geist
Guest
Geist
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

Before the invention if the car, it would have taken a week to cross the county, minimum. The regulation of motor vehicles, in the CONSTITUTIONALLY MANDATED interests of federal regulation of interstate commerce, is PEANUTS compaired to the freedom provided by motor vehicles and government-maintained interstate freeways. Jesus Christ, you people have NO perspective.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Geist

Thank you.

lauracooskey
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

Thanks for that link; somehow i missed it earlier. Very interesting!
But now that almost everyone has made that trade– “freedom” to drive and a sense of security in that it’s gov’t-regulated, in exchange for having a number and ID constantly on hand, etc.– do you think people are more likely to make the choice of parental gov’t (both protective and controlling) over the dangers and choices of real freedom?
Not that i can say what real freedom would actually look like at a point where the vast majority simply must be slaves to larger systems, as they can no longer feed and shelter themselves directly from nature.

b.
Guest
b.
3 years ago
Reply to  lauracooskey

No, I think that we’re all likely to act like teenagers. We gripe about restrictions and fight for our freedom without real responsibility.
We ask for the car keys and borrow gas money. We ignore the dangers, and the wear and tear on the car. We wash the damn thing once a week and think we ought to own it. We go out and buy one of our own with all of our “hard earned” cash, while living on the decisions and work of the generations before us. We don’t even demand breakfast we just take it for granted. And laundry, doesn’t our mom always do that for us?

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

It’s all good, there are plenty of nice facilities to rent where you can race the car. In fact one right here close that has a few road courses to choose from. Makes a quite fun time, rent the track , invite your friends, and pedal to the metal all day long. Silver state challenge is also another close fun event.

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
3 years ago

Zero new deaths. Zero new hospitalizations.

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
3 years ago

One more case of the flu.

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
3 years ago

It would be extremely interesting and informative to know how all of the people in Humboldt county, that got the covid-19 virus, contracted it. Was it from someone not wearing a mask? Did the person that contacted the virus have a mask on. Did they keep their hands and surfaces clean. What was the probable source of transmission? We can be told that kind of information without violating any HIPAA Laws.

Faithful
Guest
Faithful
3 years ago

Well Ernie, I have only this for perspective. My brother and his 3 children live in Southern California. Not one of them has been ill, they are in fact bursting with health. They mask up, are fanatically meticulous and clean, are socially reclusive, and spend alot of time in the sunshine being physically active. The entire family tested for antibodies, and the entire family is positive for CV antibodies. Draw your own conclusions . . .
This is definitely nuts.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

Hasn’t public health already been notified when a person tests positive?? Don’t they already know who the cases interacted with? With privacy requirements the notices are likely to be ” Dear Fellow Employees, someone you work with has been diagnosed with a SARS-COV-2 infection. We can’t tell you who or when but you should all get tested for the next 14 days or until you are positive, whichever comes first.” And for large employers, legal considerations will make sure the notice is posted on the door everyday until it is meaningless.

Jan Ostrom
Guest
Jan Ostrom
3 years ago

None if this would be necessary if Americans would control themselves and follow the common sense guidance of non-gop-tainted officials for a few weeks—For The Common Good of ALL of us neighbors in Humboldt. We’re ahead of others because we are cautious. If we blow it, many of us will sicken, be impaired for life with organ and brain damage, or die. Is your facial freedom so much more important than my mother’s life?

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
3 years ago
Reply to  Jan Ostrom

You probably think that this world hinges on the 2020 election. Biden and Trump are the same, if you think differently, you are lying to yourself. No change either way, both spend millions to get elected. How come? To put you first? Not. The ridiculousness is this funny, a bunch of career politicians decide what career politician is going to campaign for your political party. That is some funny sheet.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Jan Ostrom

Japan is and pretty much has always been a mask wearing country. But why do they do so? Not to keep from spreading disease. Turns out they do it because they do not wish to be seen as non conformist. An old Japanese aphorism is the “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”

“Conforming to social norms is the primary motive for Japanese people wearing face masks during the novel coronavirus pandemic, survey results recently showed, dismissing the oft-touted reason that wearers are putting them on to protect themselves and others.”
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/08/40039f720755-japanese-social-conformity-behind-wearing-of-face-masks-amid-pandemic.html

In this country though, even people who think they are asking people to do something do so by being as rude as they can be. Way to gain cooperation( yes, that is sarcasm) – just tell the people you want to accommodate you that they are stupid. “According to David Abrams, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at NYU School of Global Public Health, humans tend to long for a sense of belonging in uncertain times—and that applies to people on both sides of the political spectrum. People who don’t wear masks may see it as a sign of solidarity, as if they are together making a stand against authority, while those who do wear masks likely see it “as an act of altruism and a way of helping each other out,” Abrams said.” https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2020/06/19/mask-wearing.

Never will everyone do everything you want but you are sure to get nothing but resistance if you call them stupid or racist or ignorant or whatever insult makes you feel important. Insulting someone is not about gaining cooperation- it’s about parading yourself as better. Americans have become masters at constantly antagonizing each other and then shaking their heads at why there’s no sense of community. We don’t need the full benefit of everyone speaking out as much as we need some blasted better manners.