The Mendocino County Public Health Officer has announced a Shelter in Place stance similar to surrounding counties even though there are no local confirmed cases. Health Officer Noemi Mimi Doohan has ordered the Shelter in Place in a coordinated effort with the big 6 Bay Area counties (San Francisco, Marin, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa and Alameda). Since Sonoma County’s Shelter-In-Place Order, Dr. Doohan issued the local order in alignment with the region. The Health Order takes effect today at 5:00 p.m. goes into full effect at 10:00 p.m. in response to almost 300 confirmed cases and 5 deaths in the seven Bay Area jurisdictions plus community spread in neighboring counties. The Health Officer is recommending residents cancel any nonessential travel to any of the Bay Area counties. Please visit http://www.mendocinocounty.org for the latest local news on COVID-19. For general health related questions or other concerns regarding COVID-19, please call Mendocino County’s Call Center at (707) 234-6052 or email callcenter@mendocinocounty.org. The call center will be open during regular business hours, Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
The Health Officer has also announced a three week ban on public and private gatherings of more than 50 people. This will last until April 7th. Further, any gatherings of 10-50 people should use social distances of at least six feet from any other attendee. The order differs from a directive, in that orders allow the sheriff’s office to enforce the orders if they’re not followed. Any violation is a misdemeanor punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both. The Sheriff also at the press conference yesterday. Sheriff Kendall says he consulted with police chiefs in Mendocino County and they’d educate people first before punishing. The Sheriff says there will also be more deputies on the street since they won’t be sending any personnel to training in different parts of the state.
The health officer says they’ve completed 52 tests, three by the public health lab, and 49 at commercial health labs. 19 were negative, and the rest are pending. She says there’s currently no evidence of community spread in Mendocino County and there’s a shortage of tests and a problem getting them back quickly too, like many other places across the country. Doohan says she believes they will get more tests and there is no evidence there’s any clustering of cases or any confirmed cases.
No more on site education in Ukiah Unified School District. There’s now remote learning, which began yesterday and will, for now, continue thru Spring Break on Monday, April 13th. Also, no after school activities, childcare, or field trips. The County CEO says they’ll decide in the next few days which offices will stay open as some are larger than others. The Board of Supervisors are also holding a special meeting to deal with the crisis this Friday March 20th at 9 am. There will also be a virtual meeting held for faith based leaders and churches coming up, but no date certain was given. They will talk about ways to provide essential services to seniors and possible food options. And the County says it’s monitoring folks returning from high-risk countries, and are checking with them daily and bringing food to them if they need it.
Hoarding is the new normal as Americans stock up on everything to clean their homes to reduce the risk. California’s state water regulators are reminding people not to flush the cleaning solutions down the toilet as they don’t break down like toilet paper. There are already reports of problems in some sewer systems. The State Water Resources Control Board says wipes, paper towels and similar products flushed down toilets will clog sewers and cause backups and overflows at wastewater treatment plants which is another public health risk during the coronavirus pandemic.
Some students who attend Universities in Calif. who will now switch to online learning say they want a tuition discount. The Press Democrat reports there’s now an online petition circulating after University of California Irvine freshman Rose Oganesian considered it shouldn’t be the same price. Oganesian’s petition says students should get at least a partial refund whether they start their spring quarter later this month or if they’re already in the middle of their spring semester. As of the last check there were already more than 5,200 who’d signed the petition originally just for UC Irvine, then amended to include all public campuses in California.
The interim public health officer in Sonoma County has ordered all residents to stay at home and limit all but essential business and government operations for three weeks. The mandatory directive, but not an order, due to the coronavirus. It was issued last night and continues until at least until April 7th. There are four confirmed cases in Sonoma County from community spread. Three were healthcare workers. Dr. Mase says if they don’t have any preventative measures, there could be a peak of cases that could tax the healthcare system and put it overcapacity.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors’ Vision 2028 Statement” meeting’s first order will be to figure out ways to promote economic resilience for Lake County residents. The Board met at their regular time on Tuesday and talked about the potential for community spread of the virus. There have been no confirmed cases in the County so far. The Board Chair Moke Simon says they’re taking it very seriously and have to keep residents safe, especially the most vulnerable. The Board moved to ratify Sheriff Martin’s Emergency Proclamation and adopt a Resolution so that residents are not evicted right now if they cannot pay their rent because of COVID-19. They’re also trying to find a way so there’s electronic access to Board meetings, and are working on continuing as many County services as can be responsibly provided.
A body found along the Mendocino Coast earlier this month was a man missing for a year and a half. The Sheriff’s Dept. says it was 44 year old Lewis Compton of Westport who was out of touch with his family since November of 2018 after running from a CHP officer investigating a hit-and-run crash. Cops say the man had run from the crash, then abandoned a Jeep on the side of Highway 1. He was reported missing six days later, but deputies didn’t search because they were reportedly concerned he might have been armed. Then March 7th, near where his abandoned jeep was first found, human remains, clothes and shoes were found. State Assemblyman Jim Wood, who’s also a forensic dentist, compared Compton’s dental records and the skeleton’s teeth, finding they were a match.
We have a shelter in place order in Mendocino County. The Public Health Officer, Dr. Mimi Doohan says, yes, the 7 other nearby counties, are not that nearby, but it’s the smartest thing to do, based on science after cases arose regionally, starting with the epicenter in Santa Clara County where a couple of cases first arose in Northern Calif. Many people at yesterday’s meeting spoke out, including some healthcare providers. Dr Suzanne Hiramatsu, a Physician at Ukiah Valley ER says she agrees with Dr. Doohan’s Shelter in Place Order as does, Harvard Schooled, Ukiah resident, Dr. Drew Colfax…
The Public Health Officer in Lake County says testing for the virus is limited everywhere, including Lake County. Dr. Gary Pace says that means if the virus hits locally it may be too much for health care facilities to handle. The comments at yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting where he updated county leaders on local developments. He told the Board he wasn’t sure how long things would go on, and that, “It’s a sobering time.” There were also two new public health orders, one about school closures, the other on limiting groups. And like other regional counties, he encouraged, but did not order residents to shelter in place. He says testing has been a challenge after some private labs sent tests back because they were overwhelmed or it would take a week to get results. The public health lab in Santa Rosa is reportedly running tests for three counties, including Lake, the others are Sonoma and Mendocino. But those tests are only being run on very sick individuals.
The Clearlake City Council is prepared to ratify a local emergency proclamation connected to the virus. They also say their next meeting for tomorrow night will be livestreamed on PEG TV’s Youtube Channel. The streaming meeting after the Governor issued an Executive Order allowing council members to attend city council meetings telephonically. They’re also encouraging community members to do the same, saying they can observe in person, but due to current health risks, they can also watch online. The City Council will talk COVID-19, but is also going to consider the purchase of Austin Resort which is located across from City Hall.
The Gov. has announced the California National Guard is now on alert to protect local communities and to help fight the spread of COVID-19. The Guard directed by Gov. Newsom for humanitarian missions, including food distribution, ensuring resiliency of supply lines, and supporting public safety as required.
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