For the first second consecutive day, and just has second time over the past week, Humboldt County Public Health announced today that it has confirmed no new COVID-19 cases, leaving the countywide tally at 104.

Today's results come after 134 samples were processed — 58 at the Public Health Laboratory and 76 others at corporate labs.

Public Health has confirmed a total of 49 new cases since May 8, but the rate of new cases seems to have slowed considerably over the past week, with just six new cases confirmed since May 28.

Earlier this week, Public Health confirmed the fourth local death of a COVID-19 patient. All of Humboldt County's COVID-19 related fatalities to date have been residents at Alder Bay Assisted Living in Eureka, which has seen seven staff members and seven residents test positive for the virus. The Humboldt County Coroner's Office today identified three of those lost to the disease: Ida Newell, 97, Robert Berman, 96, and Kathleen Cataldi, 101. The fourth death has been identified as Winfred Grissom, 91.

Nationally, about 5.9 percent of the population has been tested for COVID-19, with roughly one in 10 tests returning positive for a total of 19.23 million cases, including more than 108,000 fatalities. Statewide, 5.7 percent of the population has been tested with roughly one in 19 tests returning positive, for a total of 119,807 cases, including 4,422 deaths.

Humboldt County has seen 7,094 residents tested to date, 5.2 percent of the population, with roughly one in 68 samples returning positive for a total of 104 cases, including four fatalities. To date, 13 people have been hospitalized with the disease at some point in their care. Fourteen cases remain active.

Public Health has been urging residents who are not experiencing symptoms to sign up to get tested free of charge at a mobile testing site set up at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds. (People experiencing symptoms should contact a healthcare provider, officials say.) Asymptomatic individuals can make an appointment to be tested by visiting https://Lhi.care/covidtesting or calling (888) 634-1123. Tests will be administered free of charge, whether or not people have health insurance.

Basics of COVID-19

The California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control, state that symptoms of novel coronavirus include cough and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, or at least two of the following: fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat or a new loss of taste or smell.

Emergency warning signs needing immediate medical attention include difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion or inability to awaken, and bluish lips or face.

In an emergency situation:

Call ahead to the emergency room or inform the 911 operator of the possibility of a COVID-19 infection and, if possible, put on a face mask.

Symptoms or possible exposure:

In the case of a possible exposure with symptoms — fever and cough or shortness of breath — contact your doctor’s office or the county Department of Health and Human Services, which has a hotline that can be reached during business hours at [email protected] or at (707) 441-5000.

Residents seeking medical advice or questions about testing are asked to contact Public Health at [email protected] or at (707) 445-6200.

St. Joseph Health has also set up a virtual assessment tool as an aid to assess risk factors for contracting the illness, which can be found at www.providence.org/patients-and-visitors/coronavirus-advisory.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has started a rumor-control webpage that can be found here. For the Journal's latest COVID stories, updates and information resources, click here.

See the full lab report and press release from Public Health copied below:

June 5, 2020 - No New Cases Reported Today
707-441-5000 ; [email protected] ; Monday-Friday 8am to 7pm ; Saturday 10am to 5pm Opens in new window
Humboldt County’s COVID-19 case count remains at 104, as no additional cases were confirmed today.

The following information is based on the most recent data available for all confirmed cases:

Contact to a Known Case: 61
Travel-Acquired: 24
Community Transmission: 18
Under Investigation: 1

Positive cases by region:
Northern Humboldt: 19
Greater Humboldt Bay Area: 81
Southern Humboldt: 4
June 5 2020 - County Map with Regional Data

Males: 41%
Females: 59%

Mean age: 46

Age Range
0-19: 9
20-29: 14
30-39: 20
40-49: 18
50-59: 11
60-69: 22
70-79: 3
80+: 7
Estimated testing rates:
Humboldt County: 4,956 per 100,000 residents
California: 5,465 per 100,000 residents
United States: 5,760 per 100,000 residents
Estimated rate of confirmed cases:
Humboldt County: 77 per 100,000 residents
California: 308 per 100,000 residents
United States: 572 per 100,000 residents
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.


June 5, 2020
707-441-5000 ; [email protected] ; Monday-Friday 8am to 7pm ; Saturday 10am to 5pm
New confirmed COVID-19 cases: 0

Total confirmed cases: 104
Total recovered cases: 86
Total deaths: 4
Total hospitalizations: 13
Transmission information for all known cases

Contact to a Known Case: 61
Travel-Acquired: 24
Community Transmission: 18
Under Investigation: 1
Number of tests run since last report

Public Health Laboratory: 58
OptumServe public testing site: 76
Total tests run to date

Public Health Laboratory: 3,397
OptumServe public testing site: 2,858
Public Health Laboratory testing Information

Supply capacity: Approximately 1,750 tests
Testing capacity: 70 samples per day
Turnaround time: 48 to 72 hours
For the most recent information about COVID-19, visit CDC.gov or CDPH.ca.gov. For local information, visit humboldtgov.org, call 707-441-5000 or email [email protected].

What do these numbers mean?

New confirmed cases of COVID-19—the number of test-confirmed positive cases since the previous report.
Total confirmed cases—the number of test-confirmed positive cases since the pandemic began, including people who have recovered from the illness.
Total recovered—the number of confirmed cases who are no longer in isolation, meaning they have met Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria for release, including absence of fever for at least three days without use of fever-reducing medicine, improvement in symptoms and have had 10 days or more since onset of symptoms.
Total deaths—the number of people who have died after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
Total hospitalizations—total number of people with confirmed cases of COVID who have been hospitalized since the pandemic began, including people who have been released.
Number of tests run since last report—number of tests run since the most recent reporting period.
Public Health Laboratory— number of tests performed at the Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory since the most recent reporting period.
OptumServe—number of tests performed at the OptumServe testing site in Eureka since the most recent reporting period.
Total tests run to date—total number of tests run to date.
Public Health Laboratory—total number of tests performed to date at the Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory.
OptumServe—total number of tests performed to date at the OptumServe test site in Eureka.
Public Health Laboratory test capacity—the approximate number of testing kits that are complete and ready to be administered. This number is decreased by testing and increased as additional supplies are acquired.
Public Health Laboratory turnaround time—the estimated amount of time it takes per testing run. Each run can include up to 20 samples; multiple batches can be run each day.
Transmission data
travel-acquired—nationally, internationally or regionally
contact to known case—an individual found to have been in direct contact with someone who tested positive for the virus
community transmission—spread without travel or known contact to any other confirmed case
under investigation—confirmed case whose means of transmission has not yet been determined.
Regional data—the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 per region. The three reporting regions of Humboldt County are:
Northern Humboldt— extends south from Humboldt’s County’s border with Del Norte County (North) to Highway 299 (South).
Greater Humboldt Bay Area—extends south from Highway 299 (North) to Highway 36 (South).
Southern Humboldt—extends south from Highway 36 (North) to Humboldt County’s southern border with Mendocino County.
Gender—the gender of individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. Total cases, shown by percentage.
Mean age—the average age of all the individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. Average age is calculated by adding all the ages of individuals together and dividing by the number of cases.
Age Range—the number of total individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 grouped by age.
Test rates and confirmed case rates relative to the State of California—the number of tests performed per 100,000 people. The number of tests performed are provided by the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange (CalREDIE), which includes all resulted tests performed by the Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory, OptumServe public test site, LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, CDPH, the CDC and point-of-care devices. Population estimates are based on data from the United States Census Bureau. Rates per 100,000 are calculated by dividing the total number of tests performed by the population of the jurisdiction and multiplying the result by 100,000.
Confirmed case rates relative to the State of California—the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people. Test results are provided by CalREDIE, which includes tests performed by the Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory, OptumServe public test site, LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, CDPH, the CDC and point-of-care devices. Population estimates are based on data from the United States Census Bureau. Rates per 100,000 are calculated by dividing the total number of confirmed cases by the population of the jurisdiction and multiplying the result by 100,000.
Notes on patient and demographic data

To protect the identity of people with COVID-19, their specific location of residence will not be disclosed. The Humboldt County Public Health Branch is legally responsible for protecting personal health information, including residence address, specific age, recent travel, the identities and locations of any contacts, the provider of medical treatment, the course of illness and any other information that might identify an individual with or exposed to the virus unless it serves the interests of public health to do so.

Although we understand it is of interest to residents, providing location and other demographic information to the general public does nothing to slow the spread of illness. Humboldt County is experiencing untraceable person-to-person transmission, also known as “community spread,” and there is no place that can be considered safe. To reduce your chances of acquiring or spreading COVID-19, avoid travel, wash your hands, keep yourself and your environment clean, follow the shelter-in-place order, and do not leave home for any reason unless it is absolutely necessary to do so.

The following case information is provided daily Monday through Saturday:

New confirmed cases
Total confirmed cases to date
Total recovered cases to date
Total deaths to date
Total hospitalizations to date
Number of tests run since last report
Number of Public Health Lab tests since last report
Number of OptumServe tests since last report
Total number of tests to date
Number of Public Health Lab tests to date
Number of OptumServe tests to date
Public Health Lab test capacity, total and daily, and estimated turnaround time
Transmission data
travel-acquired
contact to known case
community transmission
under investigation
Additional information is updated each Friday:

Regional data
Gender
Mean age
Age range
Test rates and positive test rates relative to the State of California and the United States.

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Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19, and
Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert

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Editor's note: This story was updated from a previous version to correct the number of active cases in Humboldt County. The Journal regrets the error.