News Blog
On the vaccine side, the county is moving into the next phase, starting with those age 75 and older. (Read more about the process here.) To aid in the effort, 21 medical professionals were sworn in as disaster health care volunteers by the county.
"The state announced it would provide additional doses to expand our ability to reach more people in the various phases,” County Health Officer Ian Hoffman said in a news release. “While we’re waiting for those additional doses to arrive, we are expanding our infrastructure to ramp up operations.”
Meanwhile, Public Health, which is having so much trouble contacting some positive cases that it has added an "unknown" designation to its categories of transmission type on its dashboard, is pleading with those who receive a positive test to cooperate with contact tracers to aid in slowing the disease's spread.
On Tuesday, as Humboldt County recorded its 24th COVID-related death and a pair of new hospitalizations, the state moved Humboldt County back into the most restrictive purple "widespread" tier as officials have warned would happen for weeks.
To date, Humboldt County has confirmed 2,263 cases, with 78 hospitalizations and 24 confirmed COVID-19 related deaths. Fourteen Humboldt County residents are currently hospitalized, according to the county's dashboard, including three under intensive care. Humboldt County's ICU capacity is listed at 14.3 percent.
The county dashboard lists 1,674 people as having "recovered" from the virus locally, though that just means they are no longer contagious and does not account for long-term health impacts, which local healthcare workers have told the Journal can be substantial, even in previously health patients.
Last week, the state issued a health order that halted all elective surgeries to make more room for intensive care unit capacity in regions where hospital ICU capacity is at 0 percent. Those hospitals also now have the ability to transfer patients in and out of other regions, including the Northern California region.
The order doesn't currently affect Humboldt County but could very soon.
The state also issued an updated travel advisory strongly discouraging all non-essential travel and urging anyone returning from non essential, out-of-state travel needs to self-quarantine for a minimum of 10 days upon their return.
With the move back to the purple or "widespread" tier, Humboldt businesses and organizations will again face increased restrictions, with even greater ones looming on the horizon.
The state’s stay home order, which divides California into five regions, is triggered throughout the region when its commutative available hospital intensive care unit capacity drops below 15 percent, as has already occurred in the rest of the state.
The data has not been updated since Tuesday when the state reported the Northern California region had a combined 17.6 percent capacity. The next update was expected to happen today. If implemented locally, the stay home order will temporarily close bars, wineries, personal service salons, hair salons and barbershops, while retail stores will be limited to 20 percent capacity and restaurants will be limited to take-out and delivery only. Schools that have a waiver will be allowed to remain open to in-person instruction and critical infrastructure will remain open. The order also temporarily prohibits all non-essential travel.
In Humboldt County, healthcare workers have already said there are emergency room patients who have been waiting for days for transfers out of the area for specialized care because hospitals throughout the state don't have available beds.
Today's Humboldt County cases were confirmed after 505 samples were processed.
Meanwhile, the county's Joint Information Center is urging locals to get tested, calling it "one of the most helpful things county residents can do for the community at large," because it allows Public Health to catch cases early and limit spread. The state-run OptumServe testing site at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds in Eureka is open seven days a week and no-cost appointments can be made by clicking here or calling (888) 634-1123.
The Humboldt County Data Dashboard includes hospitalization rates by age group, death rates by age group and case totals by ZIP code, the latter of which are reported in "a range of 0 to 5 for case count until the area surpasses 5 total cases," according to the county. After that threshold has been reached in a ZIP code, the exact number will be included.
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 assessing risk factors for contracting the illness, which can be found here.
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.
Read the county's release below:A total of 2,263 county residents have tested positive for COVID-19, after 43 new cases were reported today.
In vaccine news, Public Health continues to prioritize vaccinations of residents in Phase 1A and those 75 and older due to the limited number of vaccines available. Vaccinations are currently provided by medical providers and by invitation to Public Health clinics.
Public Health currently has the capacity to administer just over 200 vaccines a day, with 200 administered Wednesday, 210 Thursday and 204 today. This is in addition to the doses administered by medical providers.
While Public Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman acknowledges the rate of vaccination must increase, much of this depends on the number of vaccines sent to the county and number of vaccinators available to put shots in arms.
“The state announced it would provide additional doses to expand our ability to reach more people in the various phases,” Dr. Hoffman said. “While we’re waiting for those additional doses to arrive, we are expanding our infrastructure to ramp up operations.”
On Thursday afternoon, 21 medical professionals were sworn into the county as disaster health care volunteers to assist with vaccination efforts. Dr. Hoffman said this community-wide effort will greatly help in the work that lies ahead.
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.
Local COVID-19 vaccine information: humboldtgov.org/vaccineinfo Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard: humboldtgov.org/dashboard Follow us on Facebook: @HumCoCOVID19 Instagram: @HumCoCOVID19 Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19 Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert
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