LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s Public Health officer said Friday that there has been another increase in COVID-19 cases, with efforts required by the entire community to keep the county off of the state’s monitoring list.
Dr. Gary Pace said that the county’s confirmed cases are up to 195, an increase of 12 cases over Thursday and an increase of 29 since Pace’s last report on July 23.
Of the 195 cases reported on Friday, 21 are active and currently being monitored by Public Health staff; two currently are hospitalized, one locally and one out of county; and 173 have recovered, Pace said. At the start of this month Public Health said one patient had died.
The Public Health COVID-19 dashboard shows that 6,983 tests have been conducted in Lake County, with a 3.4 percent positivity rate for the last 14 days.
“COVID-19 activity remains manageable in Lake County at this time,” said Pace.
A Friday afternoon report from the California Department of Public Health said that California has 493,588 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 9,005 deaths attributed to it.
Pace said a “high level of vigilance” has kept Lake County’s numbers relatively low, and that needs to be maintained “for the long haul.”
Statewide delays in testing results have recently affected the reliability of “active cases,” as a meaningful indicator of how COVID-19 is affecting Lake County communities, Pace said.
“Additionally, with many residents regularly leaving Lake County to work and shop, the probability of coming into contact with COVID-19 may be markedly greater, at times, than our local numbers, alone, would suggest,” he explained.
Pace said that vigilant local monitoring by Public Health officials and staff, Sheriff Brian Martin, Captain Norm Taylor, and County Deputy Sheriffs and staff serving in the Lake County Jail, and leadership and staff at skilled nursing and other congregate living facilities has kept Lake County’s virus numbers low and outbreaks at bay.
“That vigilance must be the norm for the foreseeable future, and will require ongoing community support to sustain,” Pace said.
That’s especially key now that all of Lake’s six neighboring counties have been placed on the state’s watch list, Pace said.
As of Friday, 37 counties – representing 93 percent of Californians – have been placed on that monitoring list in accordance with the California Department of Public Health’s County Data Monitoring protocol.
Pace added that Public Health greatly appreciates that many people have stepped up to help the agency of late. Any others interested in volunteering to support Lake County’s COVID-19 response effort can write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Public Health officer reports on latest rise in COVID-19 cases; urges vigilance to keep county off watch list
- Elizabeth Larson
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