LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s Public Health officer said Tuesday that he is looking at extending the shelter in place order into mid-May and that large events and gatherings are unlikely to be allowed for months to come.
Dr. Gary Pace gave the board his weekly update on the COVID-19 situation in Lake County on Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday, COVID-19 cases in Lake County remained at six, with the last person soon to be released from isolation, Pace said.
Pace instituted a shelter in place order that went into effect on March 19. Last week, Pace loosened some restrictions involving recreation, as Lake County News has reported.
The shelter in place order is due to expire on May 3. Pace told the board that he is planning to extend it for a few weeks, suggesting a new end date of May 17. That will give him a chance to see what the governor and other areas are doing.
Pace said he envisioned the county moving forward with loosening restrictions in two-week blocks, assessing how things develop and then reducing more limitations.
He said large gatherings, church meetings, high school graduations, county fairs and music events “are probably not going to be happening” in the near future as the effort to slow the virus’ spread in Lake County continues.
Pace said Public Health has been trying to increase local testing capability. The main limitation has been in the sampling supply. His department has been working to get supplies through Amazon and other sources.
He said they’ve conducted surveillance testing in nursing homes and Sheriff Brian Martin has done extensive testing at the Lake County Jail. All of those tests have been negative.
A month ago, surge preparation with the hospitals was a large part of the conversation. With few people having gotten sick – which Pace attributed to the stay at home order – “We’re changing the strategy now.”
He said the county had been looking for facilities locally to house patients in case the hospitals filled up. However, that’s no longer a primary need.
Pace said the county’s numbers should be able to be managed through social restrictions. If there is a need for a facility outside of the local hospitals to house patients, patients could be taken to one of the large state-run facilities being set up at places like the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.
Switching to the matter of further loosening restrictions, Pace recognized, “It’s been a huge lift for everybody over the last six weeks to have to deal with this,” with schools and businesses closing and people not being able to work. “We’re very aware of that.”
Pace said there is a balancing act between loosening restrictions and protecting public health. He said large groups present problems with transmission and have led to explosive rates of infection in some areas.
He said Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay at home order takes precedence over local orders, and local orders can’t be less restrictive.
Pace said northern rural counties have been in conversation with state officials, including the governor, to ask for special consideration.
“They really need to treat us differently than they do Santa Clara or LA. It’s clearly a different situation here. The economies are different, the economic needs are different and the risks to people are different,” Pace said.
Pace said his strategy moving forward will be to loosen restrictions slowly. When cases come up, Public Health quickly moves in, conducts contact tracing and cordons people off to slow the spread through the community.
“The goal is not to stop the spread, not to stop the virus in the community, because that’s an impossible goal. It's really to slow it so it’s manageable, so the hospitals can manage the surge and so that we can protect the vulnerable people in the community,” Pace said.
He also told the board, “I think we should be proud of how the community handled this.”
Gov. Newsom is starting to lay out a framework for how to move forward, Pace said, explaining that the state is in stage one, the preparation stage, which involves getting control of the outbreak, improving testing, contact tracing and isolation management. That will be followed by making sure workers can be safe when getting back to their jobs.
The last stage is getting back to normal with large group activities, “which is probably months away,” said Pace.
He said Public Health is working on a template to help businesses reopen. That document should be on the Public Health website on Wednesday.
Turning to another important issue this time of year, Pace said, “High school graduation is a big question.”
He said he has been talking to the Lake County Office of Education and local school superintendents, who are trying to be really creative in addressing commencement ceremonies.
Pace said that it’s unlikely that they are going to be able to have any kind of graduation ceremonies – even modified ones – for now.
While small groups and drive-ins have been discussed as graduation ceremony alternatives, “The logistics of that are pretty overwhelming,” Pace said.
“Right now I’m recommending that all of the schools work towards a virtual graduation,” Pace said.
He said there may be the possibility of graduation events later in the summer but that there don’t seem to be many good options that are safe.
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 updates supervisors on COVID-19 situation, next steps
- Elizabeth Larson
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