LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s Public Health officer said Wednesday that testing has confirmed 19 new cases of COVID-19 in the county.
The 19 new cases reported on Wednesday bring the county’s total to 79, Dr. Gary Pace reported.
It’s the largest single-day spike in confirmed cases for Lake County since the pandemic began.
“Lake County has experienced a significant rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases over the last week,” said Pace, noting that on June 25 the county was at 42 total cases.
Of Lake County’s 79 cases, 39 are active and 40 are recovered, with four people currently in the hospital, Pace said.
Pace said that none of the four hospitalized cases have been intubated.
“Thankfully, most of the people recently infected have relatively mild symptoms. The newly diagnosed folks with mild symptoms are stable and isolating at home with daily check-ins with Public Health,” he said.
Of the 37 cases reported since June 25, Pace said at least half resulted from an outbreak in the farmworker community, with the other cases stemming from a variety of sources.
“This pattern of spread indicates that there is at least some community transmission,” Pace said.
Pace said the initial case in the outbreak in the farmworker community was identified last week. The day after it was identified, a standup testing site was erected and more than 300 people were tested at that time.
Because of slow-downs in lab processing at the state level, Pace said the results are just now coming in.
The Public Health COVID-19 dashboard showed that 5,068 tests have been conducted, with the results from 911 of those tests still pending as of Wednesday evening.
There also have been details requiring confirmation for appropriate documentation, Pace said. For example, some of those tested work in Lake County but reside in another county, and will be added to the total in their county of residence.
“We are hopeful all results will be available by the end of the day,” he said.
Pace said the agricultural community and the farmworker representatives have all been extremely helpful and cooperative in testing and coordination. “Their operations have been put on hold until we are able to get on top of the spread.”
Some of the other cases confirmed over the past week involve several separate contacts with people out of the area who were later confirmed positive. “A few of the new cases have no identifiable source,” Pace said.
Pace said Lake County’s uptick in cases is consistent with statewide trends, which in recent weeks have shown a case surge.
By early Wednesday evening, more than 233,000 cases and 6,100 deaths statewide had been reported, based on Public Health departments reports.
Case investigation process explained
Pace said that the Lake County Health Department’s process in handling a confirmed case of COVID-19 is to do a “case investigation.”
They get information about the likely source of the infection and the people who have been in contact with the individual who has tested positive, and then they provide education regarding how to isolate, Pace said.
“Then, the people identified as contacts during the contagious period will get a call, and they are encouraged to quarantine and given information on how and where to get tested,” he said.
In situations where someone who tests positive has a job working with the public, Pace said the Health Department encourages the business to inform anyone who was present during the relevant time periods about the positive case.
Pace said any business is at risk now, so if one of the stores you go to informs the public of an employee who turns positive, “this is a very positive thing for that business to do.”
He added, “By being transparent about when infections may be present, the public can be reassured in those businesses that at other times, they are relatively safe. We strongly encourage the business community to work with the Health Department in letting the public know when a positive case occurs amongst their employees.”
Pace also continued to urge people to wear masks and practice social distancing to protect themselves and others.
“When investigating the contacts, it is clear people who wear masks and engage in social distancing are causing fewer of their friends and family to get COVID-19. Those who live in a household with individuals with underlying medical conditions or other vulnerabilities to severe complications must be particularly cautious,” he said.
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Nineteen new COVID-19 cases reported in Lake County
- Elizabeth Larson
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