A sixth confirmed case of COVID19 was found in Round Valley late Friday after the county announced five case there in one family household. The sixth case is not among the same family.
Dr. Noemi Doohan, Mendocino County health officer, held her regular Friday press conference and discussed some new and revised emergency orders, including facial masks and allowing singing groups to get together but under careful precautions.
She says, “In the case of the recent order for facial covering, I’m hoping by normalizing this that we will enforce it with each other in educational ways. ‘I’m feeling uncomfortable; could you please put on a mask?’”
In regard to the new COVID 19 cases in Round Valley, Dr. Doohan says, “The cooperation and collaboration with the Round Valley Indian Health Center and the Round Valley Indian Tribal Council have been tremendous. They have a machine with which they can do testing in the health center, an indication of how the state is making good on its promise to increase testing capacity. The staff are working effectively to test their community.
“I am, however, extremely worried about this because of the remote nature of the reservation and the outbreaks we have seen on Navajo lands. With the support of James Russ, Round Valley Tribal Council president and executive director of the Round Valley Health Center, I reached out to Congressman Jared Huffman, State Senator Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood to get immediate assistance from the California Department of Public Health and other state agencies.
“I’m very glad we are getting the necessary support because this could be a huge tragedy or it could be something we contain. The people who tested positive are at home, doing well; some are asymptomatic.
“They are being quarantined and contact investigations are underway; and we need to continue with a lot of testing. We’ve been going full speed ahead to contain this.”
“As we enter this period where we are moving towards limited reopening in May, we need to reflect as a community about all that we are doing to fight this war; they are old fashioned, really traditional approaches to epidemics and pandemics: things like staying home when you are sick, putting on a facial covering in public, keeping 6 feet away.
“In doing these things, we have saved our county. There have been explosions of cases around us but because of maintaining these practices, we have kept our county safe. I feel a lot of pride in Mendocino County and how we have worked together.
“I also understand that people are getting really frustrated and it’s very difficult to continue to shelter in place. As we look to limited reopening in May, we have to realize we are taking a risk and for those who want to take less risk, they can continue to stay safely at home.
“There will be more testing by the beginning of May; when people are feeling sick, they will be able to get a test. By May 1, there will be 25,000 tests done per day in California.
“All the hard work we have been doing in the county, all the sheltering in place, all the social distancing bought us time. When we reopen, there will be outbreaks, but then we will be able to do testing. The tools we have to fight the pandemic, in addition to the SIP and facial covering, include testing; testing with isolation and contact investigations.
“Three metrics being considered for reopening are: the ability to social distance, the ability to limit transmission and the benefit of the activity to the public.
“We would like to see the parks open; this would be very positive but we have to limit transmission and maintain social distancing.
“Scientists and public health leaders have said that the pain, the burden, the suffering of this will be with us for a year or more; it will continue to be part of our life.
“It’s about how we as a community protect one another and how cooperative we can be with these old-fashioned measures until we get a vaccine; if, in fact, we do get a vaccine. There is still no vaccine for HIV, but there is treatment.
“I am continually impressed by how the people of Mendocino County have been working together to slow the spread, to flatten the curve, providing time to prepare for the next step. And we cannot slow down; we have to keep running as fast as we can…and so we are.”
