Humboldt was placed in the red level on February 23rd. | Image via covid19.ca.gov.
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The pandemic is finally easing a bit.
Hoffman
The prices of confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Humboldt County have dropped and stabilized sufficiently that even if the state wants to bring us back to the more restrictive press level of public health regulations, the provincial staff will protest the decision and enable us to Public Health Officer Ian Hoffman said Tuesday during the Board of Supervisors.
Governor Gavin Newsom will give the latest update on county nominations on Tuesday afternoon. Based on local data, on Feb. 23, the state lowered Humboldt County from the most restrictive press level to the red level, giving businesses, schools and organized sports a little more freedom.
Hoffman said the country recently accumulated one-week epidemiological data sufficient to justify a return to the press level. This means that we had more than seven new cases per 100,000 people and / or had a test positivity rate of more than 8 percent. (Our adjusted rate per 100,000 currently stands at 8.2 on the country’s dashboard.) But Hoffman and the rest of the province’s public health team do not want to see the county ‘yoyo’ between levels if things look stable, he said.
“So we communicated with the state of California and tried to make sure we were in favor,” Hoffman continued. “We feel strongly that our benchmarks reflect that our business rates are stable.”
As the latest COVID boom peaked in late January, the country’s fall rose to 26 per 100,000 people. It has since stabilized at between six and 10 per 100,000. The hospitalization rate also declined dramatically, from a peak of more than 15 per day during the boom to single figures.
“We have decided that if the state were to try to move us to press, we would ask for a decision,” Hoffman told the board this morning, referring to the formal appeal process allowed under the blueprint for a safer economy. state. By adjudication, provinces can argue that they are being moved to a more limited level if public health staff believe that the decision does not take into account data discrepancies or ‘qualitative and contextual elements’. During the assessment process, the province’s level status will remain unchanged.
“But we do want to realize that this recovery is fragile,” Hoffman added, pointing out that we are not far removed from the boom and that new COVID-19 variants are “a real threat.”
“We will therefore continue the fight, and hopefully the state will make the right decision,” he said.
The situation in local hospitals has improved so much that the country plans to remove ‘ICU capacity’ from its COVID dashboard.
More than eight percent of the eligible population have now received at least one dose of vaccine, a figure Hoffman calls ‘a wonderful testament to the effort made in Humboldt County over the past few months’. And while progress is still limited by the limited availability of vaccines, Hoffman said the situation will have to improve in the coming months, especially as Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccines become more widespread.
Last week, the state announced it would discuss 40 percent of its vaccine supply for the most vulnerable neighborhoods, a collection of 400 zip codes with a lower level of household income, education and access to health care. Humboldt County has 13 such zip codes, and Hoffman said we need to learn this week how that will affect our vaccine supply.
“It feels like we’re at a point that’s really tangible with this pandemic,” he said, adding that with the decline of the case, we can finally look forward to ‘some return to normalcy’.
But he also warned that we did not give up, saying, “In the end, the things that bring us to this day will still be the cornerstone” – namely, masking, social distance, washing our hands, and avoiding gatherings with various households. .
The province now encourages all residents aged 65 and older to contact the Joint Information Center at (707) 441-5000 for any questions on how to vouch for a vaccine.
Hoffman said we are getting ‘much, much closer’ to the point where anyone who wants a vaccine can get it. The popular time is probably just a few months, he said.