BACKGROUND:
The Health Services Department has established a website dedicated to COVID-19, including daily updates. The site is located at: https://www.coronavirus.cchealth.org/
CLERK'S ADDENDUM
Speakers: Pete Connell, Marie, Stacy, Denise Persha.
Anna Roth, Health Services Director, informed the Board that today would be the launch of the dashboard for long-term care facilities on the cchealth.org website. Information included will the be the number of hospitalization and deaths.
Work is ongoing with the Public Information Officer to increase outreach in regard to testing. Health Services would like to convey that testing capacity is available and the department wants all people to get tested. All the county testing sites are open June 3rd and 4th. County site will be closing at 12:30 p.m. because of the extreme heat advisory – sites are outdoors and testing staff is wearing full PPE. Alternative sites indoors are available and the public is urged to call so they can be redirected to them.
The hospitals have submitted their attestations in regard to PPE availability to the state. Work in regard to testing and tracing continues to ramp up. The county is moving to the less invasive test for a better experience for people, and hopes to move to self-testing soon. Staff is preparing a comprehensive guide for testing strategy around who should get tested when. The guidelines will cover those working in a high risk environment, essential workers, congregate living situations, and the general public. There will be specific guidelines for an outbreak scenario.
Dr. Farnitano reported that the county is see approximately 20 new cases a day and about 13 patients in the hospital per day. He noted that many of the west county residents received care in Alameda County hospitals and would be included in that county’s numbers. A spot survey revealed about a dozen Contra Costa residents in an Alameda hospital.
The County is doing about 63 tests per 100,000 people at this time, with a goal of 220 per 100,000, with emphasis on testing those people who are exposed the most. It is believed the highest risk for transmission of the virus is 24 hours before symptoms develop. Dr. Farnitano recommended that people with high exposure be tested frequently. To that end a health order was issued last week requiring testing on a monthly basis of all the personnel that work in skilled nursing facilities and our 60 largest assisted living facilities for the elderly.
He noted that the efforts taken by the community have slowed the spread and saved many lives. The number of deaths in the county stands at 38, below the national average. Contra Costa County has an older population on average and is densely populated.
Following a letter sent to our largest lab we now have compliance with the electronic reporting of negative tests. We are attempting to receive demographic data also, such as race and ethnicity. This is a challenge because we are working with 100 or more laboratories. Many of the labs are receiving samples from hundreds of locations and are relying on the source to provide the demographic data.
Case identification and contact tracing is scaling up. Contra Costa is on the statewide system and receiving improved data on where cases are occurring. As expected there are higher numbers in groups of essential workers and some clusters occurring among families. PPE metrics are improving. Six of our eight hospitals have now attested they have or can get a 30 day supply. There are still many requests for PPE from nursing homes, elder care facilities, medical offices and so on. The international supply chain for PPE has not yet been fully restored but progress is good.
Today’s new health order will be effective tomorrow, June 3, 2020. Child care and camps will be open to all. All indoor retail will be opening up, including malls, shopping centers and swap meets. Indoor shopping centers will be required to have a mitigation plan to prevent the congregating of people. Also opening will be things that don’t generally require close customer contact including but not limited to car washes, pet groomers, dog walking and housekeeping. Office spaces are opening though people are still encouraged to work from home if possible. Adiitionally, outdoor museums and exhibit spaces, libraries, drive-in theaters.
Using the concept of a social bubble, we are opening up social activities outside the household. Similar to child care situations where it is limited to stable groups of 12, small social gatherings of family and friends. Examples could be a cub scout den, or a sports team that practices together but doesn’t interact with other teams at this time – limited to being outdoors. Research is showing a much lower risk of transmission during outdoor activities. A stable group of 12 is recommended: family and friends or a social group.
Persons over 12 years of age are encouraged to continue to wear facial coverings and social distance, though it will not be mandated. Starting June 15 places of worship will be allowed to hold religious ceremonies and services in person, outdoors. The County is asking them to wait a few more weeks for indoor gatherings, with a detailed and thorough plan in place to prevent spread, in light of the many tragic outbreaks in religious gatherings across the state. Small ceremonies of up to 12 people practicing social distancing are permissible indoors.
Outdoor gatherings should be limited to a maximum of 100 people. The County is seeking clarification from the state on allowing such things as opening swimming pools without a variance.
Residents should remember the four key principles of facial coverings, social distancing, hand washing and staying home if they are ill. This will allow for the reopening of our society without seeing large surges in cases. He expressed concern that other California counties are seeing an increase in the illness and noted that while this county is doing well, we are not an island and are still at risk.
The department is working on a comprehensive guideline for reopenings that will soon be available on the cchealth.org website.