NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – On Sunday, another of Lake’s neighboring counties, Napa, announced it has confirmed its first local case of COVID-19.
Napa County health officials said the patient – whose age and gender were not reported – is located in the city of Napa.
Napa County Public Health, which is investigating the case, has issued a legal order for the patient to isolate and for close contacts of the patient to quarantine.
At the same time, county officials said the general public should continue to comply with both the Napa County and state shelter in place orders, and practice social distancing of at least 6 feet when out seeking essential services or getting fresh air or exercise.
“This is Napa County’s first case and evidence that COVID-19 is in our community,” said Dr. Karen Relucio, Napa County’s Public Health officer. “I understand this may be concerning to the community, but this is why I, and the state of California, have issued shelter-at-home orders to slow the spread of illness and not overwhelm the local health care system. It is imperative that the local community comply with these orders.”
Napa County officials said a priority now that the disease is within its borders will be to conduct surveillance to determine the extent of local transmission and quickly evaluate what is happening in the community.
Statewide, on Sunday more than 1,550 Californians are reported to have COVID-19, with 29 reported deaths.
Based on figures provided by the California Department of Public Health, the majority of the cases are in people ages 18 to 64, followed by those over age 65.
CDPH reported that as of Saturday afternoon, 26,200 tests have been conducted in California, a total which includes the latest numbers the state has received from commercial and private labs. At least 13,467 results have been received and more than 12,700 are pending. Twenty-two state and county health labs are currently testing.
Lake County Public Health has so far not confirmed any local COVID-19 cases.
The latest figures given by the agency on its Facebook page – which haven’t changed in several days – estimate that as many as 40 tests have been conducted.
Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace said finding labs to do testing has continued to be a challenge due to capacity. Recently, the commercial lab Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital uses rejected specimens for testing because of too much testing demand, he said.
Pace said getting testing results also is prolonged, with the results taking as long as seven days.
Altogether, Lake’s neighboring counties report the following confirmed COVID-19 case numbers as of 1:30 p.m. Sunday: Colusa, 0; Glenn, 0; Mendocino, 1; Napa, 1; Sonoma, 24 cases, 1 death; Yolo, 6.
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Napa County confirms first COVID-19 case
- Elizabeth Larson
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