News

Basics of COVID-19

The California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control, state that symptoms of novel coronavirus include cough and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, or at least two of the following: fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat or a new loss of taste or smell.

Emergency warning signs needing immediate medical attention include difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion or inability to awaken, and bluish lips or face.

In an emergency situation:

Call ahead to the emergency room or inform the 911 operator of the possibility of a COVID-19 infection and, if possible, put on a face mask.

Symptoms or possible exposure:

In the case of a possible exposure with symptoms — fever and cough or shortness of breath — contact your doctor’s office or the county Department of Health and Human Services, which has a hotline that can be reached during business hours at covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or at (707) 441-5000. Residents seeking medical advice or questions about testing are asked to contact Public Health at hhsphb@co.humbldt.ca.us or at (707) 445-6200.

St. Joseph Health has also set up a virtual assessment tool as an aid to assess risk factors for contracting the illness, which can be found at here.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has started a rumor-control webpage that can be found here.

For the Journal's latest COVID stories, updates and information resources, click here.


Read today's report below.

June 23, 2020 - One New Case Reported Today

Humboldt County’s COVID-19 case count rose to 113, as one additional case was reported today.

For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or calling 707-441-5000.

New confirmed COVID-19 cases: 1

Total confirmed cases: 113

• Total recovered cases: 103
• Total deaths: 4
• Total hospitalizations: 14

Transmission information for all known cases

• Contact to a Known Case: 62
• Travel-Acquired: 26
• Community Transmission: 23
• Under Investigation: 2

Number of tests run since last report

• Public Health Laboratory: 18
• OptumServe public testing site: 117

Total tests run to date

• Public Health Laboratory: 4,044
• OptumServe public testing site: 4,114
• Willow Creek public testing site: 42

Public Health Laboratory testing Information

• Supply capacity: Approximately 1,950 tests
• Testing capacity: 70 samples per day
• Turnaround time: 24 to 72 hours

For the most recent information about COVID-19, visit CDC.gov or CDPH.ca.gov. For local information, visit humboldtgov.org, call 707-441-5000 or email covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us.

What do these numbers mean?

• New confirmed cases of COVID-19—the number of test-confirmed positive cases since the previous report.
• Total confirmed cases—the number of test-confirmed positive cases since the pandemic began, including people who have recovered from the illness.
• Total recovered—the number of confirmed cases who are no longer in isolation, meaning they have met Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria for release, including absence of fever for at least three days without use of fever-reducing medicine, improvement in symptoms and have had 10 days or more since onset of symptoms.
• Total deaths—the number of people who have died after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
• Total hospitalizations—total number of people with confirmed cases of COVID who have been hospitalized since the pandemic began, including people who have been released.
• Number of tests run since last report—number of tests run since the most recent reporting period.
  • Public Health Laboratory— number of tests performed at the Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory since the most recent reporting period.
  • OptumServe—number of tests performed at the OptumServe testing site in Eureka since the most recent reporting period.
  • Willow Creek public testing site—number of tests performed at the Verily testing site in Willow Creek since the most recent reporting period.
• Total tests run to date—total number of tests run to date.
  • Public Health Laboratory—total number of tests performed to date at the Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory.
  • OptumServe—total number of tests performed to date at the OptumServe test site in Eureka.
  • Willow Creek public testing site—total number of tests performed to date at the Verily testing site in Willow Creek since the most recent reporting period.
• Public Health Laboratory test capacity—the approximate number of testing kits that are complete and ready to be administered. This number is decreased by testing and increased as additional supplies are acquired.
• Public Health Laboratory turnaround time—the estimated amount of time it takes per testing run. Each run can include up to 20 samples; multiple batches can be run each day.
• Transmission data
  • travel-acquired—nationally, internationally or regionally
  • contact to known case—an individual found to have been in direct contact with someone who tested positive for the virus
  • community transmission—spread without travel or known contact to any other confirmed case
  • under investigation—confirmed case whose means of transmission has not yet been determined.
• Regional data—the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 per region. The three reporting regions of Humboldt County are:
  • Northern Humboldt— extends south from Humboldt’s County’s border with Del Norte County (North) to Highway 299 (South).
  • Greater Humboldt Bay Area—extends south from Highway 299 (North) to Highway 36 (South).
  • Southern Humboldt—extends south from Highway 36 (North) to Humboldt County’s southern border with Mendocino County.
• Gender—the gender of individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. Total cases, shown by percentage.
• Mean age—the average age of all the individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. Average age is calculated by adding all the ages of individuals together and dividing by the number of cases.
• Age Range—the number of total individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 grouped by age.
• Test rates and confirmed case rates relative to the State of California—the number of tests performed per 100,000 people. The number of tests performed are provided by the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange (CalREDIE), which includes all resulted tests performed by the Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory, OptumServe public test site, LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, CDPH, the CDC and point-of-care devices. Population estimates are based on data from the United States Census Bureau. Rates per 100,000 are calculated by dividing the total number of tests performed by the population of the jurisdiction and multiplying the result by 100,000.
• Confirmed case rates relative to the State of California—the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people. Test results are provided by CalREDIE, which includes tests performed by the Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory, OptumServe public test site, LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, CDPH, the CDC and point-of-care devices. Population estimates are based on data from the United States Census Bureau. Rates per 100,000 are calculated by dividing the total number of confirmed cases by the population of the jurisdiction and multiplying the result by 100,000.

Notes on patient and demographic data

To protect the identity of people with COVID-19, their specific location of residence will not be disclosed. The Humboldt County Public Health Branch is legally responsible for protecting personal health information, including residence address, specific age, recent travel, the identities and locations of any contacts, the provider of medical treatment, the course of illness and any other information that might identify an individual with or exposed to the virus unless it serves the interests of public health to do so.

Although we understand it is of interest to residents, providing location and other demographic information to the general public does nothing to slow the spread of illness. Humboldt County is experiencing untraceable person-to-person transmission, also known as “community spread,” and there is no place that can be considered safe. To reduce your chances of acquiring or spreading COVID-19, avoid travel, wash your hands, keep yourself and your environment clean, follow the shelter-in-place order, and do not leave home for any reason unless it is absolutely necessary to do so.

The following case information is provided daily Monday through Friday:

• New confirmed cases
• Total confirmed cases to date
• Total recovered cases to date
• Total deaths to date
• Total hospitalizations to date
• Number of tests run since last report
  • Number of Public Health Lab tests since last report
  • Number of OptumServe tests since last report
• Total number of tests to date
  • Number of Public Health Lab tests to date
  • Number of OptumServe tests to date
• Public Health Lab test capacity, total and daily, and estimated turnaround time
  • Transmission data
  • travel-acquired
  • contact to known case
  • community transmission
  • under investigation

Additional information is updated each Friday:

• Regional data
• Gender
• Mean age
• Age range
• Test rates and positive test rates relative to the State of California and the United States.