LAKEPORT
COUNTY UPDATES ON COVID-19
368 total cases of COVID-19 have been documented in Lake County. 27 are under active public health monitoring. Sadly, five have now died. Two are currently hospitalized.
Update on Skilled Nursing Facility Outbreak
Four staff members have now tested positive, and five total residents. Tragically, two have passed away. Similar concerning situations have arisen in other counties around the state. The facility is working with local public health and state regulators to ensure everything is being done to protect staff and residents.
Business Owners and Organizational Leaders: “What do I do if an employee tests positive?”
Businesses, non-profits, and schools are asking, “What do I do if an employee tests positive?” Guidance is on our website (“Return to Work Tool for Local Businesses”). Soon, further guidance will be available to local businesses at http://health.co.lake.ca.us/Coronavirus/Businesses.htm.
While protocols help, each situation is a little different. Business owners should contact us if they have a case, and aren’t sure what to do. We generally contact a business if a case is identified in their workplace. However, if you hear before we do, don’t hesitate to reach out, at 707-263-8174.
We are trying to balance risk of transmission with businesses’ need to continue functioning in this new era:
- If an employee tests positive, they should be off work for 10 days from the onset of symptoms or the date of sampling for the test.
- If an employee has close contact with someone who is positive, the usual recommendation is to be off work for 14 days (the difference from the previous recommendation is due to the need for a few days for the virus to grow enough to cause symptoms or trigger a positive test).
- This 14 day recommendation continues even if they get a negative test, because the virus can below detectable levels at the time of the test. It can grow and the person can become contagious at any time during the 14 day period.
- The 14 days may be negotiable, depending on the amount of contact they had with the positive case, and also depending on their role at the workplace and risk of spreading the illness widely.
- If an employee is exposed to a known contact of a case, they are usually told to continue working, wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing, and watch for symptoms.
Communicating with the public about a positive employee can be challenging, but we believe businesses that are more transparent will generally have better long-term trust with their patrons.
Closing a business for a period can be helpful if disinfecting is needed, or if time is needed to sort out which employees or patrons had contact with the case. County Environmental Health staff, 707-263-1164, can help.
All of these scenarios are much less concerning if people wear masks and maintain distancing. Transmission of the virus is drastically reduced when employees and the public follow these simple measures.
—Submitted, Dr. Gary Pace, Lake County health officer
UKIAH
Solar Projects at Eagle Peak, Grace Hudson, and Calpella Schools Nearing
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems on three Ukiah Unified School District (UUSD) campuses, including Capella Elementary, Eagle Peak Middle School, and Grace Hudson Elementary, are nearing completion and will officially come online later in 2020. View the UUSD Energy Dashboard.
By working with SitelogIQ, a company with offices in Santa Rosa that specialize in helping clients develop and implement more efficient energy management, UUSD determined ways to significantly reduce energy costs by installing Solar PV systems at three schools around the District.
This three-school project represents part of a plan by UUSD to use this savings combined with savings from previous LED lighting retrofits at all UUSD schools to pay for the much-needed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system at Grace Hudson Elementary.
The three ground-mounted systems will save taxpaying citizens approximately $207,803 every year, which is a moderate estimate made by SitelogIQ. The system at Grace Hudson Elementary will generate 525,100 kWh of electricity.
There are other significant benefits of the solar panels besides environmental and financial. The ground-mounted solar PV panels act as shade structures that create potential outdoor classroom space, which will be useful when the conditions allow schools to reopen, and physical distancing mandates are potentially still in place.
Solar projects for more UUSD schools are not in the works right now because it doesn’t financially make sense. All of the other UUSD schools get their electricity from the City of Ukiah, which charges considerably less for electricity than PG&E. Capella Elementary, Eagle Peak Middle School, and Grace Hudson Elementary get their electricity from PG&E, so their solar systems pay for themselves and more.
For more information, please contact UUSD Communications Officer Doug Shald at (707) 472-5005 or dshald@uusd.net.
—Submitted
