LAKE COUNTY— Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace said on Tuesday that the county’s COVID-19 rates were “the best we’ve ever seen,” while acknowledging rising infections at the jail.
Specifically, Pace’s good news was about the county’s case rate, which he said was 3.3, and positivity rate, which was 2.9. Pace said the current numbers would need to be maintained for two weeks in a row — which hadn’t yet been accomplished — before the county could move from the red, where it had remained for months, to orange in the state’s color-coded tier system regulating reopening. He added that there was a time lag of seven days for the data.
“This is a sign that things have improved somewhat,” he said.
Pace said that since the sheriff’s announcement last week, cases among inmates at the Lake County Jail had risen to “approximately 15” and that the outbreak was still confined to one wing of the jail. He said two staff members tested positive. Pace said his department was working to increase testing and state consultants were arriving Tuesday to help keep the virus from spreading to the rest of the facility and staff.
Pace said that of the two local nursing homes that had breakouts, one had resumed normal activities with everyone off quarantine, while one case had been identified at the other nursing home in the past approximately 10 days but “otherwise seems to be stabilizing now.”
He said the county had a total of 731 cases and 17 deaths related to the virus.
The board moved several items on the agenda to its Nov. 17 meeting, including two labor agreements, with the Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association Units and Lake County Correctional Officers Association Units. This comes as the supervisors began in recent weeks approving contracts across county departments for increases in salary up to 85% of the median market value.
The two contracts were carried over as they were not approved by labor groups at the last meeting, and Chief Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson said on Tuesday there was no update, except that county staff hoped to resume negotiations with the groups.
The board also punted on making a decision over whether to keep county offices closed on Fridays through March 31. The agenda said this came “in light of COVID-19 and the expected effects of the flu season” while the prepared memorandum said the closures would be due to “high employee vacancy rates, heavy workloads and disaster impacts.”
Supervisors Bruno Sabatier and Rob Brown said they were concerned about the public’s right to access information and that leaders would be accused of making excuses. Sabatier suggested that an employee be available to answer the public’s questions on Fridays in person and by phone. City staff said more time would be needed to figure out staffing options.
