News

Humboldt County Public Health is reporting two new COVID-19 cases today, both related to the outbreak at the Alder Bay Assisted Living Facility, which brings the county’s total to 93.

According to the news release, both of the positive results were personnel at the Eureka site.

The new cases continue a two-week spike after a relative period of calm, with a total of 37 since May 9 following a 17-day stretch that saw just two confirmed instances of the potentially deadly respiratory disease. Another person has also been hospitalized.
Twenty-seven of the county's cases remain active and 15 are believed to have stemmed from community transmission, meaning the patient had no confirmed contact with a known positive case or traveled out of the area and is believed to have contracted the virus from an unknown source in the local community. Two of the cases remain under investigation.

The first confirmed COVID-19 death in Humboldt County occurred May 17, when a 97-year-old woman living at Alder Bay died at a local hospital. Another Alder Bay resident died Tuesday at St. Joseph Hospital. To date, Alder Bay has seen a total of seven residents and seven staff members test positive.

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. St. Joseph and Redwood Memorial hospitals have opened tents on their campuses to begin screening patients who have “significant” symptoms consistent with the COVID-19 virus. The general hours of operation for the tents is 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. but that is subject to change.

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 [email protected] or at (707) 441-5000. Residents seeking medical advice or questions about testing are asked to contact Public Health at [email protected] 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 www.providence.org/patients-and-visitors/coronavirus-advisory.

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 the full release below:

Humboldt County’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is now 93 after two additional positive cases were confirmed today. Both positives were personnel at Alder Bay Assisted Living.

Total new positive cases confirmed on May 23: 2

Daily COVID-19 case report for May 23

Total number of confirmed cases: 93

Total number of recovered cases: 66

Total number of hospitalizations: 12

Total number of deaths: 2

Transmission information for all known cases

Contact to a Known Case: 52

Travel-Acquired: 24

Community Transmission: 15

Under Investigation: 2

Total number of people tested by Public Health Laboratory: 2,764

*Total number of people tested by all other sources: 2,420 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Department of Public Health and commercial labs)

*Numbers from the commercial labs are unavailable weekends. This number will be updated Monday.

After receiving additional supplies, the Public Health Laboratory currently has a capacity of approximately 2,100 tests and can process about 65 samples a day with an approximate turnaround time of 48 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 [email protected].