Over the past two days over 70 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Shasta County. 37 new cases were reported on Sunday and another 36 on Monday for a total of 1,954. A woman in her 70’s has died from the virus brining the total number of deaths to 31. Of the new cases, 42 were woman and 31 were men, and they include 4 children under the age of 13. The case rate has decreased substantially from 15.5 to 7.5 daily cases per 100,000 residents, according to the most recent data covering the week of October 11th through the 17th. The case positivity rate also decreased from from 5.8% to 3.3%, which is in the orange tier. There are 109 active cases. 12 are hospitalized with 3 in intensive care. 281 people are quarantined due to possible exposure.
Butte County has had 3,105 cases with 52 deaths. Tehama County has had 883 cases and a 9th death was reported Tuesday. 27 cases have now been confirmed in Trinity County. Glenn County has had 678 cases and 3 deaths. Lassen County has had one death among 126 cases in the community and 640 in prison. There have been 205 cases in Siskiyou County and 558 in Humboldt County with 9 deaths. Modoc County has reported 36 cases.
Shasta County remains in the red tier of business restrictions after county officials convinced the State Health and Human Services Secretary that it was not necessary to move the county to the most restrictive purple tier. That would have forced the curtailment or closure of many businesses. County officials demonstrated to the state’s top health officer that the recent uptick in cases was due in large part to two specific outbreaks, Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry and Windsor Redding Care Center, and most cases have not been tied to the businesses that would be subject to the tighter restrictions.
Public Health says small gatherings continue to be a source of spread, and there should not be gatherings of more than three households. Interactions should include face coverings and physical distancing.
Officials stress the need to stay home when sick. Symptoms include headaches, cough and muscle aches, followed by chills, loss of taste, runny nose, sore throat and fever.
Widespread testing is a vital component in keeping the county out of the purple tier. There are several free options to get tested, which can be found by going to shastaready.org and clicking on “get tested”.