Shasta County has reported 178 new Coronavirus cases from Thursday. The death toll is 42 and there has been a total of 3,897 positive tests so far.Tthe great majority of new cases are under the age of 50. There are 38 patients currently hospitalized with 7 in intensive care. Public health still cannot provide the number of currently active cases or how many people are under quarantine orders or the number of negative tests.
The Governors of California, Oregon and Washington have issued travel advisories urging people entering their states or returning from travel to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. Thanksgiving gatherings with family from outside one’s home are not recommended. Most everyone has elderly or otherwise medically vulnerable family members who can be unintentionally exposed to the virus from across the dinner table, with potentially lethal results.
Governor Gavin Newsom is imposing an overnight curfew in the 41 counties that are in the purple tier of restrictions. Starting Saturday, all nonessential work, movement and gatherings are supposed to cease between 10PM and 5AM. Officials are hoping for voluntary compliance as widespread enforcement is not expected.
California officials have approved stricter new safety regulations requiring employers to implement safety measures during the pandemic. The state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board on Thursday approved an emergency temporary standard. It requires businesses to educate employees on ways to prevent infection, provide free personal protective equipment and offer free COVID-19 testing to all employees if three or more employees are infected with the Coronavirus within a 14-day period.
A limited quantity of vaccine is expected to arrive in mid to late December, with the first inoculations going to at-risk health care workers and first responders, followed by medically vulnerable people. The general population may get the vaccine in the spring. Mercy Medical Center in Redding is one of only seven hospitals in the state that will receive some of the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine.
Tehama County has had 1,377 cases and 23 deaths. Trinity County has had 106 cases. Siskiyou County has had 466 cases and one death. Butte County has had 3,624 cases and 59 deaths. Glenn County has had 829 cases and 6 deaths. 730 cases are reported in Humboldt County with 9 deaths. Lassen County has had two deaths among their 285 cases in the community and 1070 in prison. Modoc County has reached 106 cases.
Widespread testing is a vital component in getting Shasta County out of the purple tier. Free testing options can be found at shastaready.org.