Editor’s Note: If you are presenting with symptoms of COVID-19 you should contact your doctor, or local clinic. If positive your case will be referred to Mendocino Public Health. Alternatively you can contact Public Health’s call center at (707) 234-4052 to be connected directly to the Public Health Communicable Disease Unit.
MENDOCINO Co., 4/24/20 — Supervisor Ted Williams, who represents the Fifth District and is known for his voluminous social media presence, said in a social media post Thursday that he had spoken by phone with a local woman who claimed to have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In response to the supervisor’s retelling of this conversation, Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan made a statement urging members of the public who may have been infected to contact their doctors or Mendocino Public Health.
Williams later made a second Facebook post, relaying the (again unconfirmed) story of a different person who was confirmed to have COVID-19 in Mendocino County, but whose close relatives were supposedly not tested, though exposed. This person further elaborated a story of being unable to access care, and being improperly informed as to her potential continued contagiousness. Both statements stress the terrible debility and pain that came with the disease, including in one case, a claim of broken ribs from coughing. Williams voiced concerns that these statements (which he emphatically believes to be true, but which we cannot confirm) indicate the possibility that community spread has begun in Mendocino County. Community spread is happening in Sonoma County, and evidence from sewage plants in Lake County indicate that it may very well be happening there too.
In her statement Dr. Doohan said, “If this individual wants to help our community prevent the spread of this disease in our County, she will come forward to Mendocino County Public Health so she can be actively monitored in isolation by Public Health and a contact investigation can be initiated.”
This is an unusual circumstance, and as journalists, we would like to be fully transparent. We have not been able to independently fact-check or verify anything that Supervisor Williams has said in his Facebook posts. We would ideally prefer to have been able to contact these people directly, gather information, and then attempt to fact-check it before publishing. This process is often time consuming and onerous, but we do it because we hope it means that the information we provide you is totally accurate. However, in this case, being that Supervisor Williams is both a public figure and a sitting politician, his posts in-and-of-themselves constitute news. Furthermore, Dr. Doohan’s response to these is also informative. So, though we have not vetted or fact-checked these statements, here they are, along with Dr. Doohan’s statement.
First is the initial Facebook post from Williams, then the statement from Doohan, then William’s second post.
The moment we concluded the KZYX radio show last night, a woman phoned, having heard the hour and my cell number offered. Provoked by discussion about balancing our economic and health needs, she picked up the phone to share her story about surviving COVID-19, but insisted on remaining anonymous (no name, contact details, caller ID). After weeks of unsubstantiated claims and rumors, I was skeptical, but the 85 minute discussion left me without questions of credibility. She did approve of sharing her testimonial. She lives inland and shops in the Ukiah area. No flights, cruises or other travel outside of Mendocino County for months before becoming ill. She became ill in our county with initial symptoms experienced around March 16. The onset was gradual and she didn’t initially believe it could be COVID-19. Visiting her son in the bay area, he became infected and several of his friends became infected. All tested positive to official COVID-19 tests. She learned of her results just five days ago, towards the tail end of illness. Because the test was not performed here, we can’t count it and we don’t have access to the data. This is important to note, because it’s one more way our count under-represents. One of the (young) friends died as a result, in a hospital, connected to equipment for respiratory distress. The caller said they all had different symptoms with only persistent fever in common and noted the CDC symptoms list did not match her personal experience. She did not seek medical help and did not want to be intubated. She described excruciating pain as the worst component, noting she had to force herself to endure the pain of every breath for days. She was told by medical professionals in a bay area county to self isolate and that is what she is doing, the same as our county would direct. She reported being otherwise very healthy without pre-existing conditions and “not old”. She stated that two days ago she would have been unable to make it across the room to engage in the call. Inability to walk and pain were cited as the two greatest challenges of the journey. When we documented our first case on March 18, there was heated discussion about how much location information to share. CEO Carmel Angelo insisted that making specific locations public would encourage some people to not come forward, impeding our ability to contact trace. I’m at the opposite end of the privacy spectrum in that if I test positive, I’ll be on youtube and the radio sharing it with you, but we all have different preferences in regard to privacy. Angelo was right. The distastes for public eyes peering created desire for anonymity, ultimately resulting in reduced public health tracking. Assuming the facts are true as presented, and I have no reason to doubt, this case might qualify as our first community spread. To avert a flurry of questions, I must say, I don’t have more answers than this post includes. She ended by asserting her belief that if we experienced the pain she endured, described repeatedly as “not another flu”, we wouldn’t be focused on re-opening, but instead would be grateful to awaken for another day.
Alicia, thank you for allowing me time on KZYX.
Caller, The Mendocino Voice [we asked Supervisor Williams to add this after he had already posted this] has asked me to share their eagerness to give you an anonymous interview.
Supervisor Ted Williams
Here is the statement from Dr. Noemi Doohan, public health officer for Mendocino County:
Supervisor Ted Williams has shared publicly that he has been contacted by someone who has not provided their name or address but has claimed they were tested for COVID-19 in another County and used a non-Mendocino County address for the results to be reported. If this individual wants to help our community prevent the spread of this disease in our County, she will come forward to Mendocino County Public Health so she can be actively monitored in isolation by Public Health and a contact investigation can be initiated. The contact investigation would allow Public Health to evaluate, and potentially test for COVID-19, the people in Mendocino County that she has had close contact with since she first reportedly became ill. Regarding the presence of community spread of COVID-19 in Mendocino County, I am doing everything in my power to protect our County from this danger by putting in place strong Sheltering-In-Place orders, mandating social distancing, mandating the wearing of facial coverings and focusing on containment through case contacts and contact investigations. I have also put in place Blanket Orders for Isolation and Quarantine to make sure people who are sick or exposed stay home or in an Alternate Care Site (ACS) unless they are hospitalized- another important tool for preventing community spread. Preventing community spread depends on the cooperation and collaboration of all people living and working in Mendocino County with the Health Officer orders and the Public Health department.
Dr. Noemi Doohan
The Mendocino County Public Health Dept. further noted that:
“The anonymous individual should contact their local health care provider who will report the case information to Public Health or contact the Call Center at (707) 234-4052 to be connected directly to the Public Health Communicable Disease Unit.”
Later in the day Williams made a second post on Facebook describing the story that he heard from another putative convalescent:
With permission, I’m posting another anonymous COVID-19 testimonial from a brave Mendocino County resident. It offers an invaluable glimpse into the accuracy of local monitoring and tracking to date: You know – reading your post on Facebook about Public Health and “real numbers” is so accurate. My significant other got really sick 2 days after I did. Different symptoms than me – but all Covid-19 symptoms. Burning fever, fatigue, hacking dry cough etc. We both went to Public Health for testing, but they chose to only test me since I’d traveled and been exposed. The test was more than a week after I’d returned home from my trip, so of course I’d exposed him during that time. It was clear that we were both equally sick. What’s ironic is that although I was the only “confirmed” case, Public Health monitored both of us daily for symptoms and ordered us both quarantined until they declared us recovered on April 1. Also – So you can get a good picture of how this is being handled in our community – I received a letter via email from the CDC on March 18th saying I’d been exposed. It took over 8 phone calls to Adventist Health, Public Health and the Laws Avenue clinic over the course of 3 days to finally get tested, although they knew that I had both been exposed and was currently experiencing ALL the symptoms. After being declared “recovered” and free from Quarantine April 1 by Public Health (via having been symptom free for 3 days – NOT BY BEING RE-TESTED) I started coughing badly again about 4 days later. On April 5th I visited the ER. We discussed that I’d recently had Covid-19. They did a chest and rib X-ray and discovered that I’d fractured 2 ribs from coughing so hard. I asked if perhaps this was still Covid-19 and they said no – my chest x-ray was clear, I was getting good Oxygen, and it was a “post-virus” cough that would resolve soon. They sent me home with Percocet. The doctor there said to follow up with my regular doctor at Adventist. I called Adventist the next day. They said they’d call back with an appt. the next day. Over the course of the next 10+ days I received three calls from the Practice Manager at Adventist acknowledging that I needed an appt, and that they were “working on it.” Over the course of that week I mostly stayed home because my chest and ribs hurt.On April 16th I was still coughing so hard that I passed out at home, so we returned to the ER. The ER doctor took another chest x-ray and said that my lungs showed a little residual damage from the Covid and I just needed to give it a little more time. He said that my Oxygen was great, so nothing to worry about. They sent me home with Norco. On April 21 I finally got to see a FNP at Adventist. She prescribed Advair, cough syrup with codeine and a huge increase in my Albuterol inhaler. But here’s the kicker….. she said that the ER doctor from April 16th believed I could have either still been sick from Covid or I got it again – and that I was to self-isolate for another 14 days. NOBODY told me that then. AT ALL. In my package of paperwork to take home it talked about Corona virus in general and also proper use of child safety seats. (I don’t even have small children…) I wasn’t feeling great, so I didn’t go out much, but I did go to the grocery store once, to my mailbox, etc. Anyway – bottom line. Public Health numbers locally are skewed. Significant other clearly had Corona virus, and they knew it. I don’t know if I still have it or not since even though I’m “coughing” they aren’t going to retest me. It may be a post-virus cough and it may be a return of Corona virus. Flip of a coin? Who knows…..If there’s community spread you can see why. So much confusion and lack of communication. If this is my experience I have to wonder what the other “positive” cases have encountered.
I also had symptoms and went to the MCDH hospital on 2/25/20. Was kept for a while, did nothing but give me Tylenol for headache, so I left and went home. I then had all the symptoms at home, for days. I finally feel mostly better now. Was no ordinary flu, I believe was covid19, but I wasn’t tested
Dear Robert,
First, so sorry you were ill and so, so glad to hear you’re feeling better!
Would you accept a suggestion offered respectfully to contact the folks at Public Health (707) 234-4052, as well as your own doctor. I’m sure they would be very grateful to hear from you, and I would personally appreciate it. The more we know, the better we’ll come through this together.
Thank you and wishing you all the way better!
Linda Perry
Fort Bragg
I’m curious: what benefit would anyone derive from “coming forward”? Is there a proven treatment for mild to moderate symptoms? Nope. Is the interest merely in padding numbers of “confirmed cases,” to “justify” the House Arrests?
A “senior advisor” of the World Health (sic) Organization, Michael Ryan, is on video record suggesting that people be forcibly removed from their homes if they are infected. An upcoming issue of the CDC’s journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases (July 2020), has an article stating, “our findings suggest that home isolation of persons with suspected COVID-19 might not be a good control strategy,” or, in simpler terms, Chinese-style forcible quarantines are “necessary.” I invite any fool who believes I’m “spreading misinformation” to check the ORIGINAL sources for what I claim, not some idiot propaganda site like Snopes. You’ll find I’m neither making it up nor am I hyperbolic.
In light of the fact these “experts” are recommending abduction from one’s home in case of infection, I cannot see any upside to “cooperating” in reporting one’s symptoms. Sure, infectees are currently “allowed” to isolate at home, but how long before that’s no longer an option on order of the “experts” at so-called “trusted” entitles like WHO, CDC, and CDPH?
Personally, considering my family’s history under Stalin and their survival of another engineered crisis, the Ukrainian Holodomor (manmade famine), I’d recommend NOT reporting one’s symptoms unless they are life-threatening. Obviously, it’s a personal choice, but the likelihood for our “cooperation” being (later) used against our fellow citizens is very high.
* Leadership, especially in a crisis, requires action. I commend Supervisor Williams for taking action by appearing on KZYX, by making himself available to residents and sharing his cell phone number on air, and by taking the time to talk with the two people whose stories he relates. Leadership, however, also requires taking responsibility. These stories criticize the County Public Health Department, charged with carrying out arguably the most important function of local government at this moment, and yet Supervisor Williams is strangely absent from the stories he posts, except to tell us he finds them credible. To me, this seems irresponsible. I have no reason to assume anything but the best of intentions on the part of Supervisor Williams, but I want to know what he did or didn’t do to protect the public. The question of whether our “count” is accurate or not, is secondary. Did he, for example, encourage the first person he spoke with to contact MC Public Health to determine what, if any, people in our community she may have contacted while contagious? And to start contact tracing? Isn’t this part of the agreed upon protocol? Not to do this seems a failure of leadership to me. The failure to do this – or if he did do it to tell us about it – subtly undermines these protocols and the authority of County Public Health. And this, I think, is dangerous. If there are questions about how County Public health is handling this crisis – and the second story raises some possible ones – he should identify them clearly, tell us where he stands, and let us know how he is going to address them. Shouldn’t we expect that of our highest elected officials? I do. When he hung up the phone with the first caller, did he contact the County Public Health Office to notify them of this person’s claims and of any concerns he has? We don’t know because he doesn’t tell us. But we need to know if our elected officials are acting responsibly. We need to know they are taking this kind of action too.
Leadership also requires imagination. Supervisor Williams lets us know the part of the County where the caller lives and shops, but he doesn’t give us a timeline or other important details of her return to Ukiah. When did she return? How successful has her self-isolating been? How has she managed it for the better part of a month? If Supervisor Williams is confident that she managed it well, then he should take pains to assure us of this and why he believes it. But I for one would rather she had contacted her doctor or Public Health immediately, and been monitored and supported throughout. And finally, there are aspects of the first caller’s story that are questionable. Why didn’t she give the agency that tested her a Mendocino County address? Is it OK to have an active case of COVID-19 and not report to Public Health? If she was sick and wondering if she had the coronavirus, why did she travel to the Bay Area? Why did it take so long for her to get results? And last, isn’t it at least possible that she actually became infected in the Bay Area and not in Mendocino County? We’ll never know, because she didn’t work with Public Health and follow the protocols.
*Thank you to Mendo Voice for writing and publishing this article and for the opportunity to join the conversation.
Rational objectivity dictates that: There exists many ways to view the world around us and each is as valid as the situations and circumstances that cause them. Being of Ukrainian descent might instill a degree of justifiable paranoia. I was incredulous of J.C. Tokalenko’s take on this until I went through the “proper channels/protocol” getting my mom tested at Ukiah Valley. Now, I completely agree that it’s an exercise in futility – a fool’s errand. If credible testing was readily available, people were willing to be traced and there was some mitigation or a cure, these factors would change the effectiveness of our public response. Despite being 71, a former medical professional, having preexisting conditionS and exhibiting covid symptoms for over two weeks, my mom getting a covid test was nothing short of yankin teeth accompanied by the apparent obligatory guilt trip for taxing the testing capacity and PPE supply. A week and a half later, she still hasn’t been notified of results leading us to assume it was negative or inconclusive. Not difficult to imagine why someone would go outside of county to facilitate the “correct procedure”. In the meantime, I’m convinced that several neighbors on my street have had it and recovered from it as far back as February with harrowing tales of severe illness. Come to find out the antibody tests are flawed as well. For those interested in what a competent, comprehensive response to this pandemic looks like view the South Korea and Taiwan models in the Deutsche Welle documentary on YouTube at “COVID-19 in China, South-Korea, Taiwan and Japan” from April 23.