WILLITS, 5/24/20 — Some updates today on the progress of efforts against the coronavirus, the process of reopening, and some warnings from county officials about consequences for violating health orders: From the County of Mendocino, a statement giving a few more details on the Redwood Valley Assembly of God COVID-19 outbreak, and new testing efforts. The County also posted printable posters with social distancing and masking instructions, that businesses or other organizations may print out and post (See the posters), and announced some details about testing. North Coast Opportunities is also recruiting volunteers to assist in case investigation and contact tracing; more details in the press release if you’re interested.
In Mendocino County the total count of COVID cases remains 21, with three people hospitalized, though one of those is not a Mendo resident. Nationally the number of people killed by the virus is expected to cross 100,000 in the next day or two.
Rules will be followed.
Supervisor Ted Williams
Mendocino County Supervisor Ted Williams, who represents the Fifth District, also made an extensive statement on Facebook (a format he uses frequently to communicate directly with his constituents), saying that the county will soon begin more forcefully exercising its power to curtail violations of social-distancing and other precautionary measures established as law by the recent public health orders.
Said Williams, “Through direction to the County CEO, the Board of Supervisors have chosen to utilize Code Enforcement (under Planning and Building Services) and Special Investigations Unit (under Health and Human Services Agency) to ensure businesses implement the safety precautions detailed in industry-specific self-certification documents. “The supervisor went as far as to say that business licenses could be revoked, forcing the closure of non-compliant businesses. (Read statement below)
“I’m hopeful that peer pressure and the free market will encourage voluntary compliance. Howbeit, laissez faire will not be our approach to continued complaints. Rules will be followed,” added Williams.
The Mendocino County Public Health Department’s update clarifies the exact hospitalization status of some of the people who fell ill after the Redwood Valley Mother’s Day church service. Three people have been hospitalized in Mendocino County as a result of the outbreak, two of them Mendocino Co. residents and the third a Lake County resident. At one point it was made public that pastor Jack McMilin of RVAG, a Lake County resident, had been hospitalized at Ukiah Valley medical, but it is unclear if he remains there.
Mendo Public Health has been distributed two full courses of remdesivir, an anti-viral drug that can help COVID patients, though it is not a cure for the disease. These two courses of the drug are being used at UVMC for patients who became ill in connection with the church service. The entire state of California has only 1700 courses of remdesivir.
Public Health is adamant the six people identified as the new cases must stay in isolation while anyone who has had close contact with those people, “must remain in quarantine for 14 days from their last contact with a case.” Close contact in this case is defined as “being closer than 6 feet for more than 10 minutes.”
The update makes an important distinction between isolation and quarantine, which is often glossed over and which is worth reiterating. Isolation is the status that people who have been confirmed to have been infected are placed under, while quarantine denotes that there may some risk or suspicion of infection but no confirmation, and thus the quarantine is a precautionary measure for people who are not sick. Though colloquially the general shelter-in-place has been referred to as “quarantine” it is more properly referred to as “sheltering in place.”
Here is the update from Public Health:
Health Officer Update – May 24, 2020
Post Date: 05/24/2020 11:04 AM
- Number of Mendocino County COVID-19 cases: 21 (12 recovered; 2 hospitalized; 7 on home isolation).
- Three people hospitalized in Mendocino County from the Redwood Valley outbreak stemming from the Assembly of God Church – Mother’s Day Livestream service with singing. Upon notification of the situation the Health Officer ordered testing to occur in Redwood Valley. On May 19, testing occurred with 337 individuals being tested. All results have been received and 6 more individuals were found to test positive for COVID-19. Each of these six were connected to this event. There are now a total of nine people who have tested positive for COVID-19 associated with this outbreak: 2 are Lake County residents and 7 are Mendocino County residents. While there are 3 hospitalized patients, 2 courses of Remdesivir (enough to treat 2 people), the only FDA approved medicine for COVID-19, have been received by Adventist Health Ukiah Hospital. The Blanket Isolation and Quarantine Orders of the Health Officer mandate that the 6 new cases (announced 5/22) who tested COVID-19 positive, remain in ISOLATION for 10 days from the date of their test (until 5/29). These Orders also mandate that the close contacts of the cases (being closer than 6 feet for more than 10 minutes) must remain in quarantine for 14 days from their last contact with a case. Instructions for Isolation and Quarantine are contained in the Blanket Isolation and Quarantine health officer orders on the County website.
- For community members both trained in the medical field and those that are not but who wish to join our team and volunteer to fight the pandemic THANK YOU! We are looking for volunteers to join the Case Investigation and Contract Tracing Team. This is a two-step process
- Interested individuals will need to sign up as a volunteer through NCO. If you are medical professional please sign up as a volunteer through the Disaster Health Volunteers. You can contact NCO at https://www.ncoinc.org/ or (707) 467-3200.
- Once you have signed up as a volunteer, please contact Donna Schuler at [email protected] and share with her your availability for assistance.
- Interested individuals will need to sign up as a volunteer through NCO. If you are medical professional please sign up as a volunteer through the Disaster Health Volunteers. You can contact NCO at https://www.ncoinc.org/ or (707) 467-3200.
- Testing is ongoing. If you believe you have been exposed to COVID-19 from the Redwood Valley Assembly of God Church, please register for FREE testing at OptumServe by completing the online registration and booking your appointment through their website
https://lhi.care/covidtesting. Appointments are currently available as soon as Thursday afternoon. - UPDATE ON TESTING: on Saturday, May 23, Public Health tested 36 people for COVID-19. These individuals were offered free testing due to their exposure to the Redwood Valley Assembly of God Church outbreak and/or to the industry workplace in Sonoma County associated with the 15th Mendocino County case. These results should be available by May 27.
- OPTUM SERVE TESTING INFORMATION: The OptumServe testing site is open to the public Tuesday – Saturday from 12:30 pm – 7:00 pm at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds, 1055 N. State St., Ukiah CA 95482 in Carl Purdy Hall.Appointments can be made by calling 888-634-1123 or by visiting https://lhi.care/covidtesting.
- As a reminder lodging (hotel, motels, campgrounds etc.) are closed for tourism and leisure for all people (for County residents and visitors).
- PLEASE SEE COUNTY WEBSITE FOR
- Posters for Businesses: Stay Home when sick, wear a facial covering, stay 6 feet apart (https://www.mendocinocounty.org/business/business-resource-for-covid-19)
- Infographic on Social Bubbles and Work Units (https://www.mendocinocounty.org/home/showdocument?id=35704)
- Posters for Businesses: Stay Home when sick, wear a facial covering, stay 6 feet apart (https://www.mendocinocounty.org/business/business-resource-for-covid-19)
Here is the full statement from Supervisor Williams (paragraph spacing has been added for ease of reading, otherwise the post has not been edited).
Enforcement has remained the preeminent topic in recent days. Concerned residents and businesses understand that we are in this together, as strong as our weakest links. Through direction to the County CEO, the Board of Supervisors have chosen to utilize Code Enforcement (under Planning and Building Services) and Special Investigations Unit (under Health and Human Services Agency) to ensure businesses implement the safety precautions detailed in industry-specific self-certification documents.
Many would consider these requirements to be common sense. Basic sanitization, distancing and facial covering are intended to keep us safe and on a path to full economic reopening. Most businesses have been partners in the process and deserve our business. Any business struggling to meet Phase 2+ requirements is invited to collaborate with us. We care about your recovery and success.
While I support protest, intentional violation by business is not the appropriate venue for such expression. Government is notoriously glacier slow, but I am certain, the county will not look the other way where intentional business violations create health and economic risk. Business licenses can be suspended for non-compliance. I’m hopeful that peer pressure and the free market will encourage voluntary compliance. Howbeit, laissez faire will not be our approach to continued complaints. Rules will be followed.
In California counties, the (elected) Sheriff does not take direction from the Board of Supervisors. Sheriff Kendall and I have a strong relationship and speak regularly. There is little daylight between our perspectives with conjecture flowing bidirectionally under a consistent theme of ensuring justice and prosperity for the people of Mendocino County. Sheriff Kendall is approachable and will consider input from the public.
No amount of public opinion will influence him to veer from the Constitutions of the United States and California nor should it. While tourists often stand out, we cannot ask law enforcement to profile otherwise law abiding citizens.
That said, despite various memes, courts do give government wide latitude when epidemics, like coronavirus, threaten public health. Under Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905), Jacobson instructs that all constitutional rights may be reasonably restricted to combat a public health emergency. As the situation is continually reassessed, it’s important that these restrictions not continue with greater intrusion than necessary to meet objectives.
Replacing economic arrestment with spread mitigation tools is appropriate, in essence asking each of us to keep our germs to ourselves to balance our rights with the rights of others. As a concerned resident, no matter your perspective on health order enforcement, I encourage you to establish dialogue with YOUR Sheriff: https://www.mendocinosheriff.com/administration/contact-us/
In closing, I’d like to share a note I spotted on social media this morning. It’s from Ross Liberty, owner of Factory Pipe in Ukiah, a manufacturing business that manages to pay living wage in our county while remaining competitive globally. Ross is my go-to for the libertarian perspective on all matters and I value his insight greatly. The optics of self promotion prompted me to hesitate in copying his text, but his point about the 26 lives wins out.
[The following is from Ross Liberty, quoted by Supervisor Williams]
Ross Liberty 𝑇𝑒𝑑, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑂𝑆, 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑚𝑖 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠. 𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑆 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 97,000 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑠/328,000,000 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠 .00029573 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎. .00029572 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑜 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 86,749 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 25.65 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑜 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑, 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒. 𝐵𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑇𝑒𝑑.
Supervisor Ted Williams from Facebook
The County has designed these posters that businesses and other organizations may print out and post
If you cannot see the embedded PDF follow this link.
SocialDistancingRequiredSiIf you cannot see the embedded PDF due to a computer issue follow this link.
If you cannot see the embedded PDF follow this link.
DoNotEnterIfSickSign52220
Only the most obtuse cannot see the government is making war on the People right now. Yes, a state of war exists between the government and the citizens, with the government destroying lives on shoddy pretexts and often outright lies. Currently, the People are not reacting as many other oppressed peoples have in history, but government must recognize people aren’t just going to “take” this much longer.
Dictatorships use rule by decree and laugh at consent of the governed. Dictatorships also count on masses of “useful idiots” who duckspeak everything they hear from “the authorities.” “The virus! The virus!” is the prime example of that duckspeak.
How many times does someone have to lie to you to become a liar?
We’ve seen our local example of “do what I SAY, not as I do.” UK Prime Minister took it even further this weekend, making it perfectly clear what government “authorities” actually think of we “lesser” folk. The mentality is the same across the planet, not just in Britain. “WE” don’t have to do what we tell YOU to do.
Government is reminded that it is on it to keep the peace. Exceeding its authority, assuming powers to itself not grounded in our written documents or consent of the governed, is Ultra Vires. All officials, from Newsom to “our” Board of Supervisors, best understand that a variety of responses to armed “enforcement” of rule by decree and Ultra Vires “orders” are possible, and can range from letters to the editor, to 1776.
Don’t make it so business owners have nothing left to lose. You won’t like their response.
Oh, and before any hysterical fanatics show up and denounce me and my comments above, I will say this: Government is literally killing people, right now, with its rule by decree and Ultra Vires “orders.” I know of several suicides here in the County, and God-knows how many other deaths of despair ignored as not important compared to the official “enemy” (Oceania has ALWAYS been at war with COVID-19!). AB7 did a report last week, quoting medical professionals, in particular, from John Muir, about the phenomenal rise in suicides and attempted suicides. Do these folks lives not count? Apparently not. If random killers were snuffing out people, the media – and your fanatics – would be all over it, especially if it involved guns. But when the government does it, it’s “necessary” and for “the greater good.”
The longer the rule by decree continues, the higher the likelihood this situation turns very, very ugly, with casualties far beyond anything COVID-19 could do. Tens of millions of Americans are petitioning the governments of this land, literally and figuratively, for relief from the warfare against us, but government refuses to listen. We saw a lot of the figurative petitions this week, as millions of Americans yearned for some normalcy to their lives, and simply decided to LIVE THEIR LIVES. Government control freaks, are, as expected, wringing their hands at the insolence of their subjects.
If the control freaks decide, instead of backing down since it’s obvious they do not have the consent of the governed, and push further with their rule by decree and “you will do as we say, and like it!” “orders,” they should recall what President Kennedy once said:
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
We are pleading with government “authorities” to listen. Peacefully. How much more are the American people expected to take before that changes?