The Gov. says he might consider another stay home order for those in the purple tier beyond the overnight curfew. Gov. Newsom announced yesterday that 51 of the state’s 58 counties are in the purple tier. Over the last week, we’ve seen nearly 15,000 cases a day, and that was before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, where people gathered and traveled against CDC recommendations. The Gov. says that’s a lot more cases/day than we saw during the summer surge were there was an average of about 9,900 cases/day over seven days. He says he’s most concerned about ICU beds which are about 75% full now but should be over capacity by mid-December to early January. Newsom says we’re at the tipping point. He says we’ve prepared for a major surge, but the current caseload is unsustainable.
The coroner’s report has come in on two bodies found in Covelo which were first reported as an abduction. A man had called the sheriff’s office last week saying he went to a house with Kyle McCartney and Traci Bland, both from Covelo. And when they got there there were four men who the other man says assaulted then kidnapped McCartney and Bland. Two bodies were later found by someone in a remote area along Hulls Valley Road. Autopsies on the pair confirmed their identities and said preliminary findings showed they were murdered. They are not done with investigation though and did not release any other information.
A report of an SUV that nearly ran down four people near a motel in Ukiah, ends in a woman’s arrest. A police officer patrolling the 1000 block of S. State St. Sunday reported hearing several people yelling then an SUV sped away. The officer went after the SUV after getting a report it nearly ran down four pedestrians. The SUV kept going at speeds above the speed limit on side streets, then suddenly stopped. At that point deputies joined the cop, but they couldn’t get the SUV driver to comply with their commands. Sunee Mitchell was finally arrested for DUI and other offenses. Officers found her blood alcohol test was more than twice the legal limit.
Lake County Senior Centers getting a helping hand during the pandemic. Lake County has delivered checks work over $96,580 for four Senior Centers in the county. Lakeport Senior Center, who provides a senior meal program in Lakeport, Kelseyville, Nice and Lucerne won a grant of nearly $28,690; Middletown Senior Center received $20,000.00; Live Oak Seniors, Inc. in Clearlake Oaks got over $17,000; and Highland Senior Services in Clearlake got over $30,600. The Executive Director of the Lake Family Resource Center and Lakeport Senior Center said the money will help with meals for the most vulnerable community members during the COVID-19 health emergency. The money came from the federal government stimulus from back in the spring.
The area where the August Complex Fire and the Ranch before it burned, have been reopened to the public. The Forest had been closed due to the burns. Now the burn areas, except a few campgrounds and trails are reopened. The forest service reports the road system and trails were evaluated and several hazards were removed and other areas were repaired after fire suppression work. There could still be some hazards, like fire weakened trees falling, limbs dropping, burned-out “stump holes” giving way during wet weather, water or mud building up quickly and large rocks dislodging and rolling without warning.
Sonoma County is stepping up testing, expecting a surge of Covid-19 cases after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The county’s expanding tests with another state-sponsored site in Petaluma and a third drive-thru lane at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. That the county says will almost double the testing capacity each day. The Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase says they were already testing a bunch more before the holiday, but some of the test sites were too full. The Press Democrat reports Mase is now concerned like other public health officials in the state along with the CDC about how many new cases there will be over the next few weeks. The Gov. says red flags are flying that we will be seeing explosive growth of coronavirus cases as we head towards Christmas.
Gov. Newsom says we could see triple the amount of hospitalizations by Christmas so he’s thinking about another public health stay home order so ICU’s are not overwhelmed by New Years. Gov. Newsom spoke yesterday, confirming as many as 15,000 cases every day last week with 89% growth in hospital stays so the state will have to take much more dramatic, and drastic, action if the trend continues. Almost 7,800 people were hospitalized as of Monday. 12% of the Californians who testing positive could need hospital care within the next two to three weeks.
A car crash into a tree on the 101 outside Leggett left a man with major injuries. But the CHP says a woman who drove into the tree at mile marker 98.3 north of Leggett and a four to six-year-old child left the scene. An officer with the Patrol says the two were walking along the northbound side of the highway and appeared by a witness account, that they were not injured. The CHP tells Mendo Fever they were concerned because the woman may not have realized she actually had serious internal injuries even though she may have thought she wasn’t injured. And they say she might have left the scene to avoid getting into trouble. And the injured man was unable to say what happened exactly.
There are thousands of active Covid-19 cases in California. One day last week the state prison cases were at 3,861, which was the most so far. Even as prisons release some inmates to slow the spread of the virus with a lower population, there were still record cases. Early releases have slowed since the summer when 4,000 prisoners were released. Over the next few months less than 450 were released. Prisons are still pretty overcrowded though, nine of them at 120% over capacity, fertile ground for the virus to spread. And about 7,000 prison inmates are in county jails waiting to be transferred to state prisons. But some of those are now on hold due to rising cases of the virus. Thousands were infected over the summer at San Quentin. And the Lake County Public Health Office confirmed several cases at the Lake County Jail.
Food instability has hit Clearlake Oaks due to the pandemic. According to the Pastor of Community Methodist Church he says families and seniors who have lost their income, are dealing with online learning are most impacted. The Women’s Ministries then organized a family meal for the holiday. 12 families got a full turkey dinner including all the fixings, preparing 130 hot meals for Seniors and families. Tebetha Paine with the Women’s Ministries says they’re looking to adopt families for Christmas who are not only food insecure, but may need a human connection. They will also get a full Christmas dinner with all the fixings, toys for each child and human connection. If you can help with a meal, toys or volunteering, contact Pastor Cory Paine: 707-262-2617.
The state is asking hospitals to test all employees as there’s a continued surge in COVID cases. Yesterday California had almost 7,800 new cases and 1,800 in a hospital ICU. It’s expected ICU’s across the state will be at capacity in just 2 weeks. The California Department of Public Health has sent a letter to hospitals strongly recommending they test all staff at least once a week, including volunteers. The president of the Calif. Nurses Association says there are too many asymptomatic people in the state. But the CEO of the California Hospital Association says they don’t have the testing capability to make this happen.
