How to resolve AdBlock issue? On Monday, Lake County’s COVID-19 caseload rose to 512, up by 53 since the last report on Friday. Of those, 96 are active and continue to be monitored by Public Health, 405 are recovered and one is hospitalized.
Dr. Gary Pace also reported Lake County’s 11th COVID-19-related death, which he said was not associated with a recent outbreak at a skilled nursing facility, Lakeport Post Acute.
Public Health departments in all 58 counties reported Monday a statewide total of about 789,000 cases and more than 15,000 deaths from COVID-19.
As of Monday, all three of Lake County’s skilled nursing facilities have COVID-19 cases – two of them with residents who have contracted the virus and one has cases involving staff only – based on the California Department of Public Health’s skilled nursing facility COVID-19 dashboard.
Lakeport Post Acute has 36 confirmed cases in residents, 21 in staff and seven deaths so far, according to state and local officials.
Pace said another facility – which he did not name – has two resident cases and four staff have tested positive.
The California Department of Public Health’s skilled nursing facility COVID-19 dashboard indicated that that second facility with both residents and staffers who have tested positive for COVID-19 is Rocky Point Care Center in Lakeport.
Meadowood Nursing Center in Clearlake also has staffers – last reported at two by local officials – who have tested positive for the virus.
“It appears the usual course is a staff member becoming infected in the community, and bringing it to work,” Pace said of the spread of the virus in skilled nursing facilities. “Multiple other situations of COVID infection are arising in care workers and local businesses.”
He continued, “Labor Day was two weeks ago today, and post-holiday increases are common. We have all been sacrificing many normal experiences for six months now. It is tough to maintain a high level of vigilance; masking, avoidance of social gatherings and proper social distancing all seem to be decreasing in our communities.”
Given the increase in cases, Pace said Lake County’s latest numbers are consistent with the state’s most restrictive tier, purple or Tier 1, in its Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
Pace said if the local case growth trend continues, the state will force Lake County to close indoor dining and add other restrictions.
“Schools not open for on-site instruction by the time we get to that point will not be able to open until we get back into the Red Zone – Tier 2 – and stay there for two weeks. These are state mandates. We sacrifice local control when we fail to take basic precautions known to slow the spread,” he said.
“Most of us want to keep businesses open, and resume on-site learning at schools as soon as it is safe,” Pace said. “How do we accomplish this? Slowing transmission in the community by wearing masks and avoiding gatherings with people outside of our households. Indoor gatherings are high risk, and may have particularly serious consequences if you or someone in your family works in a setting with vulnerable people – like a nursing home, homeless shelter, hospital or jail.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
