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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Four-week ICU capacity projections for these three regions are above 15 percent, the threshold that allows regions to exit the order. The Sacramento Region exited the order on Jan. 12 and the Northern California region, which includes Lake County, never entered the order.
State officials said this action allows all counties statewide to return to the rules and framework of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and color-coded tiers that indicate which activities and businesses are open based on local case rates and test positivity.
The majority of the counties are in the strictest, or purple tier. Tier updates are provided weekly on Tuesdays. Individual counties could choose to impose stricter rules.
Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace said the action offers “no change for us.”
He said that Lake and the northern counties have had fewer restrictions than the southern areas.
Pace said Lake County remains in the purple tier.
“Californians heard the urgent message to stay home as much as possible and accepted that challenge to slow the surge and save lives,” said Dr. Tomás Aragón, CDPH director and state public health officer. “Together, we changed our activities knowing our short-term sacrifices would lead to longer-term gains. COVID-19 is still here and still deadly, so our work is not over, but it’s important to recognize our collective actions saved lives and we are turning a critical corner.”
While there are positive signs that the virus is spreading at a slower rate across the state, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. It is still critical that Californians continue to wear masks when they leave their homes, maintain physical distance of at least 6 feet, wash their hands frequently, avoid gatherings and mixing with other households, follow all state and local health department guidance and get the vaccine when it’s their turn.
The state, in collaboration with local health departments and health care facilities statewide, took a long list of actions to support California’s hospitals and slow the surge in cases and hospitalizations.
The Regional Stay at Home Order urged Californians to stay home except for essential activities, which helped lower disease transmission levels and reduce burden on the hospital system.
California deployed more than 4,100 medical professionals to facilities across the state to ease the burden on frontline health care workers.
The state provided assistance within hospitals in the form of personal protective equipment, ventilators and help with oxygen supply.
California also helped hospitals expand their capacity by opening 16 alternate care sites, lower-acuity facilities where COVID-19 patients get a bridge from hospital to home as they are recovering.
Public health leaders implemented a statewide order to make it easier to transfer patients from over-crowded hospitals to those with more space and staff.
The administration of vaccines to health care workers has meant that fewer health care workers are falling ill to the virus, which helps keep staffing levels more stable.
“California is slowly starting to emerge from the most dangerous surge of this pandemic yet, which is the light at the end of the tunnel we’ve been hoping for,” said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. “Seven weeks ago, our hospitals and front-line medical workers were stretched to their limits, but Californians heard the urgent message to stay home when possible and our surge after the December holidays did not overwhelm the health care system to the degree we had feared.”
Nearly all the counties exiting the Regional Stay at Home Order today are in the Purple or widespread (most restrictive) tier. Services and activities, such as outdoor dining and personal services, may resume immediately with required modifications, subject to any additional restrictions required by local jurisdictions. See the county map to find the status of activities open in each county.
Because case rates remain high across most of the state, the state’s Hospital Surge Order remains in place to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. The Limited Stay at Home Order, which limits non-essential activities between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., expires with the Regional Stay At Home Order ending.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
California has tripled the pace of vaccinations from 43,459 per day on Jan. 4 to 131,620 on Jan. 15, the state reported.
The 10-day effort to ramp up vaccinations exposed key improvements needed to administer even more vaccines when increased supply becomes available.
On Monday, Gov. Newsom announced actions to address these challenges by simplifying the eligibility framework, standardizing vaccine information and data and ensuring the available supply of vaccine is administered as quickly as possible.
“Vaccines are the light at the end of the tunnel, and I am focused on taking the steps needed to get Californians safely vaccinated as quickly as possible,” said Newsom. “Our public health and health care systems have done heroic work administering more than 2.4 million vaccinations thus far. To reach the pace needed to vaccinate all Californians in a timely manner, we are simplifying and standardizing the process statewide.”
Moving forward, there will be a single statewide standard and movement through the tiers. The state will continue through 65+, health care workers, and prioritize emergency services, food and agriculture workers, teachers and school staff.
From there, the state will transition to age-based eligibility, allowing California to scale up and down quickly, while ensuring vaccine goes to disproportionately impacted communities.
Leveraging California’s spirit of innovation and technology, the state is also launching My Turn, a new system for Californians to learn when they are eligible to be vaccinated and a place to make an appointment when eligible as well as a mechanism to easily track vaccination data.
Through My Turn, individuals will be able to sign up for a notification when they are eligible to make an appointment and schedule one when it is their turn. Providers will be able to use My Turn to automatically share data on vaccines received and administered with the state, reducing lag times.
Technology from California companies Salesforce and Skedulo, and implementation by Accenture, are the foundation for My Turn. It is currently being piloted in Los Angeles and San Diego counties and is expected to be available statewide in early February.
Based on recent learnings, the governor has also directed his administration’s vaccine team to move to a unified statewide network that aligns the health care system, providers and counties with the strengths of each part of the health care system and ensures equitable and efficient vaccine administration, with a focus on communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
This effort will be implemented in partnership with counties and local health districts. It will control variability and maintain consistency and accountability. The details of the system will be forthcoming this week.
To increase available supply based on existing in-state vaccines, the Department of Public Health announced a process that will allow for the reallocation of vaccines from providers who have not used at least 65 percent of their available supply on hand for a week and have not submitted a plan for administering the remaining vaccine to prioritized populations within four days of notice.
Increasing the vaccine supply is the state’s top priority for the federal government as California accelerates the pace of vaccination.
To date, California has received more than four million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, roughly enough for two million people at two doses each.
California has 3 million health care workers and nursing home residents, 6 million people 65+, and 2.5 million Californians who work in education and child care, emergency services and food and agriculture.
In a Jan. 19 letter to President Biden, the governor named vaccines as California’s paramount priority with the Biden Administration.
At the ramped-up pace, California vaccinates about 120,000 Californians a day and is on pace to deliver toward President Biden’s goal of 100 million vaccines in 100 days, if supply persists, and the Newsom Administration said it is committed to striving to vaccinate even more.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office identified the man who died as Quinn Williams, 22.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office said in a Monday report that at 12:05 a.m. Sunday Williams was driving his black 2014 Jeep Cherokee southbound on Highway 29 north of 11th St. in Lakeport at an unknown speed.
Williams’ Jeep veered left into the dirt center median, then veered back to the right, crossing the southbound lanes of Highway 29, the CHP said.
The CHP said the Jeep continued to the right, traveling onto the dirt shoulder where it hit a tree. It then hit a fence before overturning and coming to rest on Mountview Road.
Firefighters responding to the scene early Sunday found the Jeep in the 1500 block of Mountview Road, near the intersection with Scotts Valley Road, according to reports from the scene. The crash had been reported by someone who heard it.
Williams was ejected from the Jeep and succumbed to his injuries at the scene, the CHP said.
An inspection of the Jeep revealed that Williams’ seatbelt was not worn during the collision, according to the CHP report.
It is unknown if drugs or alcohol contributed to this collision, the CHP said.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, and will be available to the public virtually only.
The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8, online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and on the county’s Facebook page. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.
To participate in real-time, join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link at 9 a.m. The meeting ID is 970 3380 5090, password 365441. The meeting also can be accessed via on tap mobile at +16699006833,,97033805090#,,,,*365441# US (San Jose).
All interested members of the public that do not have internet access or a Mediacom cable subscription are encouraged to call 669-900-6833, and enter the Zoom meeting ID and passcode information above.
To submit a written comment on any agenda item please visit https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and click on the eComment feature linked to the meeting date. If a comment is submitted after the meeting begins, it may not be read during the meeting but will become a part of the record.
At 9:06 a.m., Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace will give the board an update on COVID-19.
At 10 a.m., the board will receive a report on the Lake County CARES Small Business Grant Program and at 11 a.m. will hold a public hearing on the appeal of a vicious animal abatement case.
In untimed items, the board will get an update on the upcoming sale of tax-defaulted properties and get the first-quarter report from the Economic Development Task Force.
Also on Tuesday, the board will reconsider the temporary closure of the Board of Supervisors Chambers for in-person meetings, an action it took earlier this month due to the COVID-19 cas surge.
The full meeting agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the first amendment to the agreement between the county of Lake and North Valley Behavioral Health LLC for Fiscal Year 2020-21 to increase the contract maximum to $800,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.
5.2: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Redwood Community Services Inc. for the MHSA Transitional Age Youth Drop-In Center for Fiscal Year 2020-21 for compensation for services provided in Fiscal Year 2019-20 for a contract maximum of $165,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.
5.3: (a) Waive the formal bidding process pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Sutter Center for Psychiatry for Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Hospital Services and Professional Services associated with acute inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations for Fiscal Year 2020-21 for a contract maximum of $250,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.
5.4: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Redwood Community Services Inc. for the Family Stabilization Program provided at The Nest for Fiscal Year 2020-21 for coverage of services provided during Fiscal Year 2019-20 for a contract maximum of $132,400.00 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.
5.5: Adopt resolution authorizing amendment to the agreement between Lake County Behavioral Health Services and California Department of Health Care Services for substance use disorder services and authorize the Behavioral Health Services director to sign the amendment.
5.6: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meetings on Sept. 22, Nov. 17, Dec. 1, Dec. 8, Dec. 15 and Jan. 19.
5.7: Adopt resolution approving right of way certification for middletown multi-use path project, State project no. ATPL-5914(102) and authorizing the Public Works director to sign the certification.
5.8: Approve memorandum of understanding between Social Services and Behavioral Health Services, from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, for CalWORKs mental health and substance abuse services, and authorize the chair to sign.
5.9: A) Approve the FY 2020 Emergency Management Performance Grant application in the amount of $138,093, (B) authorize Sheriff Brian Martin to sign the grant subaward face sheet, the authorized agent document and the subrecipient grants management assessment form; (C) authorize County Administrative Officer Carol J. Huchingson to act as the authorized agent on behalf of the county to sign the standard assurances and initial each page, the lobbying certification and the FFATA financial disclosure document and (D) authorize the chairperson of the Board of Supervisors to sign the certification of the governing body resolution.
5.10: (a) Approve letter of agreement between the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice in the amount of $275,000 for the period Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021; and (b) authorize sheriff to sign the agreement and (c) authorize the chairman to sign workplace certifications and grant assurances.
5.11: (A) Approve the FY 2020 Homeland Security application in the amount of $141,753, (B) authorize Sheriff Brian Martin to sign the grant subaward face sheet, the authorized agent document and the subrecipient grants management assessment form; (C) authorize County Administrative Officer Carol J. Huchingson to act as the authorized agent on behalf of the county to sign the standard assurances and initial each page, the lobbying certification and the FFATA financial disclosure document and (D) authorize the chairperson of the Board of Supervisors to sign the certification of the governing body resolution.
5.12: Approval of background investigation contract with Robert Nishiyama.
5.13: (a) Waive the competitive bid process under Ordinance #2406, Section 38.2 as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of the goods; and (b) approve the Special Districts Administrator acting as the assistant purchasing agent to issue and sign a purchase order in the amount not to exceed $65,000 to Carbon Activated Corp, USA for the removal and replacement of 32,000 pounds spent media from two GAC filter systems in CSA #20 Soda Bay Water.
5.14: (a) Adopt resolution revising the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Adopted Budget of the County of Lake by cancelling reserves in Fund 253 Middletown Sewer O&M Reserve Designation, in the amount of $5,000 to make appropriations in the Budget Unit 8353, Object Code 62-74 to pay for generators for Middletown Sewer Lift Stations No. 1 and No. 2.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:06 a.m.: Consideration of update on COVID-19.
6.3, 9:30 a.m.: Consideration of resolution adopting a Lake County cannabis equity assessment and adopting the Lake Local Equity Program and Program Manual .
6.4, 10 a.m.: Consideration of a report on the Lake County CARES Small Business Grant Program.
6.5, 11 a.m.: Public hearing, appeal of Vicious Animal Abatement Case Number #223, located at 9003 Fairway Kelseyville, CA 95451 (Diana Peterson).
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration of update on upcoming sale of tax defaulted properties.
7.3: Sitting as the Lake County Air Quality Management District Board of Directors: Request re-appointment of nancy perrin to the Lake County Air Quality Management District Hearing Board pursuant to Health and Safety Code.
7.4: Consideration of first quarter report from Economic Development Task Force.
7.5: Reconsideration of temporary closure of the Board of Supervisors Chambers for in-person meetings.
7.6: Consideration of the following advisory board appointments: Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee, East Region Town Hall.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9(d)(1) – City of Clearlake v. County of Lake, et al.
8.2: Conference with legal counsel: Decision whether to initiate litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(4) – One potential case.
8.3: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)2), (e)(3) – One potential case.
Email Elizabeth Larson at