News

Details

Written by: Lake County News reports

Published: 19 July 2020

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino County Public Health said that it has seen a rise in COVID-19 outbreaks over the last few weeks, with the agency now working with four local businesses to contain the spread and conduct investigations.

As of Saturday, Mendocino County had 194 cases of COVID-19, 11 of whom are currently hospitalized, including one who was transferred to Napa County for a higher level of care.

Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, two cases of COVID-19 in a workplace constitute an outbreak.

Mendocino County Public Health reported that it is working closely with all known locations who have COVID-19 positive employees to contain the spread, including giving orders to isolate cases, and quarantine close contacts – defined as being closer than 6 feet for more than 10 minutes regardless of facial covering use – for 14 days from the last contact with a known case.

Officials said all locations have been cooperative in containment and investigation efforts.

Outbreaks have been reported at the following four locations.

Sherwood Oaks Health Center, Fort Bragg

Sherwood Oaks Health Center has had seven residents test positive for COVID-19, two of whom have been hospitalized and one of whom has died. Five employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

Ukiah Natural Foods Co-Op

Ukiah Natural Foods Co-Op has had two employees test positive for COVID-19. Further testing of co-op employees is being facilitated by Public Health.

“We are following the guidance as recommended by the Public Health Officer, Dr. Doohan, and are shutting down while working on the case investigation and contact tracing by Public Health,” said Co-Op Manager Lori Rosenberg. “Our impacted staff are quarantined, and we have hired a professional deep cleaning service to clean the entire store. We are taking staff temperatures, and ensuring enhanced efforts for social distancing and disinfecting all surfaces. Our concern at this time is for the health of staff, shoppers and the community.”

The Fort Bragg Center for Laser & Cosmetic Dentistry

The Fort Bragg Center for Laser & Cosmetic Dentistry has had one employee test positive for COVID 19.

“The employee has been isolating since July 9th and no other employees or patients have reported experiencing any symptoms,” as stated by Dr. Alan Limbird.

Dr. Limbird is working closely with public health to ensure a safe reopening for employees and patients. Mendocino County Public Health is providing outbreak testing for any patients who may have been exposed between June 22 and July 13.

Ardzrooni Vineyard, Anderson Valley

Ardzrooni Vineyard has had four employees test positive for COVID-19. Isolation and quarantine housing has been arranged for those affected by this outbreak. Outbreak testing will be offered early next week.

Indication of uncontrolled community spread, which has already been seen in Sonoma and Marin counties, includes outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities and grocery stores, officials said.

The COVID-19 surge has now hit Mendocino County, and will likely worsen until Labor Day, given state modeling data, according to Mendocino County Public Health.

“We urge you, follow the Health Officer orders, and remember to wear your mask,” said Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan. “They have been created to save lives.”

Details

Written by: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Published: 19 July 2020

NASA now is targeting Oct. 31, 2021, for the launch of the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope from French Guiana, due to impacts from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as well as technical challenges.

This decision is based on a recently completed schedule risk assessment of the remaining integration and test activities prior to launch. Previously, Webb was targeted to launch in March 2021.

“The perseverance and innovation of the entire Webb Telescope team has enabled us to work through challenging situations we could not have foreseen on our path to launch this unprecedented mission,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “Webb is the world’s most complex space observatory, and our top science priority, and we’ve worked hard to keep progress moving during the pandemic. The team continues to be focused on reaching milestones and arriving at the technical solutions that will see us through to this new launch date next year.”

Testing of the observatory continues to go well at Northrop Grumman, the mission’s main industry partner, in Redondo Beach, California, despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the pandemic’s associated delays, the team made significant progress in achieving important milestones to prepare for launch in 2021.

As schedule margins grew tighter last fall, the agency planned to assess the progress of the project in April. This assessment was postponed due to the pandemic and was completed this week.

The factors contributing to the decision to move the launch date include the impacts of augmented safety precautions, reduced on-site personnel, disruption to shift work, and other technical challenges. Webb will use existing program funding to stay within its $8.8 billion development cost cap.

“Based on current projections, the program expects to complete the remaining work within the new schedule without requiring additional funds,” said Gregory Robinson, NASA Webb program director at the agency’s headquarters. “Although efficiency has been affected and there are challenges ahead, we have retired significant risk through the achievements and good schedule performance over the past year. After resuming full operations to prepare for upcoming final observatory system-level environmental testing this summer, major progress continues towards preparing this highly complex observatory for launch.”

The project team will continue to complete a final set of extremely difficult environmental tests of the full observatory before it will be shipped to the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, situated on the northeastern coast of South America.

This week, the project successfully completed electrical testing of the observatory. The test highlighted a major milestone in preparation for the upcoming acoustics and vibration environmental tests of the full observatory that are scheduled to start in August.

In addition to ongoing deployments, ground system testing of the fully integrated observatory has followed immediately afterwards. Ensuring that every element of Webb functions properly before it gets to space is critical to its success.

The design of a very large space telescope and highly sophisticated instruments was required to enable Webb to answer fundamental questions about our cosmic origins outlined in the National Academy of Sciences 2000 Decadal Survey.

“Webb is designed to build upon the incredible legacies of the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, by observing the infrared universe and exploring every phase of cosmic history,” said Eric Smith, NASA Webb’s program scientist at the agency’s headquarters. “The observatory will detect light from the first generation of galaxies that formed in the early universe after the big bang and study the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets for possible signs of habitability.”

Early next year, Webb will be will folded “origami-style” for shipment to the launch site and fitted compactly inside Arianespace’s Ariane 5 launch vehicle fairing, which is about 16 feet (5 meters) wide.

On its journey to space, Webb will be the first mission to complete an intricate and technically challenging series of deployments – a critical part of Webb’s journey to its orbit about one million miles from Earth.

Once in orbit, Webb will unfold its delicate five-layered sunshield until it reaches the size of a tennis court. Webb will then deploy its iconic 6.5-meter primary mirror that will detect the faint light of far-away stars and galaxies.

Webb is NASA’s next great space science observatory, which will help in solving the mysteries of our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mystifying structures and origins of our universe. Webb is an international program led by NASA, along with its partners European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

For more information about Webb, go to https://www.nasa.gov/webb .

Details

Written by: Lake County News reports

Published: 18 July 2020

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association has received a grant that will help it purchase materials necessary to repair the boardwalk on the Cache Creek Nature Trail located at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park.

Part of the cost of the materials is being provided by a $5,000 “Keeping Parks Whole” grant that AMIA has received from the California State Parks Foundation, a member-supported nonprofit that works to create support for California state parks.

“Critical funding from state resources as well as revenue generated from park visitation has been greatly jeopardized by the COVID-19 crisis, and this impact has been felt by park partners who provide financial, educational, and programmatic resources to the community,” said California State Parks Foundation Executive Director Rachel Norton. “Supporting partners like Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association with our Keeping Parks Whole Grant ensures Anderson Marsh State Historic Park will remain protected while also preparing a safe and welcoming experience when the park fully reopens.”

“The iconic wooden boardwalk on the Cache Creek Nature Trail allows access to the Cache Creek habitat at the Park, home to unique flora and wildlife,” explained Henry Bornstein, AMIA treasurer. “Due to the lack of funding, the boardwalk is suffering from serious deferred maintenance and unless repaired, it could become unavailable for guided nature walks and public-school field trips when the park fully reopens. AMIA thanks the California State Parks Foundation for its financial support.”

The repair work will be done by State Parks maintenance personnel using the materials donated by AMIA.

“California State Parks appreciates the ongoing help and support of our partner Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association,” said Park Maintenance Chief Wendy Lieberg. “In times of need, they are always there to help keep the park safe and maintained.”

In compliance with current COVID-19 guidelines, guided public tours at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park have been temporarily suspended. All of the hiking trails, however, remain open and available to the public.

Roberta Lyons, AMIA president, noted that “getting some outdoors exercise has been shown to reduce the stress that we are all now experiencing. AMIA invites the public to take advantage of the opportunity to get into nature and take a walk in the park, while observing recommended guidelines regarding social distancing, face coverings and hygiene.”

Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is located off of Highway 53 between Lower Lake and Clearlake and is open to the public during daylight hours.

More information about hiking at the Park can be found at www.andersonmarsh.org or by calling AMIA at 707-995-2658.