1 New Death, 94 New Covid-19 Cases In Tuolumne, 39 In Calaveras

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Tuolumne County Public Health reports the death of a woman in her 60s that was determined to be due to Covid-19, she was not vaccinated. There are 94 new Covid-19 positive residents identified since yesterday, 62 are unvaccinated. Tuolumne County’s active community cases increased 76 to 298 including 10 people who are hospitalized, three people in the hospital with Covid-19 are vaccinated.

Tuolumne County Public Health says “While our COVID response team continues case investigation and contact tracing efforts, due to the large increase in cases that we are experiencing, we will not reach everyone. If you receive a positive test result, you will likely receive a text or email from a “Virtual Agent” to make contact and provide some information on what to do next. You can help slow the spread of Covid-19 by responding to texts, calls, or emails, and self-isolating when you have symptoms or a positive test result. Also notify any close contacts you’ve had from 2 days before you became ill or got tested. Any close contacts should follow current quarantine guidance and get tested 3-5 days after exposure. If you are at high risk of severe disease or hospitalization, you can contact your doctor to discuss potential treatment options. If you are not symptomatic, have not tested positive for COVID-19 recently, and are not in quarantine, get vaccinated or boosted.”

Public Health included in their report two new Sierra Conservation Center inmate cases in addition to yesterday’s two cases. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) stated in a January 3 letter they learned several staff members and two additional inmates at Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) tested positive for Covid-19. Agencies involved identified the cases as linked and determined SCC has an outbreak. SCC Warden Patrick Eaton states they are doing a contact investigation and will continue to self-screen before entering the facility and test weekly adding in his statement to all SCC inmates, “Heightened anxiety is all but inevitable in these stressful, unprecedented times, and there is no immediate relief in sight. However, it is important to remember you are not alone and there are resources available to [inmates].” The SCC staff has self-reported 435 positive staff cases since the pandemic began with 13 active infections in the most recent report released December 31. There have been 1,625 inmate cases, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports five active Covid cases at the Sierra Conservation Center. The SCC manages 3,202 inmates including all the southern fire conservation camps and has tested 26% of the prison’s population in the past 14 days.

Public Health Officials reference the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) updated Isolation and Quarantine guidelines for the public here and for healthcare personnel here and issued an update to Tuolumne County’s Health Officer Order clarifying isolation and quarantine times for those who test positive and close contacts (10 days or with exceptions 5 days) as detailed here.  There is a special exception for a modified quarantine when the exposure occurs in a school setting where both the case and the contact are wearing face masks. In that situation, the student may attend scheduled classes, co-curricular events, and participate in extracurricular events (meetings and practice) with a well-fitting mask but may not attend extracurricular or community events, and must otherwise be at home. In addition to the test on the fifth day, the student should test on the first day of quarantine.

The newly reported community cases include nine cases age 17 or younger and 18 cases age 60 or older. The new Covid cases by gender and age: four girls and two boys age 11 or younger, two girls and one boy age 12 to 17, eight women and five men age 18 to 29, 14 women and 10 men in their 30s, 10 women and eight men in their 40s, eight women and two men in their 50s, five women and five men in their 60s, two women and two men in their 70s, one man in his 80s and one woman and two men in their 90s.

The total current case rate, a 14-day average for Tuolumne County increased to 46.4 from 37 per 100,000 population yesterday. The case rate reached a low of 15.1 on December 17th. A total of 15 individuals were released from isolation, in all 6,440 have been released from isolation. The number of active cases has been above 60 since near the end of July, the first three Delta cases were identified July 2nd active cases peaked August 16th at 407, with the lowest active cases since July being 62 on November 29th. The county sends samples from residents for sequencing which takes time, so far the Omicron Covid-19 variant has not been detected yet. A total of 59% of the population eligible to get vaccinated has been vaccinated.

Calaveras County Public Health reports 39 new cases since yesterday. There are 50 active cases with one covid positive person hospitalized. Three of the new cases are age 17 or younger and six are age 65 and older, in total 856 under age 17 and 795 over 65 have been identified with Covid. There are 12 more recovered cases for a total of 4,569 cases recovered and 55.69% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated in the county.

Mariposa County Public Health says “We expect Omicron is present in Mariposa County although we have not received sequencing data.” Public Health officials note infection control experts and epidemiologists continue to learn about the virus and provide updates about the Omicron variant:

COVID-19 Testing Public health recommends scheduling an appointment to get tested 5 days after possible exposure and if you are having any symptoms, to get tested right away. The Tuolumne County State testing site schedule is 7 days a week from 7 AM to 7 PM at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds.  Appointments can be made at www.lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling 888-634-1123. Testing is also available at pharmacies, at Rapid Care, and the hospital emergency department if you are experiencing any symptoms, or contact your healthcare provider.

COVID-19 Vaccine appointments and booster vaccine shots are recommended for anyone age 16 and older (Pfizer only for age 16-17) Vaccine appointments for children ages 5 to 11 can be made through myturn.ca.gov, or by calling 833-422-4255, or through local pharmacies more details are here. For ways to manage a fear of needles or a phobia and help others with it, view the CDC’s information guide here. Learn more about self-care strategies by visiting namica.org