162 New Covid Cases In Tuolumne County, 105 In Calaveras

Community Levels via the CDC August 5

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Tuolumne County Public Health reports 136 new lab-confirmed community cases and 26 Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) inmate cases from Saturday, July 30th to today, Friday, August 5th. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports 37 active cases at SCC, last week there were 58 active cases. There are 127 known active community cases down from 163. Positive home tests (rapid/antigen tests) are not counted in the Covid numbers and remain unknown. Lab results come from hospitals or other lab-confirmed testing.

Beginning this week, hospitalizations are being reported as a 14-day daily average based on reported data from the hospital to the California Department of Public Health. The number of hospitalizations over the past 14 days is six and represents people admitted to Adventist Sonora regardless of their county of residence. Tuolumne Public Health officials state “These reports will continue to provide a current picture of the impact to our healthcare system from COVID hospitalizations.”

The newly reported Covid-19 community cases this week include 11 cases age 17 and younger and 50 cases age 60 or older. The new Covid cases demographics: 5 girls and 3 boys age 0 to 11, 2 girls and 1 boy age 12 to 17, 12 women and 9 men age 18 to 29, 13 women and 8 men in their 30s, 9 women and 4 men in their 40s, 11 women and 9 men in their 50s, 15 women and 9 men in their 60s, 5 women and 11 men in their 70s, 6 women and 2 men in their 80s, and 1 woman and 1 man age 90 or older.

The total current case rate, a 14-day average for Tuolumne County decreased to 34 from 41.7 per 100,000 population. A total of 170 more are counted as released from isolation, in all 12,854 have been released from isolation. The 7-day test positivity rate is 15.1% down from 18.3%.

Protect yourself and those around you from COVID-19:

• Get vaccinated; contact your healthcare provider or pharmacy about flu vaccine
• Wear a mask in public, especially indoors
• Stay home when sick!
• Keep your distance and avoid crowds when possible
• Wash hands and clean surfaces frequently

Monkeypox Tuolumne Public health states there are 1,135 probable and confirmed cases in California, from 28 local jurisdictions, an increase of 349 cases this week, (352 last week.) No cases have been identified in Tuolumne County to date. The risk to the general public is considered low at this time. While California is working to increase the number of vaccines available, current availability is extremely limited. Tuolumne County does not have vaccines available at this time. On August 1^st, Governor Newsom declared a State of Emergency to support the monkeypox response statewide as detailed here. For more information, including prevention information about monkeypox, go here.

Calaveras Public Health updates weekly on Tuesdays. They report 105 new lab-confirmed cases from July 27th to August 2nd. The number of cases is up from 64 new lab-confirmed cases among residents the week before, there were 97 the week before that. Calaveras reports 80 active cases, last week there were 59 active cases. There are four active Covid hospitalizations.

Calaveras is back to the high (orange) Community Covid Level but Mariposa joins Mono and Amador counties in the medium (yellow) Covid Level. Tuolumne has been at the High Community Level since June 24th. The Community level is determined by the CDC based on higher of the new hospital admissions and inpatient beds metrics, based on the current level of new cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days. According to the CDC covid transmission remains high in nearly all counties in California and throughout the United States. Locally only Mono and Alpine Counties have lower transmission levels.

COVID-19 Testing If you test positive or have been exposed to COVID-19 – Isolation instructions (click here) To make an appointment for testing at the testing site visit: https://lhi.care/covidtesting

The Mother Lode fairgrounds testing site will close at 3:00 PM on Wednesday, August 17^th otherwise testing is open 7 days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. with closures for meal breaks between 11 am to 12 pm and 4 pm to 5 pm. The State testing site at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds launched Test to Treat operations as detailed here.

• At-home test kits can be ordered for free at https://www.covid.gov/tests.
• Families with school-age children may obtain free kits by contacting the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools office.
• A limited number of free at-home kits are available at the Public Health Department (note, as a healthcare facility, masks are required at all times in our lobby).
• At-home test kits are also available for purchase at pharmacies.
• Testing sites at other locations near the area can be found by visiting: https://myturn.ca.gov/testing.html

COVID-19 Vaccine children aged 6 months to 5 years are now eligible for COVID vaccination. The Tuolumne Public Health team has added vaccinations for this age group to our clinic schedule beginning next week or families can check with their child’s healthcare provider. Appointments for June 27, June 29, or July 1 at the health department on Cedar Road in Sonora are available at myturn.ca.gov.  For more information click here: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-moderna-and-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccines-children

More information about Covid Vaccine booster shots can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical-considerations/covid-19-vaccines-us.html. Appointments in Tuolumne and Calaveras can be made through myturn.ca.gov or by calling 833-422-4255 or through local pharmacies, more details are here.