March 11, 2020 — Mendocino County still has no known cases of coronavirus, and county government is considering drastic measures to keep it that way, including curtailing large gatherings. Some local non-profits, including the Mendocino Land Trust and the Noyo Center for Marine Sciences, have canceled events, and CEO Carmel Angelo reported that several state-level government meetings have also been canceled. The impact on the local economy is not yet known, and an ordinance against price gouging is in effect.
At the March 10th Board of Supervisors meeting, County Counsel Christian Curtis said, “Once an emergency has been declared, by state statute there are price gouging protections that go into place immediately.”
Public Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan said she expects Mendocino County to be about three days behind Sonoma County, in terms of experiencing the effects of the new coronavirus, or COVID-19. While commercial testing is now available in some parts of the country, it is not available at Adventist. Test samples must be taken to Santa Rosa via courier.
Angelo added that the county has developed a budget unit to keep track of staff time in preparing for the pandemic, and that her office is considering curtailing unnecessary travel. The court is open, and she said that Chief Probation Officer Izan Locatelli and Sheriff Matt Kendall are working to make sure the jail and juvenile hall are prepared to isolate people who test positive for the virus.
Already, the question of how to isolate patients who do not need to be in the hospital but do need to be kept away from family members or housemates is dovetailing with another ongoing concern. Alternative housing, Angelo reported, is the biggest challenge the county is facing in preparations for the first case, which has not yet materialized.
“Everybody knows,” she told the board, “We do not have a plethora of houses right now.”