April 8, 2020 — Public Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that she is working remotely from San Diego and plans to be back in Mendocino County on Easter Sunday. Doohan also said the shelter in place order will most likely be in effect at least through May third, but the common belief of health officers across the state is that it will last through the end of May. That means schools are most likely not going to be back in session this year, according to superintendent Michelle Hutchins.
Area hospitals are preparing for a surge in cases that’s expected this month. Adventist Health in Ukiah got twenty more ventilators on Monday, and expects to bring the total number of ventilators in the county up to 60 by the end of the week. Some of the machines can serve four people, reported Jen Banks, the emergency medical services coordinator for Mendocino County.
Of course, the most precise decisions can be made with more information, which means more testing. Adventist Health in Ukiah has teamed up with Mendocino County Public health and the public health regional lab in Sonoma County, to test asymptomatic people in vulnerable groups, to see if there’s been community spread. Doohan reported that testing started Tuesday at Plowshares in Ukiah, since the dining room is frequented by many homeless people, who are considered high risk.
And she knows full well that the scope of the problem is unknown. “We do know we have COVID-19 in our community beyond the four cases that tested positive,” she told the board, alluding to the scarcity of testing around the country, which makes it impossible to gather solid epidemiological data. But she also said there has been no outbreak of pneumonia or flu-like illnesses in the county, which are positive indicators that so far, the virus has been kept at bay.
Without that epidemiological data, predictions are based on models. Doohan is keeping a close eye on Sonoma County’s modeling, which predicts that Sonoma’s surge will hit eight weeks from now. Adjusting the models for Mendocino County should help decide when to lift the shelter in place order, which is open-ended here because the governor’s order is open-ended.
“The only weapon we have right now is what we’re doing right now,” she said. “Sheltering in place, social distancing, facial masking, personal protective equipment.”
Banks said more of that is on the way, and offered more details about the ventilators. “We did place additional orders for a very large number of isolation masks and N95 masks and disinfectant wipes early yesterday morning,” she reported. “We don’t have an exact time for a delivery date, but it seems like the orders we place with the state, we hear back within 72 hours, and our second vender we’ve been told about eight to ten days to receive those supplies...Adventist Health Ukiah Valley received 20 additional ventilators yesterday and is scheduled to receive another 25 by the end of the week. They have an additional four more on order, which are intended to go to Mendocino Coast District Hospital.”
But the crisis is not just about the virus. It’s also about voting, and going to school. Katrina Bartolomie, the assessor clerk recorder and registrar of voters, called in to the meeting to say that she is part of a statewide professional association that is drafting an executive resolution asking the governor to make the November election an all mail-in election. She reminded the board that the ballot will be packed, from the presidential race to runoffs in the first and second supervisorial districts.
Hutchins, the superintendent of schools, reported on the hardships in education right now, and how the schools are working to contribute to the effort. “While we say we have modified school,” she reported, her voice shaking, “the reality is schools are closed to kids. Siblings are providing childcare for essential workers, if their parents are essential workers while they try to keep up with their own schooling. This has had a big impact on our community. Mendocino County Office of Ed has canceled all of our classes except for the adult night classes that are training adult medical assistants and phlebotomists. We have divided those classes into smaller cohorts and are respecting the social distancing requirements while we train the medical professionals our community is likely to need in the coming weeks.”