Spike in coronavirus linked to Mammoth restaurant workforce
With a significant surge in COVID-19 cases, an increasing positivity rate and one hospitalization, Mono County sees new business restrictions.
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A significant surge in COVID-19 cases, mostly in restaurant workforce, lands Mono County on the state watch list
Mono County has earned a spot on the state monitoring list after a significant spike in cases of the coronavirus over the past seven days, mostly in restaurant workforce. The news comes just weeks after reopening to short-term tourism lodging in mid-June.
“We had low and stable cases through May and much of June,” Chief Frank Frievalt told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning. “Right after the Fourth of July the rate of increase has steepened rather dramatically and alarmingly—it is a very concerning situation.”
Over the last seven days, 31 new cases have been reported in Mono County. A few cases are in North County, while the large majority are in Mammoth Lakes. Roughly 65 percent of new positives are restaurant workers and their known contacts, according to Health Officer Dr. Tom Boo. The Latino community also continues to be disproportionately affected.
The positivity rate has increased to 11.32 percent over July 13 to 19, a significant increase from 4.29 percent the previous seven-day period and 0.28 percent two weeks ago, according to health department data presented at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. There is one new hospitalization.
“As we have seen in this pandemic worldwide, hospitalizations and deaths lag behind increases in cases so that is a big concern,” Dr. Boo said. “I expect to see more hospitalized people in the coming weeks. We have been very fortunate in our community, but I don’t think we can realistically expect that to continue.”
Because of an alarming number of cases in Mammoth restaurant workforce, the county issued a new order requiring all employees to wear higher grade medical-grade masks, specifically surgical masks, or N95s. Eye covering is required for dishwashers and recommended for all restaurant workers.
At least 30 percent of all staff at each Mammoth restaurant establishment must be tested by July 28. Mono County Public Health will provide free testing at the Mammoth Lakes Community Center on weekdays beginning on Wednesday, July 22 from 10 am to 1 pm.
“We are not proposing to close restaurants,” Dr. Boo said. “We want to see if there seems to be widespread infection in the employee sector, or if it’s limited to a few establishments and then we’ll take it from there.”
For now, this new order only applies to restaurants in Mammoth Lakes, but it could eventually be applied to other parts of the county.
Mounting scientific evidence suggests the coronavirus is airborne and responsible for the vast majority of cases. Authors of a paper in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases report that the virus can linger in the air for up to three hours and have urged public health officials to call for preventative measures to reduce this risk.
Last week Gov. Newsom ordered all restaurants to move operations outdoors, and closed bars and indoor entertainment centers statewide.
According to Chief Frievalt, the reason for restaurant infection is not the shortcomings of individual businesses, but the nature of the industry in a resort town. The customer does not wear a mask while they are eating and even with tables spaced and restaurants operating at a reduced capacity, it is impossible for workers to distance themselves from customers and each other.
“Restaurants have most of the economic activity, a high level of exchange, high volumes of people, which is what we want for an active economy, but it’s the right recipe for the spread,” Chief Frievalt said. “Our visitors are the vector. If those workers are exposed and establish a community spread, then we lose our ability to control it.”
Mono County earned a spot on the state monitoring list
Cases are now doubling in Mono County every 8.1 days, according to LA Times data reporting, which is currently the highest doubling rate in California.
However the state public health website has not been updated to reflect this data, Dr. Boo said the new hospitalization, and a significant increase in cases and positivity rate has put Mono County well over the state metrics and will be on the monitoring list by Thursday with additional business closures by Sunday of this week, county-wide.
Counties on the monitoring list are required to close fitness centers, offices for non-critical sectors, personal services and salons. Religious services will be required to move outdoors.
Additionally, any county that has remained on the state list will not be allowed to reopen schools until those counties show a decline in coronavirus spread over a 14-day period.
“Have we traded school re-opening at the cost of economic activity?” Chief Frievalt asked the Board of Supervisors. “We knew with an increased economic activity we’d have increased cases.”
Eastern Sierra Unified had planned for a hybrid school year with a combination of virtual and in-person classes, however, if Mono County remains on the watch list the local schools will be required to go fully online. Last week, Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified school districts announced distance learning for all students this coming school year.
More than 90 percent of the state’s population lives in the 33 counties that are currently on the state monitoring list.
Should Mammoth limit tourism occupancy?
At the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday morning, District 1 Supervisor Jennifer Krietz cautioned blaming tourism for an increase in cases even if public health officials have repeatedly warned that an increase in economic activity would result in an increase in cases.
The recent spike comes just weeks after short-term lodging re-opened for recreation and leisure purposes, which has made some residents uneasy. Many are saying, anecdotally, that it is the busiest summer they’ve ever seen.
During public comment, a member of the Mammoth Lakes workforce said visitors had told him that the pandemic was a hoax and that he need not sanitize rental recreation equipment.
“People who are traveling here are making a decision, they are willing to put themselves at risk and to put other people at risk—we need to be conscious of that,” he said. “What will it take to shut down or reduce the capacity for lodging and campgrounds?”
Town Manager Dan Holler said the Emergency Operations team is looking at reducing tourism capacity, but no decisions have been made yet.
“The challenge is dealing with existing reservations and the disruption to lodging operators,” Holler said. “It is on the table, it is something we are looking at.”
Mammoth Lakes Tourism reporting shows lodging occupancy is hovering at 75 percent. Inyo National Forest Campgrounds are operating at 100 percent and daily reports show they are consistently full.
Transfer hospital capacity, testing and more public health data
The testing situation has worsened in Mono County and statewide. Lab response times continue to lag, taking anywhere from a few days to a week for results.
According to Mammoth Hospital spokesperson Ehren Goetz, maintaining adequate rapid testing kits has been an ongoing struggle for the hospital and they only have enough for admissions, emergency surgery, and critically ill patients with COVID symptoms. The supplier is not fulfilling shipments, which is forcing the hospital to send testing out to private labs.
The increase in positive tests combined with a delay in results is also making contact tracing exceedingly difficult, Dr. Boo said. Calls to the 2-1-1 information line have also increased with people who are sick and reporting symptoms of communicable disease and respiratory issues.
Earlier in the stay-at-home period, Mammoth Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Craig Burrows explained that 8,000 feet in elevation is not an ideal place to be a patient with a respiratory illness because of the lack of oxygen at high elevation and the preference will always be to transfer critically ill patients.
Capacity at contract hospitals changes daily, but the ability to transfer critically ill patients for a higher level of care has been “tightening up” since July 8, Chief Frievalt said.
On Monday, Gov. Newsom said coronavirus-related hospitalizations are at record-breaking levels statewide, a 15.8 percent increase over the previous 14 days. The state has 35 percent of ICU bed capacity available.
There is a total of 400,769 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in California and 7,755 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. The statewide 7-day average of new cases continues to climb and is now 9,189 per day. The previous weekly average was 8,382.
Inyo County reported three new cases over the past seven days for a total of 40 cases and one death since the beginning of the pandemic. Mono County has confirmed 84 cases and one death.
This week in Mono County
Testing this week: All Mono County pop-up testing scheduled for the week of July 20 has been canceled to allow the Public Health Department to focus on contact tracing cases. The only public testing this week will be through Verily on July 21 in Mammoth Lakes and July 24 in Walker. Register for a Verily test online.
Wednesday, July 22: Join the Behavioral Health Department for a conversation about Coping with a New Normal from 5:30 to 6:30 online.
Thursday, May 14: The community meeting is back this week on Thursday in English at 5:30 p.m., and (hopefully also) in Spanish at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.
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Wearing a mask is not a political statement it is an IQ test. -- Chief Frank Frievalt
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