Mono County COVID-19 News and Updates: March 17
Mono County declares local health emergency and releases testing numbers, Mammoth Mountain says that it is not evicting employee housing…
Mono County declares local health emergency and releases testing numbers, Mammoth Mountain says that it is not evicting employee housing residents
By Monica Prelle
Updated: Wednesday, March 18 at 8:00 a.m.
Mono County Public Health Officer Dr. Tom Boo declared a local health emergency on Monday. Today the department released COVID-19 testing numbers. There are zero confirmed positive cases of the novel coronavirus in Mono County, and four negative results out of 23 tests given. Results from 19 tests are still pending.
Mammoth Hospital is unable to test patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms such as fever or cough due to a shortage of test kits. These tests for those who are very sick. The lack of testing, which is not unique to our region, is skewing the number of positive results here and nation-wide.
“These testing numbers do not reflect the reality that this virus is certainly here circulating in our community, and probably has been for a few weeks,” Dr. Boo said. “We should all assume that the risk is immediate and real and take appropriate precautions.”
“Please be aware that many people have mild disease and may not know that they are infected and capable of spreading COVID-19 to other people. This disease can kill people so please change your behavior now if you have not already done so, to protect yourselves and others.”
Mono County Public Health released new and more detailed mandates late Wednesday night including: Health clubs and gyms are to be closed. Theatres, bowling alleys and other indoor recreations venues should close. All non-essential public gatherings or assemblies, regardless of size are prohibited.
“This is a very serious situation and we need to act now to reduce the harm this virus will do to our community,” said Dr. Boo wrote in a statement. “These will be challenging times, but we will get through this as a community.”
The emergency declaration gives the county better flexibility to prepare and respond, and gives Dr. Boo additional legal authority if necessary.
The decision to close Mammoth and June mountains was unilateral across Alterra Mountain Company, and based on both scientific evidence and medical guidance, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area President and COO Mark Brownlie said this morning. They did not take the decision lightly, knowing that the ski area is important to the livelihood of the community.
“It is definitely a fluid situation right now,” Brownlie said. “We will reopen at some point. I don’t know when that is. What we need to do right now is mitigate the challenges that coronavirus brings to our community.”
“Secondary to that, as business owners we need to be as well prepared as possible to reopen and maximize opportunities moving forward. We are not in a siege mentality here. We have our chins up and looking forward to being back in business here, but the primary over-arching principle is the safety of the community — safety first at all costs.”
With the ski area closure MMSA has laid-off all winter seasonal staff, while most full-time and year-round staff have been given the option to work from home when possible. Brownlie says remote work is encouraged. The mountain has put together a housing task force to help employees relocate to their home or summer bases.
“We are not evicting anyone,” Brownlie said. “It feels terrible to hear and read that we are evicting people. We are definitely not doing that. (The rumors) are a sign of stress that people are under.”
According to Brownlie, there is no standard for employee housing departures at this time and they are assisting employees on an individual basis.
“We don’t have criteria because we don’t want to limit decision making. There are so many different scenarios,” he said. ‘That’s why we put the head of our employee relations as the point of contact to address specific individual requirements and do the right thing by those people.”
Additionally, food from mountain restaurants will be taken to staff housing for employee meals and food banks, and the housing task force is offering transportation assistance for staff moving out of the area.
Yes, the mountain is still doing avalanche control work for the safety of working employees and mountain operations. However, the mountain is closed to uphill skiing. Brownlie did not indicate any change to this policy moving forward.
Yesterday Gov. Newsom issued an executive order, which authorizes local governments to halt evictions for renters and homeowners, slows foreclosures, and protects against utility shutoffs for Californians affected by COVID-19. The order, however, does not relieve tenants from paying rent or limit a landlord’s ability to collect rent that is due.
“People shouldn’t lose or be forced out of their home because of the spread of COVID-19,” Gov. Newsom said in a statement. “Over the next few weeks, everyone will have to make sacrifices — but a place to live shouldn’t be one of them. I strongly encourage cities and counties take up this authority to protect Californians.”
The California Department of Health issued even stricter food and beverage guidelines yesterday. Restaurants are now being mandated to close for dining service and should be open for to-go options only including drive-through, pick-up, and delivery. To be clear, coffee shops fall under “restaurants” and may continue to offer pick-up service, but provide no indoor or outdoor seating for customers.
“I have all the expectation that these guidelines will be followed,” Gov. Newsom said in a press conference. “We have the capacity to enforce if necessary.”
Many Mammoth restaurants had already proactively taken these measures, however there are too many changes to local business hours and operations to accurately list here.
As a preventative measure, the previously scheduled Mono County COVID-19 community meetings have been cancelled. A new virtual meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, March 19 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. online.
Mono County Libraries are closed through March 31.
Also, for what it’s worth: The novel coronavirus is the result of evolution and not created in a lab, a new study finds. The study’s lead author, Kristian G. Andersen, is from the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla.
Monica Prelle is a Mammoth Lakes-based freelance journalist.