Mono County Covid-19 News and Updates: April 9
Gov. Newsom supports delay in fishing season opener; Mayhem at Dept.of Fish and Game meeting; clarification on the proposed Highway 203…
Gov. Newsom supports delay in fishing season opener; mayhem at Dept. of Fish and Game meeting; clarification on the proposed Highway 203 checkpoint
Updated: The cancelled DFG meeting has been rescheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 15. Public comments will be accepted via email until the day prior. The meeting will be streamed online here.
By Monica Prelle
Just hours after a California Department of Fish and Game meeting was cancelled this morning because of unruly commenters, Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed support for delaying fishing opener — and specifically in Inyo and Mono counties.
“I’m passionate about fishing myself,” Gov. Newsom said. “We are not canceling the fishing season. We just want to delay, not deny that season.”
Last week the Mono County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to move forward with postponement fishing season opener, but only the state can change fishing regulations. The board sent a letter to the Department of Fish and Wildlife asking the department to postpone opener and fish stocking until the state’s stay-at-home order is lifted.
The Fish and Game commission planned to discuss changes to fishing regulations in response to COVID-19 public health concerns, but the meeting got out of hand before it could authorize anything.
Earlier this week, a group of conservative politicians in other regions, told followers that the state was planning to outright cancel the fishing season statewide, the Sacramento Bee reported. In actuality, what is proposed is county-specific postponement — a delay, and not a statewide ban.
More than 500 people logged to the teleconference meeting this morning. Organizers asked participants to mute controls, but many did not. “I have a right to speak!” someone shouted. “Make fishing great again!” “Fascists!” At one point there someone played what sounded like sermon. The meeting ended less than 10 minutes after starting and organizers said it would be rescheduled for next week.
Later today, at a previously schedule press conference, the governor apologized for interrupting the state’s public health update to talk about fishing.
“We had two small counties call us up that have some of the greatest fishing in the world, quite literally in the world, not just in the United States — Mono and Inyo County,” Gov. Newsom said.
“They have fishing season coming up and they’re just worried about being overwhelmed by everybody that has a little cabin fever, that want to get out and get on those streams.”
“They felt concerned about the number of people. That is quite rational. The healthcare system up there does not have the resources that many other systems do, if indeed people got injured for any reasons, not just coming into contact with others related to this virus.”
The governor also recognized that other counties have similar concerns and public health officials will be working with DFG to address regulations on a regional basis. The date and time for the rescheduled meeting has not yet been announced.
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported misleading information regarding Highway 203 closure, which caused a lot of confusion and frustration among residents. The Mono County Board of supervisors spent more than an hour discussing what, exactly, is and isn’t happening with Highway 203, and later issued a letter to the community clarifying the issue.
Mammoth Hospital previously sent a letter to the governor requesting closure of Highway 203 to non-residents. CEO Tom Parker now says the hospital did not realize what closure would entail and the hospital has since refocused on stay-at-home messaging.
On March 29, Sherriff Ingrid Braun separately sent a letter to the California Department of Transportation asking for authorization to implement a checkpoint and is currently waiting for a response.
“The checkpoint would not be for any other purpose than to educate people on what the public health orders are and how to abide by them,” Sherriff Braun said. “We do not have martial law; we would not be able to stop anybody.”
If approved, highway checkpoints will operate similar to a DUI checkpoint and will be advertised. Proposed checkpoints are for a limited duration, not 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Last week, Mono County also amended its short-term lodging order extending the date to May 31, in a continued effort to discorage tourism to the area. Counsel Stacy Simon explained that there is nothing new in the county’s order. It re-enforces the governor’s stay-at-home directive and clarifies how it applies locally. The new date on the county order is sooner than what is expected of the state’s open-ended order, she said.
With 20 confirmed positives, the number of COVID-19 cases remains relatively low in Mono County, however the region still has the highest per capita rate in California.
As of April 9, Mono County has a rate of 143 cases per 100,000 people, according to the National COVID-19 Interactive Map, which is nearly double per capita rates in Los Angeles. Inyo County currently has 60 cases per 100,000 people.
Even with high rates, evidence is showing that Mono County residents are doing well at flattenign the curve locally. Mammoth Hospital continues to prepare for surge capactiy, but CEO Tom Parker says the community is doing a great job.
“It’s not going to be ‘stay at home’ messaging forever, but we have got to keep it up, it’s working.” Parker said. “Stick with it — keep doing all the right things.”
(More hospital and public health updates soon.)
Mono County Behavioral Health reminds residents to be kind to oneself and others during this time. If you need someone to talk to, counselors are available for phone support from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily at (760) 924–1740.
The new nurse triage line is available for information and guidance to anyone who is sick and might be experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Residents can call (760) 924–1830 or 211 for nurse support.
Public health community meetings are scheduled weekly on Thursdays in English at 5:30 p.m., and now also weekly in Spanish at 6:30 p.m.
Mono County is currently reporting one death from the coronavirus, 20 positive cases, 77 negative, 15 tests pending; a total of 110 tests have been administered.
Inyo County, which includes Toiyabe Indian Healthcare Project, is currently reporting no deaths, 11 confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus, 116 negative, 28 tests pending, and 155 total tests administered.
Monica Prelle is a Mammoth Lakes-based freelance journalist.