Humboldt County Public Health has confirmed 14 new COVID-19 tests since Friday, on the heels of the 36 cases reported last week.

The county has seen 359 confirmed to date, with 21 hospitalizations and four deaths. Sixty-one cases remain active.

Today’s cases were confirmed after 948 samples were processed with a positivity rate of about 1.5 percent. They continue a recent surge in the local caseload that has seen 126 cases confirmed so far this month, eclipsing July’s total of 100 cases with seven days remaining in August.

Five of the new cases announced last week were confirmed in Humboldt State University students returning to on-campus housing in preparation for the school’s start of online instruction today and the limited beginning of in-person classes Sept. 8. The university moved nearly 800 students into on-campus dorms and apartments last week and had all of them tested while asking them to voluntarily quarantine for 14 days. It’s not currently clear how many of the students have been tested at this point, and how many test results — if any — remain pending.

An email exchange released Aug. 14 indicated HSU was proceeding with plans despite the objections of Health Officer Teresa Frankovich, who felt they were unsafe given the state of COVID-19’s spread locally.

The increasing number of cases this month has prompted public health to raise the “Effectiveness of Disease Control” to level three on the county’s Alert Level Assessment Tool.

Nationally, more than 5.7 million COVID-19 cases have been officially confirmed to date with 176,223 fatalities, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Those include 668,615 cases and 12,152 deaths in California, according to the Department of Public Health.

Humboldt County Public Health is urging residents who aren’t experiencing symptoms to get tested free of charge at the mobile testing site at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds. (People experiencing symptoms should contact a healthcare provider, officials say.) Asymptomatic individuals can make an appointment to be tested by visiting https://Lhi.care/covidtesting or calling (888) 634-1123. Tests will be administered free of charge, whether or not people have health insurance.

Basics of COVID-19

The California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control, state that symptoms of novel coronavirus include cough and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, or at least two of the following: fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat or a new loss of taste or smell.

Emergency warning signs needing immediate medical attention include difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion or inability to awaken, and bluish lips or face.

In an emergency situation:

Call ahead to the emergency room or inform the 911 operator of the possibility of a COVID-19 infection and, if possible, put on a face mask.

Symptoms or possible exposure:

In the case of a possible exposure with symptoms — fever and cough or shortness of breath — contact your doctor’s office or the county Department of Health and Human Services, which has a hotline that can be reached during business hours at covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or at (707) 441-5000. Residents seeking medical advice or questions about testing are asked to contact Public Health at hhsphb@co.humbldt.ca.us or at (707) 445-6200.

St. Joseph Health has also set up a virtual assessment tool as an aid to assess risk factors for contracting the illness, which can be found at here.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has started a rumor-control webpage that can be found here.

For the Journal‘s latest COVID stories, updates and information resources, click here.

Read the county’s release below.

Five new cases were reported today, bringing to 325 the total number of county residents who have tested positive for the virus.

August 24, 2020 – 14 Cases Reported Since Friday
707-441-5000 ; covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us ; Monday-Friday 8am to 5pm Opens in new window
Humboldt County’s confirmed COVID-19 case count now stands at 359. Fourteen new cases have been reported since Friday.

The daily and weekly datasets on the Humboldt County Data Dashboard have been updated. Below are a few highlights:

Humboldt County’s rate of confirmed cases is 265 per 100,000 residents, significantly lower than the state rate of 1,662 and national rate of 1,737 per 100,000 residents.
The case doubling time is now 39 days, down from 41 days since last Monday’s report.
The 20-29 age group continues to represent the largest number of cases at nearly 25 percent of cases.
Today’s alert level stands at three or level orange. Visit humboldtgov.org/dashboard to view the county’s Alert Level Assessment tool.

For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or calling 707-441-5000.

Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard: humboldtgov.org/dashboard,
Follow us on Facebook: @HumCoCOVID19,
Instagram: @HumCoCOVID19,
Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19, and
Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert

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