Mammoth Lakes added to state's monitoring list; Truckee/North Lake Tahoe ask visitors to stay away on weekends

To help stop the spread of the coronavirus, California Governor Gavin Newsom has added more counties to his "watch list," those showing concerning trends in rates of COVID-19. This list now numbers 37 which makes up 93 percent of the state's population. There are 58 counties in the state.

New on that list are Mono County (home to Mammoth Mountain) and Santa Cruz County, a popular tourist destination. North Lake Tahoe is in Placer County which was added to the list earlier this month.

Once on the monitoring list, counties must enforce further closures focused on indoor activities, prohibiting them from prohibiting them from opening schools to in-person instruction, salons, zoos and malls.

The state monitors data in three categories with a total of five benchmarks. The categories are:

1. Elevated disease transmission, consisting of two factors: Case rates and positive test results. The benchmarks that trigger placement on the watch list are:

• More than 100 cases per 100,000 population over a two-week period.

• More than 25 cases per 100,000 population, combined with a positive test rate of more than 8 percent (meaning, the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus is more than 8 percent test positivity rate).

2. Increased hospitalizations. If the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 increases by more than 10 percent over a three-day average, a county gets placed on the watch list.

3. Limited hospital capacity, consisting of two factors: Availability of ICU beds and ventilators. The benchmarks that trigger placement on the watch list are:

• ICU bed availability below 20 percent.

• Ventilator availability below 25 percent.

At this time, South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County are not on the watch list. The current case rate per 100,000 for 14 days is 115 and the 7-day positivity rate is 4.9 percent. There are currently two patients in the ICUs at Barton Hospital in South Lake Tahoe and Marshal Hospital in Placerville.

Placer County

Case rate per 100,000 residents is 117.4 and the percentage of ICU beds currently being used is 11.8 percent. Placer County has been on the list since July 9.

On Thursday, July 23, North Lake Tahoe and Truckee officials said in a letter issued by the Town of Truckee that "it has become clear to us that our desirable location is experiencing an exceptionally busy influx of weekend visitors that creates an inability to practice safe physical distancing in the most popular areas in our region."

Even though Truckee is in Nevada County, its cases of COVID-19 have been on the rise since many tourists pass through on the way to Lake Tahoe.

“We have seen substantial issues with parking, camping, calls for service, complaints about trash, large groups not distancing, and overcrowding in public areas and trails," said Truckee Mayor David Polivy. "These issues are all important in preserving our region, and keeping our residents and visitors safe and healthy while also keeping our business community viable.”

The North Lake Tahoe and Truckee officials are strongly discouraging visitors from coming to the region on weekends through at least August 17, 2020, after which time they believe that visitation levels will subside to more manageable levels and better allow physical distancing of 6 feet between people to occur.

“With our current environment of uncertainty, and many of our businesses already having to take measures to reduce or close their operations due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, safety must be our top priority,” states Placer County District 5 Supervisor Cindy Gustafson. “We cannot risk a further surge in COVID-19 cases and want to discourage visitation on weekends during what has historically been our peak summer visitation period, and instead see that visitation occur in what are historically less busy time periods in the late summer and fall.”

From the California Department of Health: Placer County is experiencing increased hospitalizations and limited hospital capacity. Placer County is also experiencing an increasing trend in disease transmission. Drivers of increased disease transmission include large households where staying away from others while ill is difficult, community and extended family gatherings, and indoor work environments where physical distancing is difficult. The rising number of cases of COVID-19 in Placer County as well as in neighboring counties are driving an increase in hospitalizations. Placer County’s two largest hospitals lie on the Placer-Sacramento County border and provide care to residents of both counties, as well as other neighboring counties. Key actions to address the situation include 1) Working with community-based organizations to provide guidance and support to residents of large households were isolation is difficult; 2) Public messaging on the importance of not gathering with non-household members; 3) Outreach to the business community regarding the importance of temperature checks, symptom screenings, face coverings for staff and customers, and supporting ill and exposed employees to stay home; and 4) Working with hospitals to review and, if necessary, implement surge plans.

Mono County

Mono County is home to Mammoth Mountain, Bridgeport, and June Lake. They were added to the monitoring list on July 23. Their current case rate per 100,000 residents for 14 days is 200.6 percent and their 7-day positivity rate is 10.3 percent.

“To mitigate this spread it is now more important than ever to wear a face covering in public if you’re unable to physically distance, stay home if you are sick, frequently wash your hands, regularly clean objects and surfaces and to avoid gatherings in groups of any kind, including with relatives from outside your household,” said Mono County Health Officer Dr. Tom Boo.

There is a Public Health Order in the Town of Mammoth Lakes that requires the following actions by restaurants:

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

All restaurant employees must wear higher level, more protective face coverings at all times while at work, such as: surgical masks as a minimum or N-95 masks. In addition, eye protection is recommended for all employees (already required for dishwashers).

Testing Requirement

At least 30% of total number of employees at each restaurant shall be tested between July 22 – 28 at the Mammoth Lakes Community Center. Mono County Public Health is providing free testing for restaurant employees. It is the responsibility of each restaurant to schedule employees for testing.

Employee Screening

All restaurants shall screen each employee at the beginning of each shift:

Screening must be documented and preserved for the duration of declared emergency
Removes option of having employees certify in writing that they will report symptoms of possible COVID-19 to employer
Sick employees must be excluded from work until cleared by Mono County Public Health or a licensed clinician
Employee Education

All restaurants shall provide their employees with comprehensive training regarding safe practices during COVID-19, including:

Review of the State Public Health Guidelines for restaurants
Review of Cal/OSHA Guidelines for restaurant operation during COVID-19
Review of educational materials and requirements available through the Mono County business portal: https://coronavirus.monocounty.ca.gov/pages/businesses
Violation

Failure by a restaurant to comply with this Order (or State Guidance) shall subject the restaurant to immediate closure:

First violation: immediately closed for 72-hours
Second violation: immediately closed for 5-days
Subsequent violation(s): immediately closed for 7-days
Fines, referral to ABC, etc. are also possible

From the California Department of Health: Mono County has evidence of increasing disease transmission with recent rapid rise in positive cases and percent positives. The only hospital, Mammoth Hospital, a 17 bed CAH with 2 bed ICU, remains relatively unimpacted. About 95% of their cases have been in the Town of Mammoth Lakes (TOML), the largest town, with much less evidence of community transmission in unincorporated areas. County reports that the Hispanic community is disproportionately affected. Drivers include: 1) cases in the restaurant sector (Two-thirds of cases over the last 4 weeks have occurred in restaurant workers or their contacts), 2) Contact and exposure in tourism sector, 3) informal gatherings. County reports that tourism greatly increases their population and social activity and is believed to increase transmission. Informal gatherings are believed to be a significant source of new infections. Key actions to address these concerns include: 1) setting capacity limits on transient lodging in TOML, 2) active promotion of StaySafeToStayOpen behaviors, 3) enforcement of face covering orders and other applicable to busineses. County is working to increase access to testing although reliance on send-out testing is not optimal. Targeted testing in affected business sectors is ongoing. County's contact tracing staff have been able to meet needs to date.