It seemed like business was starting to recover from setbacks due to the COVID-19 crisis earlier this year, and adjust to the "new norm"—implementing new protocols, intensified precautions and a lot of out-of-the-box thinking—just in time for our busy tourism season.
Then...WHAM! Populations began moving, testing increased and Plumas and other counties in California started seeing sharp increases in "positive cases."
As I write this update on Friday, July 17, I know the count on positive cases in our county will rise again before I push the newsletter out, which is why I have not sent out information on a daily basis. That said, I am encouraged that (so far...knock on wood) Plumas County has not lost anyone to the virus. If you
do need more timely information and have not already done so, please check out
https://www.plumascounty.us/2669/Novel-Coronavirus-2019-COVID-19
It is sometimes frustrating to know the best way to conduct business safely in these unprecedented times. I find myself switching channels when our governor comes on, but then I have to go back and see how his new orders may affect us here in the high country.
When folks call Lost Sierra Chamber or when they stop by the Visitor Center, I often have to go back to my emails to make sure I am giving current, up-to-date information possible. It's a moving target, as most of you know.
California issued the following, effective July 13, 2020:
ALL counties must close indoor operations in these sectors:
- Dine-in restaurants
- Wineries and tasting rooms
- Movie theaters
- Family entertainment centers (for example: bowling alleys, miniature golf, batting cages and arcades)
- Zoos and museums
- Cardrooms
- Additionally, bars, brewpubs, breweries, and pubs must close all operations both indoor and outdoor statewide.
Governor Newsom shut the entire state of California down earlier this year, with strict stay-at-home orders, but later relaxed the order in some rural counties, including Plumas, which had low or no reported COVID cases at that time.
With new cases being reported daily, Plumas and other counties are hoping to stay off the state's "watch list," (33 counties, currently) which could devastate commerce in our county.
There are five indicators the state looks at in monitoring its counties for the watch list:
- A COVID-19 case rate of 100 or more per 100,000 residents over a two-week period exceeds the state's threshold. Alternatively, a case rate of more than 25, plus a testing positivity rate of 8% or greater, also exceeds the state's benchmark.
- More than a 10% increase in COVID-19-hospitalized patients over a three-day average. However, counties with an average of under 20 laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized over the past 3 days are not considered to have met the increasing hospitalization criteria.
- This category looks at either the percentage of available ICU hospital beds or the percentage of available ventilators. With ICU bed availability, anything under 20% falls short of the state's benchmark.
- The percentage of available ventilators is also considered, with under 25% falling short of the state's benchmark. All counties had met this recommendation as of Wednesday, state data shows.
So far, Plumas is squeaking by. We at LSCC and LSVC hope our social distancing practices within the county will pay off, and allow our community to continue operating under the "new norm," such as it is.
We do want to thank both the state of California and the Plumas County Public Health Agency for keeping the public safe, as well as our Northstate lawmakers: Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale), Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama), Senator Brian Dahle (R-Bieber), Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) and Assemblywoman Megan Dahle (R-Bieber) for having our backs and getting more relaxed orders for us. We have been working directly with PCPHA and Representative LaMalfa to communicate California's modified orders for Plumas County to our local businesses, residents and our out-of-town visitors.
