Posted By Kimberly Wear@kimberly wear on Fri, Mar 12, 2021 at 1:18 PM Humboldt County Public Health reported 14 new COVID-19 cases today, making 69 so far this week. Today s cases were reported after laboratories processed 343 samples with a test-positivity rate of 4 percent, bringing the county s case count to 3,349. The California Department of Public Health announced today that a benchmark of distributing some 2 million vaccine doses in underserved areas of the state has been met and the threshold for when counties are moved into the most restrictive COVID-19 risk tier has been revised. According to the county s release, public health officials have expressed cautious optimism about Humboldt s ability to not only remain in the red tier but even find its way back down the COVID-19 risk ladder to reach the orange or yellow levels, if residents continue to practice safety measures, get tested and sign up to be vaccinated
COVID REPORT: Forty-Nine New Cases Confirmed Today, Joint Information Center Says
Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:
A total of 2,220 county residents have tested positive for COVID-19, after 49 new cases were reported today.
In vaccine news, today the county moved into Phase 1B-tier 1, starting with people age 75 and older.
Public Health Director Michele Stephens said, “We continue to work through the tiers in our plan and are now opening up to people 75 and older since there is sufficient vaccine to do so. As we receive additional vaccine, we’ll open up additional tiers.”
Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman said as Public Health wraps up one phase, it’s preparing for the next. “We’re vaccinating groups in tandem,” he said. “We will continue to work with our health care partners to message when and where people can receive their vaccine.”
Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman. | Screenshot from Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
###
At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, everyone seemed to have the same question for Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman: What’s the plan for getting the public vaccinated?
More than 10 months after the first county resident was diagnosed with COVID 19, Humboldt’s case count is skyrocketing, nearly two dozen residents have died, and the local economy remains hobbled by virus-triggered restrictions. Everyone is desperately reaching for the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.
But it hasn’t even been a month since the FDA authorized emergency use of two COVID vaccines, and on Tuesday Hoffman said it’s just not possible to lay out a concrete timeline at this early stage.
Local health officials are expressing concern after the state moved Humboldt County out of the “widespread” COVID-19 risk tier today for the first time in.