Santa Cruz County’s Fourth Dead, “Flags” National Watch List – Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz — COVID-19-related complications killed a fourth population Thursday, health officials said Thursday and Santa Cruz County is now “officially flagged” on the state’s coronavirus surveillance list. However, the number of virus cases is increasing.

Dr. Gale Newell, a health officer in Santa Cruz County, said on Saturday that a healthy 70-year-old resident was on Saturday after being hospitalized for heart problems on Thursday at a press conference and diagnosed with COVID-19. Announced dead.

“COVID is listed as a contributor to his death certificate, and we will count him as one of our deaths,” Newell said. She added that men were likely to have caught the virus from person-to-person contact, and other families also tested positive.

Flagging the state will add Santa Cruz County to more than 30 counties already on the California watch list. This includes the entire Bay Area, excluding Monterey and San Mateo.

“We have a dramatically increased number of cases, and you know that our case rate is now increasing to the point where we have officially flagged the state county watch list. I hope you all know.”

Remaining on the list for three days creates additional restrictions that force malls, churches, barbers, hairdressers, tattoo parlors, and non-essential offices to close or shift all their work outdoors. ..

However, due to the somewhat uncertain bureaucratic process between the county and its staff, the exact time when these restrictions took effect remained unknown. Newel only predicts the “should take effect in about a week from now” limit.

A California Public Health spokesman confirmed that Santa Cruz County was not yet on the watchlist as of Thursday, but did not provide specific information about the state of the county.

A week of tragic events in the county and throughout California, the total number of cases ever reported on a pandemic Wednesday surpasses New York for the first time, with more than 420,000 cases reported, including at least 8,035 deaths throughout the state. it was done.

Santa Cruz County continues to have lower-than-average case rates and has been identified with far fewer viral-related deaths than most neighborhoods.

However, confirmed cases have exploded in recent weeks, significantly approaching the higher rates seen in the region.

According to Newell, more than two-thirds of all known cases in the county have been reported in the past two weeks. The total number of active cases in Santa Cruz County has risen to 511, surpassing 500 for the first time this week during the pandemic. To date, the total number was listed on Thursday at 848.

According to Newell, the number of additional cases reported had not yet been reflected in county data. “This takes some time and our staff is overwhelmed by the huge number of cases that are increasing every day,” she said.

The county health department’s director, Mimi Hall, predicted by Monday that the total number of cases would be “well over 1,000.”

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and ICU beds also peaked this week. As of Tuesday, state data showed 19 confirmed hospitalizations, from 16 on the previous peak on 13 July. State data show that local ICU bed COVID-19 patients peaked on Tuesday.

“The hospitalization rate has increased, but it is manageable so far,” said Dr. David Ghilarducci, deputy health officer in the county.

Bed availability in the ICU is still the number one concern, and the county is considering reactivating the surge or alternative care facility in some way, rather than reopening a separate facility, rather than the capacity of the hospital itself. Prefer to enlarge.

Among the numerous clusters and outbreaks in recent times, five of seven county skilled nursing homes have infected residents or staff. One prisoner also tested positive, but another outbreak closed the homeless shelter in South County.

According to Hall, the significant increase in the number of litigation cases has outweighed the county’s contact tracers’ ability to follow up on each case, forcing a shift in strategy. She added that the duration of some of the tests in the private lab (up to 10 days) is another challenge for contact tracers.

Hall said contact tracing is “prioritized” to vulnerable groups, people living in gathered environments, and people working in certain related industries.

“If we have a pandemic handbook, if we can’t contact each new case within 24 hours and start a case investigation within 48 hours, that is, Hall said.