COVID-19 and Humboldt

Below: The Outpost’s stories on the novel coronavirus pandemic. Humboldt County has had only one confirmed patient at the time of this writing — Friday, March 13 — and that person has since recovered.

Still, as has happened everywhere in the world, the COVID-19 virus has altered daily life. Here’s the best information we have at the moment.

 

• Shelter in place. Humboldt County is under a shelter-in-place order that will last until at least April 9. Here is a video of the announcement of that order. Here is a summary.
• Prevention, Slowing the Pandemic: Here is a page with the current best practices, from the Centers for Disease Control.
• Feeling sick? Your first step is probably to check out these online self-assessment tools from Mad River Hospital and Providence Health (St. Joe’s).
• Humboldt County Resources: The Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services has several local resources available, including an email and phone hotline.
  • Humboldt Health Alert web page
  • General information:
    707-441-5000
    covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us
  • Medical advice, questions about testing:
    707-445-6200
    hhsphb@co.humboldt.ca.us.

• Kids need food? The Humboldt County Office of Education maintains a list of pickup spots for free meals for children. Find it here.
• Unemployment, Disability, Paid Family Leave: California state government has relaxed certain regulations around unemployment, disability and paid family leave programs. If you’ve been affected by the coronavirus — if you’ve been laid off, or if you or your loved ones are in quarantined — you can apply for services immediately. See this FAQ from the Employment Development Department. 
• Small business owners should check in with the North Coast Small Business Development Center, which is maintaining a mailing list and a list of federal, state and local resources to assist local businesses through the crises. See the SBDC’s COVID-19 page here.
• Restaurants: We are attempting to maintain a list of restaurants doing delivery, curbside pickup or something else new, due to the pandemic. Find it here.
• School Closures: All Humboldt County school campuses are currently closed. The Humboldt County Office of Education is keeping a list of them, including provisional reopening dates. Find it at this link.
• Event Cancellation: Here is a necessarily incomplete list of Humboldt County events that have been canceled due to the pandemic. At this point, it’s probably best to assume the event has been canceled, and it’s almost certainly better not to go to it in any case.