UPDATE, 3:05 p.m.: A spokesperson for the county’s Joint Information Center tells the Outpost that this is actually the fifth Granada resident to perish from COVID in the current outbreak; a previous death has since been attributed to the disease.

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Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:

A Humboldt County resident has died with COVID-19, marking the county’s 14^th virus-related death. Another 36 cases were reported today, bringing to 1,357 the total number of county residents who have tested positive for COVID-19.  

The person who died was a resident of Granada Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in their 60s. Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman said Public Health continues to grieve the losses that families and caregivers of the loved ones at Granada are dealing with. “We’ve been in close contact with the staff at Granada, and have offered our support to them during this very trying time.” A total of 69 residents and 24 staff at the facility have tested positive. 

Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed availability in the Northern California region dropped slightly to 28.1%. If the region’s ICU bed availability drops below 15%, the state’s Regional Stay Home Order will take effect. To assist community members in better understanding ICU capacity, the Statewide ICU Bed Availability metric has been added to the “Current Hospital Information” dataset of the Humboldt County Data Dashboard (humboldtgov.org/dashboard). This measures the total number of available ICU beds across the entire state, which currently stands at 4.1%.  

Dr. Hoffman said it is helpful to see where the region is relative to the rest of the state. “I want to caution that while our numbers look good today, things can change very quickly,” he said. “The county holds a small number of ICU beds, and a change of a few beds means large swings in the percentages. Certainly the statewide numbers should give us all caution.” 

Because any occupied hospital bed impacts the county’s metrics for the “Regional Stay Home Order,” the Current Hospital Information dataset displays all hospitalizations, including residents of Humboldt County and non-residents. All other data on the Dashboard—such as cumulative totals, demographics, epidemiological curves—reflect information only about Humboldt County residents. 

For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or calling 707-441-5000.
 

Local COVID-19 vaccine information: humboldtgov.org/vaccineinfo,
Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard: humboldtgov.org/dashboard,
Follow us on Facebook: @HumCoCOVID19,
Instagram: @HumCoCOVID19,
Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19, and
Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert 

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