Seventh COVID-19 death confirmed

An individual in their 80s died Wednesday making it the seventh COVID-19 death in Yuba-sutter, according to Yuba County Media and Community Relations Coordinator Russ Brown.

Sutter County will be added to the list of counties the state is monitoring today (Thursday) and Yuba County will be added on Saturday, Bi-county Health Officer Dr. Phuong Luu said Wednesday.

Cases increased by 28 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases in the region to 477. Sutter County had an increase of 21 cases and Yuba County increased by seven.

If a county is on the monitoring list for three consecutive days it must close all bars, pubs, and breweries that are indoor and outdoor. In addition, indoor services will be closed for restaurants, card rooms, family entertainment centers, movie theaters, zoos, museums, wineries, and tasting rooms.

“Unfortunately, the community became too lax, too complacent,”

Luu said during her Wednesday briefing. “We were overly confident that we crushed COVID-19. We never crushed it, we only flattened the curve, but the curve never went fully away, and now it’s roaring back with exponential growth in terms of new cases every day.”

As of Wednesday, 19 people were hospitalized

– seven of those in the intensive care unit. Four people were discharged, six were lifted from quarantine and 18 recovered, according to Brown.

The two-day gap between Sutter and Yuba being added to the list has to do with data lagging. The region is averaging 30 new cases a day and is putting a stress on local hospitals and clinics, Luu said.

She said if everyone in the community makes the effort to follow the protocols Yuba and Sutter can be taken off the list in a few weeks and the reopening process can begin again. Until a vaccine is created, Luu said the region may take two steps forward, but will be forced to take one back if there is a worsening of the situation.

“Yes, we can have herd immunity to just a barrage of infections, but then that comes with … hospitalizations and deaths,” Luu said. “That is not a safe way to do it. The safest way is through a vaccine.”

In Colusa County, the number of people hospitalized went up to five and 98 cases have been confirmed as of Wednesday afternoon. No one has died of the virus in Colusa County but 46 people are currently in isolation, 175 have been quarantined, and 52 have recovered.

As of late Wednesday, there have been 1,210 negative tests in Colusa County.