County prepares vaccine order

Dr. Coren: I believe this will protect employees and patrons

In a move he described as designed to protect both employees and customers, Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren announced this week that he is preparing a new health order requiring Covid-19 vaccinations for restaurant employees, and for customers who want to dine indoors.

“We continue to see many highrisk exposure events, especially in restaurants and bars, and in response I’m preparing a new order to require employers in those businesses (to require) employees to vaccinate or … show proof of testing,” Coren said, adding that customers who want to dine indoors will have to show that they have been vaccinated. “If not, they may pick up food to go, or eat outside. I believe this will protect the employees and the patrons without harming the businesses, or the community’s access to food.”

John Strangio, who operates the Ukiah Valley Athletic Club with his family, said he and other local business owners are very concerned about the negative impact the proposed new vaccine mandate will have on local businesses, which he described as already suffering.

Strangio said he recently took his family to a local pizza parlor for one of his son’s birthdays and “we were the only people inside.” He said he believes the vaccine mandates will “destroy” local businesses that are already struggling to survive, and he plans to host an outdoor gathering at his health club, located at 3101 S. State St., at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 4.

“This is not a protest, and not for finger pointing,” said Strangio, explaining that he wanted to allow community members, including his fellow business owners to

be able to express their concerns and frustrations, particularly those surrounding how the rules will be enforced. He said he invited Dr. Coren to the discussion, but as of Wednesday the doctor had not responded.

Coren announced his plan for new vaccine mandates, which he said would allow some exemptions, to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors during the board’s Aug. 31 meeting, in which he also said that a recent leveling off of Covid-19 cases might not reflect reality.

Coren said he wanted to be “cautiously optimistic” about the apparent “plateau or even possible down swing in the last week” in the amount of Covid-19 cases reported in the county, however, he added that the reduction might actually be due to “problematic reporting at the state level.”

Also, Coren said “hospital rates are still very high, which may be a better indicator of the high transmissibility rates, because hospitalizations follow the case rates in the community,” describing the rates of hospitalization currently for Covid-19 patients in Mendocino County as higher than it was during the surge in cases last winter.

“We have had several days recently with no (Intensive

Care Unit) beds available,” continued Coren, adding that the county is not only seeing more Covid-19 patients, but they are also “younger and sicker.” The county is also seeing more deaths, with six in the past week and 12 total in August, which is the highest number of deaths in one month during the pandemic. Previously the month with the most was January of 2021, when there were 11 deaths and 876 new cases reported.

August 2021 is also now the month with the most new Covid-19 cases by far with 1,365, which is 401 more cases than Decemberof 2020, when 964 new

cases were reported.