One new COVID-19 death reported in Calaveras County,
Calaveras County announced its 17th death attributed to COVID-19 and two new cases on Friday, while Tuolumne County confirmed five new cases in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The deceased individual in Calaveras County was identified as a man over 65. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was unable to recover. He was not connected to the outbreak at Avalon Health Care in San Andreas, where 13 residents have died.
To date, there have been 333 confirmed cases of COVID-19 counted in Calaveras County since March. Of those cases, 310 individuals have recovered and six cases remained active Friday.
The five new cases in Tuolumne County involve individuals who live in two different households with multiple cases in each household, county public health staff said Friday. The five individuals were all in isolation.
As of Friday, 249 cases of COVID-19 had been counted in Tuolumne County since March, with 219 individuals recovered, 12 cases that remained active, zero individuals hospitalized, and four deaths.
Calaveras and Tuolumne counties both remained in the moderate risk level category on a statewide Blueprint for a Safer Economy scale.
Friday was the last day at work for the Calaveras County health officer, Dr. Dean Kelaita, who announced earlier this month he is resigning due to politics interfering with his job.
Kelaita said in his resignation letter his last day would be Oct. 16.
“In order to be effective, I have always strived to assist community leaders and decision makers by providing unvarnished medical and scientific information, as well as technical expertise unbiased by subjectivity or partisan influence,” Kelaita said in his resignation letter. “Under the current political climate, that is no longer possible.”
He worked 20 years as the Calaveras County health officer, an essential figure in the public health system who works with a team of public health professionals.
Calaveras public health staff said they will continue to guide the county through the COVID-19 pandemic and try to protect the health of all people living in Calaveras County, while administrators try to find and recruit an interim health officer.