Covid-19: ‘Mendocino County has entered into the Omicron blizzard’

Though local health officials reportedly do not yet have proof that the Omicron variant has reached Mendocino County, Public Health Officer Andy Coren said it is likely already here.

“Omicron does not seem to have reached us yet, but as of yesterday, I’m beginning to doubt that, though we don’t have the genome sequencing data yet to (confirm),” said Coren, though he did begin his latest public update Friday by declaring that “California and Mendocino County have entered into the Omicron blizzard.”

As an example, Coren pointed to the average number of cases Mendocino County is adding per day, an average he described as doubling this week: “On Jan. 6, it was 15.67 per 100,000, but as of today, Jan. 7, it is 30.6 per 100,000. And this is prior to the New Year’s bump,” he said, referring to the increase in cases expected after the most recent holiday gatherings.

Coren also reported that the county Public Health office Jan. 6 received “records of 105 new PCR cases, and we also received 55 antigen tests, mostly from schools.”

As for current outbreaks, Coren said “the only outbreaks we now have is in the (Mendocino County Jail), with 15 staff members, and two antigen-positive inmates. And these are all being closely monitored.”

Coren noted that there were “other outbreaks over the holidays that have all resolved,” and that the county “received some complaints about people not wearing masks” at a basketball tournament hosted by the Fort Bragg Unified School District.

“And then afterward there was an adult party at a bar (from which) we got 19 antigen-positive test results back. Fort Bragg Unified School District has since stopped their games, until they can be assured of better compliance. Some have called for shutting down the school, but I don’t think that’s warranted,” he said, describing “schools as really the safest place for our kids to be right now.”

As for the hospitals, Coren said while there has not yet been a large rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations from Omicron, “two of our hospitals are already reporting staff shortages.” When asked for more details, Coren said that hospitals report to the state every day, and “two of our hospitals said they are having some staffing shortages, and that’s not uncommon. We are actually very lucky to have a very flexible system with three hospitals,” which he said allows patients to be moved elsewhere if needed.

However, Coren said he had not seen patients needing to be moved, either within Mendocino County or to outside hospitals for care, though that had happened previously in the pandemic.

When asked about the “pop-up” testing site at the JCPenney parking lot and how people can be assured of its legitimacy, Coren said “we are aware of it, but I don’t know who is supporting it, I don’t know how they’re licensed. We do not have oversight over them, and we don’t know who does.”