S.J put on watch list as COVID-19 cases increase
Just two weeks after San Joaquin County was approved for attestation by the state, it has been placed on a California Department of Public Health COVID-19 watch list as hospitalizations continue to increase.
In order to move further along Stage 2 of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Roadmap to Recovery, San Joaquin County needed to show that it had less than 20 people in the hospital who were being treated for COVID-19 over a 14day period.
When the county’s attestation was approved May, there were 19 people being treated for COVID19 admitted to hospitals.
Dr. Maggie Park, the county’s public health officer, told the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning that those numbers steadily increased since attestation.
She said that there were 31 people in hospitals as of June 6 being treated for COVID-19, and by Tuesday,
there were 45.
Of those in hospitals across the county Tuesday, 18 were admitted to intensive care units, Park said, and nine were being treated with ventilators.
Park attributed the increase in hospitalizations — as well as an increase of positive COVID-19 cases — to many residents getting together to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day in May.
She said the latest rise was due to people celebrating Memorial Day weekend and taking a more relaxed approach to social distancing measures.
Despite the increase in hospitalizations and being placed on the state’s watch list, Park said there was no cause for alarm.
“This is not something that was not expected,” she said. “We did open businesses, we had people out and about more, but this was all to be expected. I believe the numbers are concerning, but we haven’t reached an upswing where I’m going to be alarmed.”
Park said she would have to look at the county’s current COVID-19 numbers more closely this week to determine when a significant upswing might occur.
Because the county was placed on the COVID-19 watch list, the Stockton City Council discussed the possibility of requiring its residents to wear masks and face coverings, as well as ask supervisors to approve an ordinance requiring all county residents to do so.
However, Park told supervisors she will not be drafting an order mandating every county resident wear a mask or facial covering to bring those numbers back down.
Instead, San Joaquin County Public Health Services will continue to promote a widespread campaign promoting testing, tracing and isolation to ensure people maintain social distancing and essential travel guidelines.
Health officials will also increase public messaging about the risks of COVID19 using medium such as billboards, bus advertisements, television and radio commercials to reach more residents.
There will also be targeted outreach to worksites of concern, such as skilled nursing facilities and cherry orchards, where Park said the most recent COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred.
San Joaquin County was one of nine counties to be placed on the CDPH watch list, along with Fresno, San Bernadino, Stanislaus, Del Norte, Imperial, Kings, Los Angeles and Tulare.
Stanislaus County was placed on the list Monday but removed Tuesday, Park said, after several discharges from its hospitals. San Joaquin County was placed on the list Sunday, she said.
Last Friday, Newsom announced that schools, day camps, public swimming pools, campgrounds and RV parks could reopen, and hotels could begin taking customers for tourism this week as part of Stage 3 of his Roadmap to Recovery.
On Monday, he added bars, gyms, wineries and sporting events without an audience to the list, and movie theaters were added Tuesday, all to be reopened at the end of this week.
Park said she wanted to look at why the county’s hospitalizations and positive cases saw an uptick before allowing any new industry sectors to open. She said it was most likely none of them would be allowed to reopen in San Joaquin County before next Monday.
Supervisor Bob Elliott, who represents Tracy and its surrounding communities on the board, questioned why recent protests in the county were not considered factors in the increase of cases and hospital admissions.
He said many who attended protests around the county appeared to have little regard for social distancing guidelines or the repercussions from gathering in groups of more than 10.
Elliott said he hoped protests would be part of Park’s next report, which is to be given to supervisors on June 16.
“I’m glad to hear we’re not sounding alarm bills, as there’s really no need to at this point,” he said. “I think we have more people in hospitals because we’re opening things up again, and I don’t think we’re anywhere near being at a stage of concern.”
Chuck Winn, who represents Lodi and Ripon and their surrounding communities on the board, said many of his constituents have begun to lose faith in government after hearing conflicting health reports about COVID-19.
He noted a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that stated asymptomatic individuals rarely transmit the virus, and lamented the fact that for weeks officials told residents to shelter in place, but then allowed protests in which hundreds of people attended.
Positive results from attending recent protests most likely won’t be realized until later in the week, according to county public health.
Last week, agency spokeswoman Krista Dommer said there is a one to three week lag between the date of exposure to COVID19 and reporting a positive case to the public.
Despite his concerns, Winn on Tuesday agreed with Park and Elliott that there was no need for concern.
“I like the idea of wrapping buses with ads, because that’s a vehicle or platform that goes into areas that need more education and reinforcement of guidelines,” he said. “Various radio and TV ads are great too. All that is helpful, but we as a county did a pretty good job at flattening our curve. In fact, I think we did better than other counties with smaller populations.”