Agencies develop local recovery plan, seek approval
Various county agencies collaborated on a local recovery plan and are seeking approval from the State Public Health Officer and the Governor before implementation.
“The Lassen County Office of Emergency Services, Lassen County COVID-19 Incident Command and the Lassen County Public Health Department drafted a plan to move forward with reopening the county. Currently, the county is still subject to the State Public Health Officers and the Governor’s Stay-at-Home Orders, and therefore must wait for the state health officer to lift the order prior to implementation,” a statement from the local COVID-19 Incident Command read. “Lassen County COVID-19 Incident Command drafted a Recovery Plan to reopen Lassen County as soon as statewide orders have been modified or lifted. The plan will be executed gradually and within multiple phases.”
As of 10:28 a.m. Tuesday, April 28, there have been 120 tests administered, with 115 returning negative, and five are pending, according to lassencares.org.
The Lassen County Public Health Officer, Dr. Kenneth Korver, issued a letter to the State Public Health Officer and the Governor requesting approval to implement the locally developed Recovery Plan.
“Lassen County and our community partners have come together to establish an economic and societal recovery plan for reopening services and activities that were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic response, or had greatly reduced services and activities. We are requesting your approval so that we may proceed with a thoughtful Countywide opening,” read the letter.
“Our local Plan is based Governor Newsom’s ‘California’s Roadmap to Modify the Stay-at-Home Order,’ released on April 28. We also relied on your March 19, ‘Order of the Health Officer’ directive for clarification on identifying the critical infrastructure during COVID-19 as referenced in your health order.
“The Lassen County Plan is our roadmap toward local community economic and social vitality. Our Plan identifies the steps necessary to continue to limit the spread of COVID-19 disease; however, allows for regression to a prior phase should a spike in community transmission of COVID-19 occur. We recognize that state, federal, regional, and local support and personal responsibility is critical for this Plan to work,” continued the letter.
The letter from Korver included a summary of the Lassen County Recovery Plan.
The summary is as follows:
Phase One
Individual Actions
We ask that each resident of Lassen County make informed decisions and take the necessary steps to keep yourself and your family healthy throughout the duration of this pandemic including:
- Anyone who is feeling ill should stay home.
- Continue social distancing — When in public, maximize physical distance from others (at least six feet).
- Maintain good hygiene practices — Washing hands, use hand sanitizer, cleaning frequently touched surfaces, covering coughs and sneezes, consider wearing a face mask in public.
- Social Settings — Limit social gatherings to 10 people or less.
- Vulnerable (high risk) individuals — Our Plan calls for high risk individuals to stay at home. Households with vulnerable members should be aware that other members of the household may increase risk of transmission if resuming normal activities. Precautions should be taken to protect the vulnerable household members.
- Non-essential travel is discouraged at this time.
- Resources:
- Lassen County Public Health, (530) 251-8183
- COVID-19 Call Center, (530) 251-8100
- LassenCares.org
- Lassencares Facebook Page
Work and Businesses
We are asking that businesses provide appropriate physical distancing measures, and ensure sick employees do not come to work.
Steps may include:
- Meeting rooms, break rooms and other common areas should be limited in capacity to provide physical distancing between employees and customers.
- If you are medium or large employer, return employees back to work in phases, rather than all at once. This will maintain physical distancing in the workplace.
- Protection and accommodations should be provided to employees who are high risk for COVID-19.
- Clean frequently touched surfaces.
- Ensure sick employees remain at home or go home immediately if they become ill at work.
Owners and operators of businesses that have close contact services such as salons, barbers, bars, gyms and offices are encouraged to limit the number of staff and clients in the building at any given time.
Steps may include:
- Social Distancing — Optimally less than 10 people in a small store or office. Social distancing should be maintained as much as possible to limit the number of exposures.
For example, if a salon has 10 chairs or booths, consider opening only five at one time and seating clients at every other chair/ booth to allow for physical distancing.
- Provide as many services as feasible with limited contact for example: Online orders with in store pickup, limiting number of clients in a lobby or waiting area and staggering appointments.
- Clean frequently touched surfaces.
Restaurant dine in options
- Tables must allow for appropriate physical distancing.
- Take out options should continue to be promoted.
- Frequent cleaning and sanitation must occur.
Outdoor recreation
- Physical distancing should be promoted and maintained.
- If equipment is provided it should be cleaned after use (example: golf course providing golf clubs or golf carts).
Mitigation, Evaluation and Monitoring
Mass COVID-19 Testing
- Expand testing as testing capacity increases to be able provide testing to the lowest priority including community-based testing of all low-risk symptomatic persons and surveillance testing of asymptomatic persons.
- Support a state-provided COVID-19 testing facility in Lassen County based on the determination that Lassen County is a “testing desert” with no testing facilities within 60 miles of the city of Susanville.
The local officials will evaluate the COVID-19 recovery response and modify the plan as follows:
- Local healthcare facilities will continue to provide a minimum of at least weekly situation reports.
- Local and regional testing will be monitored.
- Case investigation and contact tracing will be conducted as needed.
- Coroner reports will be reviewed.
If Lassen County receives a positive COVID-19 case, targeted mitigation measures will be initiated as determined by the emergency operation center. This could include one or more of the following:
- Increased monitoring of exposed contacts.
- Stricter quarantine of contacts.
- Increased recommended use of PPE.
- Recommended reduction in worksite staff.
- Sanitation of a specific facility.
- Closure or partial closure of a specific facility.
- Recommend reduction in social gatherings.
- Return to takeout only options for restaurants.
- Cancellations of elective procedures.
If the increase in spread of illness is significant, the public will be asked to return to stricter protocols.
Phase two
- If Lassen County maintains zero positive COVID-19 cases or no significant increase in cases with no negative impact on capacity response, consider a further decrease in the recommended restrictions.
- If Lassen County receives a positive COVID-19 case or a significant increase in cases occur, targeted mitigation measures will be employed as determined by the EOC as stated above under Phase One.
- If the increase in spread of illness is significant, the public will be asked to return to stricter protocols.
Phase Three
- If Lassen County maintains zero positive COVID-19 cases or no significant increase in cases with no negative impact on capacity response, consider a further decrease in the recommended restrictions.
- If Lassen County maintains zero positive COVID-19 cases or no significant increase in cases with no negative impact on capacity response, consider a further decrease in the recommended restrictions.
- If the increase in spread of illness is significant, the public will be asked to return to stricter protocols.
Final Phase
Transition to public health surveillance monitoring of infectious diseases, including prevalence and mitigation activities for influenza and coronavirus type illnesses.
“In closing, I am pleased to report that our region including Alpine, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Sierra, and Siskiyou counties have collectively less than five confirmed cases. I believe that the success we have had in Lassen County is because we followed the social distancing guidelines provided by the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I would like to commend the citizens of Lassen County for their diligence in keeping our health and safety first and foremost,” read the letter to Korver. “Given that Lassen County has zero positive cased over the past eight weeks, and our high level of COVID-19 emergency preparedness, I am respectfully requesting your approval of our comprehensive recovery plan.”
