As of 2:30p.m. Tuesday, according to Incident Command at the Office of Emergency Services, there are still no known cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in Lassen County. 120 people have been tested for the virus with 115 negative results and 5 tests that are still outstanding.
The Lassen County Office of Emergency Services, Lassen County COVID-19 Incident Command and the Lassen County Public Health Department have drafted a plan to move forward with reopening the county, according to a joint statement released Tuesday afternoon.
“Our 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,” officials cautioned.
In preparation for statewide orders being modified or lifted the county has drafted a Recovery Plan to reopen Lassen County gradually and within multiple phases.
County Public Health Officer, Dr. Kenneth Korver, issued a letter to the State Public Health Officer and the Governor requesting approval to implement the Recovery Plan. Click here to download Korver’s letter and a summary of the recovery plan.
“I am pleased to report that our region including Alpine, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Sierra and Siskiyou counties have collectively less than five confirmed cases,” Korver said in the closing of his letter to Newsom. “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. Given that Lassen County has zero positive cases 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.”
The Recovery Plan, according to the county, requires ‘a collaborative approach between the public and the private sectors.’
“We need to work together to determine how to open our businesses and inform the planning process to create guidelines that will really work for them. We are fortunate to live in a smaller, rural community with no active cases. 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. Lassen County is prepared to act swiftly when the State’s Stay-at-Home order is lifted.”
