Monterey County County Administrative Officer Charles McKee issued a proclamation of local emergency due to the COVID-19 coronavirus on Friday, March 6, despite there being no confirmed cases of the virus present in the county, according to a statement issued late in the day.
“This proclamation is a precautionary measure, which will help the County mobilize and coordinate resources should the virus be detected here,” the statement reads.
Just a few days earlier, on March 3, county staff told the Board of Supervisors that they did not believe the county needed to issue an emergency proclamation. They said if they did, the advantage of declaring an emergency included being able to ease certain regulations and apply for funds as they became available from the state and federal governments.
The county had activated its Emergency Operations Center at a Level 3—the lowest level—to allow for formalized collaboration between the Health Department and healthcare facilities in the county, as well as first responders, city officials and others, staff told the supervisors.
On Thursday, March 5, the county announced that its Public Health Laboratory would start testing for COVID-19, allowing for quicker turn-around times for testing those patients who meet the Centers for Disease Control criteria. Previously, the Health Department was collecting specimens and sending them to Santa Clara County, which had CDC test kits, Edward Moreno, Monterey County health officer, told the supervisors two days earlier.
How many total cases have been investigated in Monterey County has not been announced, but a spokesperson for Montage Health, Monica Sciuto, tells the Weekly that Montage’s Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula has had seven patients that tested negative for the virus. The testing was done in conjunction with the county Health Department and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
In January, the Health Department confirmed three cases had been investigated and tested based on the criteria of people who had recently traveled to China. One Monterey County resident tested negative for the virus. The two remaining cases turned out to be San Benito County residents, a man who had visited Wuhan, China, where the virus first originated, and his wife who caught the virus from her husband.
Moreno also told the Supervisors that he had issued a health advisory in January to health facilities recommending that they initiate screening and isolation procedures. Officials at CHOMP, Natividad and Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System told the Weekly in January that they felt their facilities were well-prepared to handle incoming suspected cases and that their staff members regularly engage in training for contagious diseases like COVID-19.
Sciuto says that anyone that arrives at CHOMP with COVID-19 symptoms—fever, cough and trouble breathing—is asked to wear a surgical mask to prevent anything from spreading to staff, other patients and visitors. The staff uses CDC questions for screening that include recent travel or contact with anyone known to have the virus.
Craig Walls, chief medical officer for Natividad, the county’s hospital, told the Board of Supervisors that leaders from the four hospitals in the county had met on Monday and are “linked at the arms,” planning to assist each other should the virus spread in Monterey County.
Moreno outlined future actions that might take place as officials try to mitigate the virus’ impacts, including employers allowing employees to work from home, excluding sick students, employees and customers from schools and businesses, closing schools and businesses if necessary, and canceling large social gatherings, among other strategies.
Some of those strategies went into effect on Thursday in Santa Clara County to the northeast of Monterey County. As of Friday that county had 24 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
There has been no recommendation to cancel events in Monterey County, nevertheless at least two local events have been either canceled or postponed and at least six conferences with participants traveling from outside of the county have been cancelled or postponed. The EG Conference was the first to announce it was cancelling its April event. The Sea Otter Classic is currently attempting to find later dates.
For now Monterey County officials are stressing the importance of habits like hand washing and disinfecting surfaces frequently. The Weekly published a list of ways to protect against the virus, as well as helpful links to more information.