Nevada County Public Health Department is seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases as reported by health care providers and congregate care settings. This is mirroring what is reported statewide in wastewater surveillance and hospital reports and is driven by new variants, particularly EG.5.
As of last week, the County has been notified of several outbreaks reported from local congregate care settings. Several local health care providers have reported they are seeing two to three cases per day, whereas over the past month they had only been seeing zero to two per week. While local hospitals went several weeks with no COVID-19 admissions, they have now had two to four inpatient cases for the past two weeks.
Active reporting of COVID-19 cases to public health has diminished since the public health emergency has been lifted as PCR tests are not as readily available and home testing has become more prevalent. “It is difficult to accurately know the number of new cases happening in Nevada County on any given day,” said Dr. Sherilynn Cooke, Nevada County health officer.
Cooke said public health staff are meeting with schools and working with health care providers throughout the area to determine any surge in cases.
“I would like to remind the public, if you develop cold or flu-like symptoms please stay home, test for COVID -19 and if positive contact your health care provider for potential treatment options,” Cooke said. “In addition to well-known strategies that work well, such as wearing masks in crowded places and staying home when sick, we now have new tools and treatment options that we didn’t have at the beginning of the pandemic. These include vaccines, treatment options for COVID-19 and identifying the importance of ventilation. These helpful tactics are advantageous in decreasing transmission of COVID-19."
Precautions recommended by California Department of Public Health are available here.