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Butte County Public Health: Preventing More COVID-19 Spread ‘Comes Down To Each Individual’

Ted S. Warren
/
AP Photo

Butte County has seen a significant increase in COVID-19 cases over the last several weeks, so what does that mean for local businesses and their ability to stay open during the pandemic? 

NSPR’s Andre Byik recently spoke with Lisa Almaguer, communications manager for Butte County Public Health, about the metrics officials are watching and what the data show about the spread of the virus. Andre first asked Almaguer to share how the county views the recent spike in cases.

Here are highlights from their conversation. You can also listen at the top of the page.

Interview Highlights

On the “significant increase” in COVID-19 cases in Butte County

So, as you mentioned, we have seen a significant increase in cases over the last few weeks. And part of this is to be expected, especially as our testing capacity and testing numbers are increasing. Currently the state testing site, which is called OptumServe, and that's located in Chico, they are running at 100% capacity, meaning that every open appointment slot that they have to test is filled. So with increased testing, we are going to see increased numbers. But with that said, after being reopen, most of our businesses and activities for some time, we have more movement in the community and we are seeing more community transmission.

What the increase in cases could mean for the county’s businesses

I would not call it a surge. I would call it a significant increase. And what that could mean is, depending on how our increase meets the various metrics that the state is looking at, if we get to or meet that threshold, at the state level, we could get to a point where we are then put on a watch list, which is different than a monitoring list. And I can explain that in a bit here. 

But I first want to explain that the state is closely monitoring all counties in California, of course, including Butte County, and they're looking at specific metrics. And those are capacity for testing, capacity for contact tracing, and capacity for things like hospital surge, having enough PPE, and being able to protect our most vulnerable residents. So if they see concerning trends, they will notify us right away. 

So I can tell you that we haven't been notified. But if they did see concerning trends, they would notify us, they would talk with us, they would offer up some support that might be suitable. Physical support or technical support. And if things continued to move in the direction of meeting that threshold, then we could be put on what's called the watch list. That's different than the monitor list. The watch list is separate and counties are placed on the watch list for three days before they are moved to the monitor list. And the monitoring list is then that point where we look at getting the switch, rolling things back up a little bit. But as of today, as of right now, we are not there.

On the possibility of businesses being ordered to shutdown

I think anything is possible at this point. You know, our numbers go up every single day. And really, it comes down to each individual who lives in this county. And the choices that we make when we choose to leave our home. Within our span of control is taking action to prevent COVID-19. And that includes wearing a face covering in addition to maintaining physical distance from others, in addition to washing your hands, avoiding sick people, staying home if you're sick, and very importantly, avoiding gatherings and a gathering is with a meeting with anyone who lives outside of your household, even other family members. So barbecues, birthday parties, celebrations, baby showers, those are gatherings and those definitely put the community at an increased risk for exposure. 

On Gridley’s disproportionate case count compared to cities like Chico and Oroville

So, through our contact tracing and case investigation for the COVID-19 cases in Gridley, what we've identified is those cases are primarily coming from a few different areas. So it's either close contact with a previously confirmed COVID-19 person. We've also seen some workplace exposure. And we're also seeing exposure from larger family households and family gatherings.

On where transmission is taking place

A lot of times there's not a specific event, perhaps a gathering or a location. Most of what we're seeing is community spread, but some of it is specific workplace exposure. You know, if there's a known employee, and then other employees may have close contact, that type of situation, and again, close contact with a confirmed case. Many of our cases are from close contact.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Click the “play” button to listen to the entire interview.