A Lesson re: ReOpening - Lassen County, CA backtracks after jump in COVID-19 cases
SACRAMENTO — A rural Northern California county that had been one of the state's two counties without any reported coronavirus cases now has at least five, prompting the county to temporarily rescind its orders allowing the reopening of restaurants, shopping and other services.
Lassen County, home to about 30,000 people, had reported no coronavirus cases until May 22. There were five known cases as of Wednesday afternoon, with 222 tests pending results. In total, at least 814 people had been tested, according to county data.
The county began reopening businesses under state guidance on May 11. It is now the first county to revoke its attestation to the state that it can safely reopen.
“We were fully aware of the risk that the virus could come to our community from people visiting people living in infected areas outside of our county or people visiting our county. Unfortunately, this did happen and we now have a serious problem. We need to contain the spread of the virus in Lassen County now,” Dr. Kenneth Korver, the county's public health officer, wrote Tuesday in a public health order.
In response, the county is no longer allowing dining in at restaurants, in-store shopping, hair salon services or religious services for at least seven days, Korver said.
More:
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/10995020-181/lassen-county-sees-first-coronavirus?sba=AAS