Lassen County’s Public Health Office announced late Thursday afternoon that the Local Health Order issued Tuesday has been terminated and the county will return to Phase 2B, with additional businesses and activities allowed to reopen. This effectively returns us to the stage of the reopening that began May 12th and was temporarily halted after positive cases of the virus were discovered in Lassen County last week.
To date, there are five confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lassen County. A total of 910 tests have been administered with 597 negative results and 308 still pending.
In response to “contact tracing investigations,” Dr. Kenneth Korver, Lassen County Public Health Officer, has terminated his order from earlier this week which originally called for a temporary return to Phase 2A for reopening.
“On Friday, May 22nd, Lassen County Public Health Department reported two cases of confirmed COVID-19; this rapidly increased to a total of five cases within three days,” explains Dr. Korver in the new health order. “In an effort to better understand the magnitude of the transmission of this disease in Lassen County, I made the difficult decision to restrict activities in Lassen County including the retraction of business services that we had just recently approved, including dine-in restaurant services and in-store shopping at businesses.”
“The increase in number of positive Covid-19 cases from 2 to 5 in a relatively short time, coupled with the somewhat alarming reports of irresponsible behavior (failure to social distance, failure to employ good personal sanitation practices, etc.) of persons who in fact tested positive caused me to make the difficult decision to, at least temporarily, return to Stage 2 (closed retail, no dine-in restaurants, etc.) until I could determine the magnitude of spread of the disease in Lassen County.”
“After evaluating the data that has been collected from our contact tracing investigations, I have concluded that Lassen County has the ability and capacity to rapidly implement strategies
to mitigate further transmission of the disease should a future outbreak occur. However, for us to proceed to the next stages of full opening, we will require all Lassen County residents
and visitors to remain diligent in practicing social distancing, good personal hygiene, and staying home when you are sick.”
Effective immediately, Lassen County will now re-enter the accelerated Stage 2 of the Roadmap to Recovery. This will allow the following sectors and organizations to resume
business:
- In-Store Retail
- Dine-in Restaurants
- Offices (when telework not possible)
- Outdoor Museums
- Places of Worship (NEW)
- Hair Salons and Barbershops (NEW)
All sectors are required to review the appropriate guidance, prepare a plan, and receive approval from Lassen County Public Health prior to opening. It is not necessary for those establishments that have already received approval to resubmit their plans.
For those businesses wishing to open under these new guidelines, please complete the online survey by clicking here. Call the COVID-19 Call Center with any questions or concerns at (530) 251-8100 Monday through Friday 8:00a.m. to 5:00p.m.
