County ‘Seeking Tests’ for New, More Contagious Coronavirus Variant, Says Dr Hoffman | Lost Coast Outpost



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In the year’s final Q&A on ‘media availability’ from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center, health worker Dr Ian Hoffman answers questions about the apparently more novel variant of the coronavirus. contagious, the rate at which vaccines are given to Humboldt and more.

Stay tuned for the end of the video to see Public Health staff wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Video above, approximate transcript below.

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The North Coast News asks, “With the announcement of a new variant of the UK coronavirus in the US, is the new variant being tested in Humboldt County?” Are current testing methods capable of detecting it, and if they are, will the county release data on when the variant will be discovered here? ”

Yes, a very good question. Something that has been on my mind a lot the last few days. We know it’s not just in the United States, but in California. There are reports from San Diego that four cases have been detected there. It’s in multiple states across the US, so we’re looking to test locally for this.

There are tests available and so when I have updates I will let you know.

The North Coast News asks: “The Washington post reported yesterday that about 20% of the coronavirus vaccines distributed nationally had actually been given. Do these numbers also reflect Humboldt County? Why, or why not, do the numbers differ? ”

I would say our numbers here are probably much higher than that. Do we currently have about 5,500 vaccines in Humboldt County? The vast majority of these go to the St. Joseph hospital system. They have a little over 2,000. And they administered them as quickly as possible.

They also run a hospital; they see the vast majority of COVID patients in Humboldt County. They suffered about 1,200, or over 50%. 100 of their 2,000.

Also, other hospitals have gone through several thousand so I think it’s safe to say that we are very close to 50% of the vaccine we have in the county having already been given and we are working hard to get through the remains as quickly as possible.

The North Coast News asks, “Are there any local statistics on the mental health impacts that the pandemic has caused?”

That’s a very good question. I must say that I do not have the answer to this. I suspect the Department of Health and Social Services could do it, so I would ask them the question.

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