Yolo County officials ask people to continue staying home, provides database for coronavirus cases
The shelter-in-place order for Yolo County has been extended until May 1 due to increasing cases of coronavirus, according to a press release sent out by Yolo County Public Health Officer Dr. Ron Chapman.
“This extension is in line with the timeframes of recent federal directives and local school closure extensions and is intended to continue to slow the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19),” the press release read. “The original health order that was issued on March 18 only extended to April 7.”
The order says residents are only allowed to leave for necessary activities like buying food, picking up medication and working at an essential business. In the press release, Chapman said many people are doing a good job of staying home.
“I am proud of the people and businesses of Yolo County who have supported the orders to stay at home and practice social distancing,” Chapman said. “Such public health measures take time to slow, and eventually stop, the COVID-19 virus spread.”
Currently, 28 coronavirus cases have been reported in Yolo County, with eight cases confirmed in Davis. One person has died in Yolo County, an older adult with an underlying health condition.
In order to quickly educate the public about reported cases, Yolo County has created an online dashboard with additional details about those that have been diagnosed with coronavirus. The interactive dashboard provides more information about cases reported per city, and provides certain statistics about the cases — like age, gender and dates that the cases were reported.
On the dashboard’s website, Yolo County officials warn against misleading conclusions that could be drawn from the online dashboard, such as cases prevalent in certain geographic areas and false negative rates.
“Though one area may have more numbers, the virus should be considered everywhere and people need to stay at home,” the website reads. “The labs testing for Covid-19 can have a false negative rate as high as 40%. This means that up to 40% of the negative tests may actually be positive.”
In the press release, Chapman states that the differences in numbers between cities could be due to a number of factors.
“Some cities may have higher numbers due to varying reasons, such as different labs being used, doctors may be following different ordering guidelines, and residents may have differences in following the stay at home orders,” the press release states. “For these reasons, it is in everyone’s best interest to stay at home, as much as possible, through May 1.”
Written by: Madeleine Payne — city@theaggie.org
