June Weddings Nixed But Kids Camps May Be Possible
By Jondi Gumz
Dr. Gail Newel, Santa Cruz County health officer, dropped a bombshell at the county’s COVID-19 press conference on April 16: “I don’t anticipate the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk will open this summer at all.”
The award-winning family-owned oceanfront amusement park, one of the largest private employers in the city of Santa Cruz, has been a summer tradition since 1907.
Newel, who later softened her Boardwalk statement, delivered bad news to a reporter asking about her plans to get married in late June: “You need to think about moving the date of your wedding. I’m so sorry. I’ve already had this conversation with my niece.”
As for Junior Guards, a popular kids’ summer camp in Santa Cruz and Capitola, Newel said, “If it happens, it will look different than last year. It just can’t happen that way this year.”
She said she is talking to parks and recreation leaders “to have activities happen in a different way.”
With 98 COVID-19 cases, 17 hospitalizations, two deaths and 2,514 negative test results, return to normalcy is not on the horizon.
Late in the afternoon, Newel put out a statement on the Boardwalk, saying no decision for it to stay closed beyond May 3, when her “shelter in place” order expires, had been made and “speculation about future operations at this time is premature.”
Newel had indicated Tuesday the March 16 order could be loosened May 4, allowing construction, landscaping and gardening, and golf courses. She reiterated those possibilities Thursday, noting rules to stay six feet apart must be followed and stretching out her arms to illustrate.
No Gathering
Beaches and parks across Santa Cruz County reopened April 16 after a weeklong closure for the Easter holiday to prevent large gatherings, where the contagious COViD-19 virus could easily spread by large droplets via coughing, sneezing or simply talking.
A case study released Wednesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control showed the impact of a family gathering in the Chicago area for a funeral and a birthday party: Seven confirmed cases and nine probable cases — ranging in age from 5 to 86 — and three deaths.
Newel reminded everyone to wash their hands with soap and water and advised that homemade face coverings protect people around you.
Though beaches and parks are open, gatherings are not allowed.
“If we see large gatherings, we may need to close them again,” Newel said, identifying picnic tables, barbecues, dog parks and skate parks as potential problem areas.
San Mateo County has told residents their outdoor recreation must be no more than five miles from home. Newel hasn’t, but she said, “It’s best to stay in your own neighborhood.”
Newel commended Sheriff Jim Hart for keeping COVID-19 out of the jail and nursing homes and assisted living facilities for keeping occupants COVID-free. One healthcare worker at a skilled nursing facility tested positive, Newel said, but there was no spread.
Asked if any grocery workers tested positive, she said, “I don’t think so.”
Metrics
Hospitalizations are a key metric, and the county and state report them differently.
The county posts all hospitalizations, according to Mimi Hall, director of the county’s Health Services Agency.
The state gets daily data from hospitals and posts current hospitalizations, confirmed and suspected cases, and patients in intensive care unit beds, confirmed and suspected.
The state reported six hospitalized patients in Santa Cruz County as of April 15 with five in intensive care, three confirmed and two suspected.
Newel said the county’s numbers are more up-to-date.
Hall recall an instance when the state posted “a crazy number of suspected cases and they were all negative.”
Testing
In Santa Cruz County, the number of negative tests has doubled.
Early on, tests were rationed for people showing symptoms and health care workers, as specimens had to be sent to a state lab in Santa Clara County, a much bigger jurisdiction, which as of April 16, reported 1,800 cases, 188 hospitalizations, 71 ICU patients and 69 fatalities.
Starting this week, more testing will occur in Santa Cruz County. New machines have arrived at three locations, the county’s Emeline clinic, Dominican Hospital and a Dignity Health outpatient clinic.
Hall’s goal is to have a 30-day supply of personal protective equipment, which must be worn by lab technicians.
She has “enough to get by” with weekly shipments from the state and hopes to get more, from either the state or federal government.
Forecasts
In Santa Cruz County, new cases since April 15 have been flat, varying from four a day to two a day but Hall said a surge — in which 100 intensive care beds with ventilators are needed — once expected April 14 is now projected for mid-May or June.
The county has 45 to 49 ICU beds, and Dr. David Ghilarducci, the county’s EMS medical director, is in charge of figuring out how to fill the gap if the need arises.
“It requires lots of labor,” he said, noting patients in ICU beds may get six or seven medications intravenously.
Asked about the surge forecast, Hall said it’s a mathematical algorithm predicting more hospitalizations.
While she is planning for the worst-case scenario, she said a middle-ground scenario is “more likely.”
She said the county has five full-time epidemiologists working on forecasts, with part-time staff partly funded by the state.