Health officials report three new Douglas County coronavirus deaths

Three Douglas County residents were reported to have died from the coronavirus on Wednesday night, bringing the death toll to 15.

The deaths included a man in his 50s, a woman in her 70s and a man in his 80s.

Emergency Manager Tod Carlini reported 14 new coronavirus cases and 19 recoveries.

The 950 active cases in the county exceeds the 852 recoveries so far during the outbreak.

On Wednesday, health officials urged Nevadans and visitors to stay safe and healthy during the upcoming holiday weekends.

The effects of the Thanksgiving holiday have just started to recede and going into the Christmas and New Year’s holiday.

Douglas County encountered a huge jump in active cases from 39 to 303 cases two days before Thanksgiving.

Since then the number of active cases has more than tripled.

For those who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or have questions, call the Quad-County COVID-19 Hotline Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Spanish speakers are available. The phone number is (775) 434-1988.

More information is available at Carson City Health and Human Services website, gethealthycarsoncity.org

Neighboring Alpine County has a total of 64 cases, with none active and one individual currently hospitalized, and no deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. See: http://alpinecountyca.gov/516/COVID-19 for daily updates.

It, Mono and El Dorado counties are all under the state’s Regional Stay-at-Home Order. The next evaluation of our status will occur on New Year’s Day.

Apine has the lowest test positivity rate of the 58 counties in California, and the highest test rate, Public Health Officer Richard Johnson said.

“We need to continue this trend if we hope to move to a tier with less restrictions once we are released from the Stay-at-Home Order.”

Alpine expects its first shipment of vaccine doses today for health care workers, including first responders who answer medical 911 calls in the days to come.

The Washoe Tribal Health Center has received a supply of vaccine. Anyone living in the Hung-A-Lel-Ti community, should call them to inquire about receiving a vaccination.

Johnson said that new mutations reported in the media may increase the spread of the infection, but not the virus’ mortality rate.

He said the medical community believes that the mutation won’t affect the vaccine’s effectiveness.