LAKEPORT, Calif. — The county of Lake has issued a notice to its employees that there was a COVID-19 exposure during the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.
In a Wednesday morning email to county employees with a subject line “COVID Exposure Notification” that was obtained by Lake County News, Human Resources Director Pam Samac reported the exposure.
The email said, “The County of Lake has been notified that an individual that was in the Board Chambers during the retirement proclamation celebrations yesterday has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Anyone in the Board Chambers from 10:45 AM to 1:30 PM was in close contact with an individual who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.”
During that time frame, the board was honoring Sheriff Brian Martin, County Clerk/Auditor Controller Cathy Saderlund, Treasurer-Tax Collector Barbara Ringen and Social Services Deputy Director Michelle “Micki” Dolby on their retirements this month.
The chambers were filled with dozens of people, both members of the public and county employees.
However, there have been no statements from the county to the general public about the exposure either on its website or social media accounts.
In her email, Samac explained, “Close contact is defined as sharing the same indoor airspace with a confirmed-positive individual, in indoor spaces of 400,000 or fewer cubic feet (44,444 square feet if the height of the ceiling is nine feet tall) per floor such as home, clinic department, waiting room, airplane etc., for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period within the ‘high-risk exposure period’.”
She advised that employee guidelines following close contact include that employees must wear face coverings around others for a total of 10 days after exposure; exposed employees must test within three to five days after their last close contact; if an exposed employee develops symptoms, they must test immediately and be excluded pending the results of a test; and if an exposed employee tests positive for COVID-19, they must follow the isolation requirements.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
COVID-19 exposure reported at Board of Supervisors meeting
- Elizabeth Larson