<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Please write a letter to Dr Charity Dean to get more testing available for our county.</div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Donna Schuler</div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Donna Schuler</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:schuler.donna@gmail.com">schuler.donna@gmail.com</a>></span><br>Date: Fri, May 8, 2020 at 5:35 PM<br>Subject: Testing Lab for Mendocino County<br>To: <<a href="mailto:testing.taskforce@state.ca.gov">testing.taskforce@state.ca.gov</a>><br>Cc: Donna Schuler <<a href="mailto:schulerd@mendocinocounty.org">schulerd@mendocinocounty.org</a>><br></div><br><br><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Dear Dr Dean,</div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Mendocino County has been complying with all the state and local health officer orders for several weeks. We have been able to keep our cases low due to containment and mitigation measures. As a rural county we already face extraordinary hardships, with one of the highest suicide rates, and a high number of children in foster care. We are ranked at 41st of the 58 states health rankings, with neighboring counties ranking 57 and 58, and as an employee in public health, I must inform you that our statistics show violence, including domestic is rapidly increasing, and that the most expedient means to protect our most vulnerable is with more testing. Sheltering in place is taking its' toll, in spite of effectively preventing community spread.</div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Our health officer stated today that we need to perform 135 tests a day in Mendocino County in order to comply with the governors requirements for relaxing our shelter in place orders. We do not have a public health lab in our county, and in spite of facilitating over 1,100 public health tests since the CDC relaxed their requirements, we are a long ways away, with current capacity at about 50 per day through the Sonoma County Public Health lab. We need the state to provide the means to test, either by sending us a mobile lab, or couriering tests to another state, university or commercial lab.</div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Please let me know how Mendocino County can gain priority access to increased testing for COVID-19 to effectively prevent overburdening our rural county with violence, death and despair. </div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Thank you,</div><div><div dir="ltr" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Donna Schuler</div><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">31500 Johnson Lane</div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Fort Bragg, CA 95437</div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">(707) 813-1656</div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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