[Rotary] Fwd: Testing Lab for Mendocino County

[Donna Schuler]

Please write a letter to Dr Charity Dean to get more testing available for
our county.
Donna Schuler



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Donna Schuler <schuler.donna at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, May 8, 2020 at 5:35 PM
Subject: Testing Lab for Mendocino County
To: <testing.taskforce at state.ca.gov>
Cc: Donna Schuler <schulerd at mendocinocounty.org>


Dear Dr Dean,

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.

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.

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.

Thank you,
Donna Schuler
31500 Johnson Lane
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
(707) 813-1656
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