Colton Strnad gives swimming lessons to a fourth-grader at the Fred Endert Municipal Pool in this 2019 file photo. File photo: Jessica Cejnar

Opening the local swimming pool isn’t an option right now, but Crescent City hopes a new aquatics supervisor will be able to start in January.

City Manager Eric Wier told the City Council, including new members Alex Campbell and Beau Smith, that staff made a conditional offer to a candidate for the position. The new hire will begin obtaining the necessary certifications and training after the first of the year, he said.

“We’re looking forward to what is a bright future, which is the spring and summer,” Wier told Councilors on Monday. “Vaccines are on the way, but we do need to traverse the circumstances we are in right now.”

With Del Norte County in the most restrictive purple tier on California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, opening the pool isn’t possible, Wier said.

On Monday, the Public Health Branch had reported that 61 new cases had been identified since Friday, Wier noted. Though some were Pelican Bay State Prison inmates, which doesn’t affect Del Norte County’s status on the state’s Blueprint, Wier noted that the county has been averaging 10 new cases per day for about three weeks.

“We need to be averaging somewhere around five a day to think of getting out of purple,” he said, adding that Del Norte will be in the purple tier for a minimum of three weeks before it's allowed to move to less restrictive tiers depending on COVID-19 statistics. “It’s not until we drop down to orange that we can start talking about the pool and opening up the pool.”

As of Wednesday, 10 new COVID-19 cases were reported to the Public Health Branch — not including seven prisoners at Pelican Bay who have come down with the novel coronavirus, according to the county’s COVID-19 Information Hub. Del Norte County currently has 131 active cases with two in the hospital.

There has been one death in Del Norte County since the start of the pandemic, according to the Public Health Branch.

On Monday, Wier also brought up a new regional-approach by the state to issue stay-at-home orders if the availability of intensive care unit beds dropped below 15 percent.

When that announcement first came down, Wier said Northern California, which includes Del Norte County, was one of the worst regions. That has changed since then. However, Wier pointed out that ICU availability doesn’t just apply to COVID-19 cases.

Wier’s presentation prompted Campbell to ask him about the “root cause” of the uptick in COVID-19 cases locally and Smith to ask if the state takes the number of ICU beds available in Medford, Oregon, into consideration.

Wier, citing Del Norte County Public Health Officer Dr. Warren Rehwaldt, said small family gatherings are thought to be the driver of the uptick in COVID-19 transmissions both locally and across California.

As for ICU capacity in Medford, Wier said he didn’t think California officials look at the capacity in Oregon.

As one of his final actions as Crescent City mayor, Blake Inscore asked if Rehwaldt and Sutter Coast Hospital CEO Mitch Hanna could give a presentation to the new City Council.

At its Nov. 16 meeting, Wier promised to let the City Council know the latest updates to reopening the Fred Endert Municipal Pool. The pool was shuttered in March after the Crescent City Council declared a local emergency due to COVID-19.

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