This image shows COVID-19 activity in the community since the pandemic began. Image courtesy of https://www.covid19.dnco.org/

Due to a spike in COVID-19 cases personnel from the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority and the Del Norte Office of Emergency Services will not attend the fair.

In the case of Del Norte OES, canceling its booth at the fair stems from an increase in their workload for both OES and Public Health Branch staff, according to an announcement on Facebook on Tuesday.

The DNSWMA is bowing out of the fair to keep its staff from falling sick, Director Tedd Ward announced Tuesday.

“Our staff assure Del Norte’s transfer stations are open and recycling services are working and our trash and recyclables get collected,” Ward said. “With highly trained and limited staff, if even a few of our staff fall sick at the same time, it could impact services.”

From a DNSWMA news release:

Since its formation, the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority has been a proud sponsor and active participant in the Del Norte County Fair. While this agency continues as a Fair sponsor, this year our staff will not be there to greet you in person. 

The reasons for this difficult decision are these:

1.  Our staff assure Del Norte’s transfer stations are open and recycling services are working, and our trash and recyclables get collected.  With highly trained and limited staff, if even a few of our staff fall sick at the same time, it could impact services.
2. Though greeting people at the Del Norte County Fair is important to this agency, continuing reliable collections and facility operations is even more important.
3. As of August 3^rd,  Del Norte County had 141 active cases of COVID-19.  This is the highest number of active cases Del Norte has had to date.
4. Our county has the lowest vaccination rate on the west coast, with fewer than 30% of Del Norte residents fully vaccinated. 
5. A person with no symptoms at all can be an active spreader of the COVID-19 virus, and even a fully vaccinated person may be such a spreader.  The delta variant is present in Del Norte, and is even more contagious and has a higher incidence of long covid for those who recover.

The Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority, and its contractors Recology Del Norte and Hambro/WSG, hope each of you enjoy this year’s Del Norte County Fair.  If you have any questions about recycling or solid waste, please see our websites:

www.recycledelnorte.ca.gov,  or https://www.recology.com/recology-del-norte/

Fifty-five new cases were reported to the Public Health Branch over the weekend, making for a total of 141 active cases in Del Norte County as of Monday. A ninth person died from COVID-19 and eight people are hospitalized.

In addition to the 55 new cases Monday, nine new cases were reported among the incarcerated population, according to the county’s COVID-19 Information Hub.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker, Del Norte County’s vaccination rate is 29.9 percent.

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