Sheriff Honsal declares local emergency in response to coronavirus outbreak

Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal declared a Local Emergency this afternoon in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

This comes less than a month after Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Teresa Frankovich declared a Local Health Emergency for the county on March 11.

This declaration makes it possible for the County of Humboldt to request all available response and recovery assistance from state and federal agencies.

Honsal stated in the order, “[T]he imminent threat posed by aforesaid conditions warrant and necessitate the proclamation of a Local Emergency to enable the County of Humboldt and other local government entities to adequately plan, prepare and preposition resources to be able to effectively respond to the threat posed by COVID-19 and to warn Humboldt County residents and visitors of the threat posed by COVID-19 and enable them sufficient time to plan and prepare.”

The Local Emergency shall be deemed to continue to exist for the next seven days, and hereafter by ratification of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, until its termination by the Board of Supervisors.

As of March 30, 2020, Humboldt County has had 18 cases of COVID-19 since the local outbreak began.

A shelter-in-place order remains in effect in the county through April 9.