Board of Supervisors — 2020-05-12

Test, test. 1-2-3. Test, test. Can you hear us over the phone? Test, test. 1 2 3. Thumbs up. Thumbs down. Test test. Okay and can we test you? Test test. Can someone say something? Test test.

Yeah, but

there we go. OK, can you hear me yes thank you so let's let's leave whatever button you just hit so we can. We

Okay. Can you hear me? Test test. No, I can't hear anymore.

I think she turned us off. So go ahead and just leave the mic on.

I'll call to order the May 12, 2020 meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Mr. Lavinino?

Here.

Mr. Williams?

Here.

Ms. Hartman? Here. Mr. Adam?

I am here.

Chair Hart?

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Well, I think because of its relevance to what we're going through. I do think we should pull a one.

OK,

A1

any other items board members would like to pull from the administrative agenda? OK, seeing none, Madam Clerk, would you please read item A1 to the record?

Chair Hart and members of the Board Administrative Item number one is an honorary resolution sponsored by Supervisor Williams and Supervisor Hart It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of May 2020 as Mental Health Month in Santa Barbara County.

Supervisor Williams, did you want

to? Well I just wanted to invite Director Gleghorn up here but the reason why I pulled it of course is because one Secondary effects that we really need to take seriously in the coronavirus is its effect on mental health of everyone in our society. We want to make sure that there is adequate support systems so that we do not have an undue amount of suffering You know, takes place in our society and wanted to turn it over to Director Gleghorn to maybe give us the expert view.

Thank you for pulling this item. Supervisor Williams, the chair.

Fortunately today we are going to have a few slides on the coronavirus update that will go more in depth on the impact of These circumstances on our services over the past couple of months. And we'll also go into some of the resources that are available, both for the folks who already are associated with our services and for the community at large. But just want to remind folks that during times of crisis, And we need to pay attention to those impacts on our mental well-being and make sure that we're taking care of ourselves. So, we'll talk a little bit more about some of those strategies during the presentation but thank you for this declaration and appreciate your participation in our work.

Thank you for that important message and look forward to your presentation on the next item. Is there a motion to approve the administrative agenda?

So moved.

Second

motion's been made and seconded any discussion? Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll?

Mr. Lavinino?

Aye.

Mr. Williams? Aye. Ms. Hartman? Aye! Mr. Adam? Aye Chair Hart? Aye Motion passes unanimously

Now's the time for members of the public to speak on items that are not on our agenda. Madam Clerk, are there any requests to speak on this item?

Chair Hart and members of the board, yes we have four requests to speak on general public comment. We have one letter to be read into the record and then we will go to three public comment on the phone.

Thank you.

We will now go to a letter from Leslie Weinstock, Physician Assistant on 5G Free Santa Barbara Executive Committee. You take an oath of office to protect the community which includes our right to be safe from physical and mental injury, to enjoy a safe and clean environment, and to be free from government and corporate surveillance. 4G, 5G multiplies the amount of radiation we are exposed to by 10 to 100,000 times And is a threat to our health, safety, well-being, privacy and choice.

Peer reviewed studies link RF radiation to cancer, DNA damage, headaches, insomnia, fatigue, cognitive impairment, depression and anxiety. Switzerland, Italy, France, Israel, Russia and China have set RF exposure limits 100 to 10,000 times less than the US. 4G, 5G adds huge financial cost to the county and creates multi-billion dollar financial gain to the telecom industry.

New wireless facilities are unnecessary and harmful. The simple solution, fiber optic directly to our homes and offices. It's faster, more reliable, less susceptible to hacking with no health risks. We urge you to create an immediate moratorium on all wireless installations and create a protective ordinance. If there is a gap in coverage, only safe wired internet infrastructure should be allowed with strict oversight of the planning departments and commissions to halt approval of all applications and contracts for wireless installations.

We request to get on your agenda and meet with your attorney and our attorneys to collaborate, to write the moratorium. And modify county ordinances 5093, 5094, 5095, and resolution 19-319 passed December 10th 2019. Thank

you Ms. Weinstock.

Chair Hart, members of the board we are now going to Katie Mickey on the phone to be followed by Miriam Lindbeck. Okay, Katie, you're next.

A little action on the behalf of Halting Fire Team within the county. Katie? Katie? Okay, Katie, go ahead. Dear Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, I am a Santa Barbara business owner of 30 years and have been a Painted Cave resident of four-and-a-half years, retreating from high density of nonionizing radio frequency surrounding my previous downtown apartment that prevented me from being able to sleep at night.

I was a chronic insomniac. Last week, I requested that you place a moratorium on all wireless infrastructure installations and enact protective measures to our current ordinance. You made inquiry with our county attorney, and were informed that the FCC preempts your authority to do so. Today I return to inform you that your hands are not tied! Congress specifically preserves power to local governments to regulate the placement of wireless facilities Reference to Telecommunications Act Section 47 U.F.C. 332 C7A.

The reason it is important that you regulate the placement of wireless facilities is that the FCC does virtually nothing to actually apply the limits that they set. As a general rule, the FCC never tests wireless facilities And never requires the owners to test them. So local governments are the first and only line of defense against their constituents being exposed to illegally excessive levels of radiation emanating from wireless facilities in their jurisdiction.

Low density RFR in our county is a priceless treasure that I call on you to preserve and protect through an immediate moratorium on all wireless infrastructure installations and modification of our current ordinance. Thank you, Katie Mickey, Director of the Santa Barbara Body.

Thank you Ms. Mickey.

And we will now go to Marion Limbeck to be followed by Renee O'Neill.

Dear County Board of Supervisors, good morning. I am Miriam Lindebach, co-chair of the 5G3 Santa Barbara Executive Committee. I have been injured by wireless radiation. A few of my symptoms—daily migraine headaches, dizziness, nausea, ringing in my ears, loss of coordination, loss of immediate memory, irritability to name a few—have compounded and accumulated My doctor has dismissed me saying there is nothing wrong with me, that there is nothing he can do.

In reading a Swedish study about the impact of EMS on health I found not only what is wrong with me but found an actual diagnosis. Since then I have read hundreds of independent studies verifying these findings. I am electromagnetically sensitive an ADA-recognized disability, which develops from overexposure to daily wireless radiation. I live every day wearing shielded clothing to protect me from said radiation. I eliminate it as much as possible, sleep under a Faraday canopy, hardwire my computer and cannot use the cell phone.

These measures have made a significant difference in my health though I am now sensitized to wireless for the rest of The potential of having hundreds, even thousands of micro and macro wireless facilities in close proximity in every zone emitting multiple and increased overlaying frequencies 24-7 365 will force me to run for my life. If telecom has their way within a few years there will be no safe place on earth to go.

As local authorities who hold the health and safety of your residents and the environment in your hands, it is imperative and your duty to verify that legally your hands are not tied. To uphold your oath of office if even a few speak out against this 5G rollout you have an obligation to investigate those objections. Your hands are not tied. You hold my life And we will now go to our final speaker, Renee O'Neill.

Good morning, Supervisors. It was kind of ironic that your meeting was so delayed because I lost internet and was practically trying to get some connection to this hearing or meeting and apparently I don't get channel 20 on my DISH satellite, so I'm going to have to figure all this out for a backup. Anyway, first of all, I want to support all the comments that came in about 5G free And I also am very concerned about that issue. The other and most important reason I am calling in this morning is because I want to let the county know that in the last five weeks, there have been various cannabis associated vehicles Trafficking through our property and on Tepeskay Road.

In five weeks, I have recorded and documented 500 vehicle trips going through our property. The cannabis traffic in Tepeskay has been so horrific that this is now a conversation that is going on community email list, Chepuske specific. This is conversation that is going on our community Facebook page. There are so many people that have reported the escalation in cannabis traffic in our canyon that it has...

Sorry, I have a hard time not getting upset about this issue. It has inspired me to write a letter to the state governing authorities. That is going to say one of the paragraphs that I have a working document going, it has become blatantly apparent to me that the only way some of these cannabis moguls in our community can be prohibited from continuing this abuse of cannabis regulations is to have Our county and state and federal legislators, I'm sorry, federal and state legislators get involved in this because our county isn't wielding the authority that they have to weigh in on this.

Wanting the extensions that are coming up on these provisional multiple provisional licenses in our community. I want the state to deny them. Apparently, our county may not be communicating the level of concern to the state board authorities CalCanada. I would really appreciate if our supervisors would look into this. Would give some serious consideration of what's going on out here.

My driveway was not intended to be a commercial trafficked road, so when you think about this, you have 500 vehicles going through your driveway in five weeks? Just please consider the level of stress that adds to not only my life but our entire community's lives.

Thank you, Ms. O'Neill.

And that was our final speaker on general public comment.

Thank you. The next item is Department Item No. 1. Would the clerk please read that item into the record?

Chair Hart and members of the Board, Departmental Item No.1 is from the County Executive Office. It is a hearing to consider recommendations regarding a coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 update.

Good morning chair and board members. Today we have quite a lengthy presentation and it's to respond to lots of questions we've had from board members in the community So there's before we start, there's three things I'd like to discuss. One is so the agenda today will be talking about enforcement and we have the district attorney in the sheriff here are public health department doctor Dover know. So we'll be talking about just an update of where we are in the governor's criteria will be providing information to you on We'll be talking about the flu and how that relates to COVID. And that was a request from a board member, and Dr. Ansorg our public health officer is here today and he'll be doing that as Dr. Gluckhorn talked about she'll be giving present presentation of information about mental health and where we are and what we've been doing in the community.

And then Nancy Anderson assistant CEO will be talking a little bit about our reopening plan. But before we go into that, there's a few things I just want to remind everyone about where we are in the process. And I know that Chair Hart has been saying this at our press conferences but I just wanted to take a few minutes to reiterate that. As we all know, the governor is making the decisions about when all of us can return to our normal lives, when the restrictions of the stay-at-home order can be loosened.

The Governor and the State Department of Public Health. And on Friday, he made a small step towards loosening but it's not gone far enough for many in our community. On Thursday, the State Department of Public Health released criteria that will allow counties to loosen a little bit more. Not fully, but a little bit more if they can meet certain criteria. And as we've heard from our public health department, we don't meet that criteria.

And so she will go over that and what criteria we do meet. The second thing I wanted to point out is as Ms. Alexander said, we changed the agenda on Friday because we're requesting the board send a letter to the governor asking that we have more discretion in this criteria and part of that they allow us to exclude cases from the Lompoc prison In part of our attestation numbers. So I wanted to give a little bit of context, there's a lot of information going around and Dr. Doronosa will talk a little bit more about that in her presentation but because we wanted to start out with enforcement because I know the district attorney and the sheriff have other commitments this morning so we'll start with them.

Welcome Sheriff Brown thank you for being here

Thank you Chair Hart and thank all of you for inviting me and the District Attorney to come and reemphasize a very important aspect to this situation that we're all in, enforcement of the law. The law is very clear that once the Governor and the Public Health Officer invoked special powers And invoked conditions in health orders to contain the spread of virulent and potentially deadly COVID-19 virus.

The Sheriff's Office and other local law enforcement agencies became responsible for enforcing those orders. It's not a question of whether or not we agree with some of those orders, or something that has the force of law. We are law enforcement officers and we are duty bound to enforce the law. But let me be very clear our approach to how we do that in the Sheriff's Office and the approach of each of our police departments in our county is the same.

We are committed to being long on engagement, education, persuasion and encouragement and short on actual enforcement tactics. We try whenever possible to get people to understand the situation and to voluntarily comply with the law. If such compliance is not achieved we have an array of options available to us. We can enlist the aid of state and local licensing authorities to help us achieve compliance.

We can ask the county council to issue a cease and desist notice, we can write a report and send it to the district attorney and request prosecution. We can also issue a citation to appear in court to answer charges or if all else fails, we can make a physical arrest. That would be a last resort and it's something that we would employ only in egregious or repeated offenses.

Our primary concern is to safeguard lives and property, and that includes stopping actions that jeopardize the health and safety of others. But we cannot be, and we are not blind to the negative impact that these orders are having on our community, to the suffering that is being experienced And we understand that in many cases, livelihoods, life savings and the hopes and dreams of many members of our community are at stake.

Fortunately, the good news is that since this pandemic began, we have been able to obtain the cooperation and compliance of members of our community in almost every instance where compliance has been called into question. The people of Santa Barbara County are to be commended for their understanding of why these orders had to be issued Why the orders continue and we need to thank them for their near universal adherence to them.

I also want to thank all of our county's law enforcement officers for the remarkable understanding, patience and discretion that they have exercised in the limited number of noncompliance complaints that we have received. The governor said in his press conference remarks on Friday That while some counties may accelerate through the process by attesting to certain conditions, all remaining counties will be moved forward together at the appropriate time.

He also indicated that we are weeks not months from moving into the next stage of reopening California. There will no doubt have to be more modifications to how we have traditionally lived our lives and done business. And that includes how we in the law enforcement profession do business. But there does appear to be light at the end of the tunnel and I encourage everyone in our community, especially our business owners and their employees to hang in there support one another to the extent that we can have a little more patience and fortitude and look beyond the moment two brighter days ahead together As we have done so many times before when disaster has struck us, we are going to get through this.

Thank you, Sheriff Brown for that very important message. Are there any questions for the sheriff while he's here?

Supervisor Williams. Well one issue that has come up in my district, well two issues that have come up in my district but It brings to light an issue that some other jurisdictions have, which is the ability of law enforcement to make temporary parking restrictions for public safety. And I would just ask you what do you need from us in order That power, because I do think that this brings to light really the need to have some nimbleness and ability to maybe right now these weekends are overcast. It might not be necessary but there will be some sunny ones ahead where it might be.

And so I just want to get an idea what we should be doing to make enforcement of that social distancing possible.

Well, thank you for the question Supervisor Williams through the chair. The vehicle code and other ordinances are specific that if parking violations are to be enforced there has to be some kind of warning or signage that is put up generally in certain areas. There are some exclusions to that if roads are being blocked or If there are other obstacles, for example the width of a lane not enough to get a fire truck through.

But with respect to actually putting up temporary no parking signs as has been requested And certain areas of the county, particularly at some of the trailheads and other places where there's been a lot of activity. Above average level of activity in parking has been an issue in some cases. It would be beneficial I think if we could as a county look into what some municipalities do And that is to pass an ordinance that essentially would give the authority in this case to the sheriff. To temporarily put up no parking signs in areas where there are congestion problems and issues.

This has done, as I say, in some cities. I was a police chief in Lompoc. It was something we did there. I think it would be at least worth taking a look and seeing if that's something that could be done rather than say we have a problem in area X We need to do something about it. We need to write a staff report, we need to get a resolution and it takes two, three, four weeks let's say to get it done by that time the problem may have subsided and may no longer be an issue so I think it would be worth it perhaps to ask County Council maybe to look into that and see if that is a possibility for us to do.

public works about the need for at very least to be doing temporary two-hour parking in some areas. I'm not talking about closing off parking that has been shown, we tried that at Rincon and it really didn't work very well according to our sheriff's personnel. So, but they have not been able to enact it. We briefly got to get up a flashing sign and that's about all that's happened. And it gives the community the sense that we're not ready for the possibility of big weekends.

I am not on the bandwagon for closing off beaches. I mean, I think when people lose their jobs and have a hard time staring at their kids in the face when they can't provide for them, telling them they can't go to the beach when it may not be necessary is not the right thing to do. We know that transmission outside has not been documented in a really clear manner despite A lot of press attention to one person's, expert's opinion.

But I do think that it is important that we take some measures to address crowding and so I guess my conclusion is I hate to ask for an ordinance to do that but if that's what's necessary I would be asking for an ordinance to be brought before us.

Supervisor Hartman?

I just wanted to ask for greater clarification from Supervisor Williams. I have also had comments from state parks about the parking on county roads for access to those parks, but you said that you wanted shorter parking for two-hour intervals to create greater turnover or do you want fewer people crowded in parking lots? What is the objective?

The objective is to have people not camp out all day long or all weekend long, which exacerbates crowding, trash and so forth. And I think that it's more consistent with what adjacent jurisdictions are doing as well. City of Carpinteria has been doing two hour parking. Ventura has been asking people to sort of use the beach but as a mobile activity. Not really sure how they're enforcing that, but I do think that it would discourage people from hanging out all day which would improve crowding situations.

Well let's keep going with the presentation. We'll hold on to this issue and at the end we can wrap it up with a motion for all the things that we want to accomplish today. Thank you again Sheriff Brown for coming today and making presentations

Thank you, Chair. Could I just add one last comment and that is that we did have when the beaches in Southern California were closed we did have the following weekend some problems and issues with overcrowding parking lot issues as Supervisor Williams mentioned since that time we have had a strong presence on the beaches and at the parking areas And have seen, have not seen that same level of problems and issues. And with talk now about beaches in Los Angeles reopening and in Orange County reopening there was some concern that we were getting a lot of out-of-town people that were coming in. No doubt we were getting some that were coming up here. That doesn't seem to be the case as much anymore and it seems as though things are getting back to more of a normal type state in terms of who's accessing and using the beaches.

So the good news is that people do seem to be adhering to it. The suggestion has been, look if you're going somewhere and then the parking is overflowing think about going somewhere else. And I think that's working to an extent. Again, I just can't say enough how much I really want to commend the people of Santa Barbara County for taking this seriously in all aspects of how we're adapting to these terrible situation that none of us are happy with and like, but I think that the conditions have improved on the beaches and on the parking lots over the last weekend. And prospectively, I suspect that they will continue to get better.

Thank you, Sheriff Brown. Supervisor Williams? Well I agree. I witnessed myself that very even though the beach was very heavy used this weekend there were in most cases really adequate social distancing people being responsible but this is also cyclical on weather right I mean you know coronavirus has not changed the basic fact that It gets cold in May and June here, unless people go to the beach. And then it gets hot again in July and August, and more people go to the beach.

That's generally a pattern that holds but we don't know. It doesn't always hold that way. Sometimes the June gloom lifts early. I do think that it would be good for us to have systems in place A situation where we have a lot of people on a sunny weekend, and a lot of issues from it. And I just don't think that two hour parking is really as much of an intrusion of government interference as all the other options. I think that's a really reasonable interference to diminish crowding as opposed to other more drastic solutions.

Okay, thank you. Again I think we'll hold all these thoughts to the end of the presentations and then we can deliberate them on. Thank you again Chair Brown for coming. I think the next person on our schedule is District Attorney Dudley. Thank you also for being here today.

Thank you, Chair Hart. I'm here today with the Chief Deputy District Attorney John Savernach and John has been on a call for the last seven weeks discussing how will the district attorney's office respond to orders by our governor, our health officer along with the sheriff's department so for the specifics John is happy to respond to that what i can tell you in terms of the district attorney's office is our philosophy remains the same We will evaluate any case sent to us by all our local law enforcement agencies, and we will determine whether we should file those charges or not. What I've been saying since the beginning of COVID is my greatest priority. My greatest concern are the crimes that were not hearing about the in-home crimes. That is domestic violence, spousal rape, child elder and animal abuse.

So those cases are getting particular attention, and that would be my response to how the district attorney's office Has altered or changed in terms of COVID-19. Happy to answer any questions.

And thank you very much for your leadership and highlighting those important issues that is tragic that folks do not feel comfortable coming forward at this point in time. Are there any questions for District Attorney Dudley? Supervisor

Williams You have, you've mentioned it in your public statements but I just want to give you an opportunity The rise of, in your belief and I trust your opinion in domestic violence cases as people are spending more time bivouac together. Could you talk about just what we can do as people, as decision makers and as a community in that regard?

Thank you Supervisor Williams. I've now been in the district attorney's office for 30 years, so I'm acutely aware of domestic violence and all the other in-home crimes I've discussed during the first week when we had the shelter in place We had a 21% increase in calls out to domestic violence. I expected it and hoped it would stay at that number, unfortunately what we're now seeing is just the opposite which terrifies me. We're getting less reports about domestic violence, less reports about elder abuse, child abuse and the reason for that as you suggested is what shelter-in-place means to our community. What that means is that households are under tremendous amount of stress right now.

They're worried about money, they're worried about employment. They're worried about the life that they had before COVID-19. Children are home from school, parents are worried about them not getting the right education. Some families don't have internet so children are missing out on an opportunity to have the Zoom classrooms. So again stress level rises. When people's stress level rise one of the things they do in the immediate Presence of their children and their families, they start engaging in abusing alcohol and drugs. When there's stress plus alcohol and drugs we see a rise in in-home violence.

Unfortunately because the same people are inside, the people who normally report these cases to law enforcement and therefore we can act upon it are not reporting. Mandated reporters don't have contact with their children anymore, with their elders anymore. So the situation screams out for the fact that we have to figure out alternative ways to help. Many people who are stuck inside their homes are intimidated by the perpetrators and scared of making that phone call, so they don't. So now more than ever, we have to be a community of neighbors. We have to care about each other.

As the sheriff and I have been saying repeatedly, if you see something here something or even send something call 911. And the district attorney's office since COVID-19 has set up a victim witness 24 hour seven day a week bilingual hotline so people who are in any way uncomfortable calling 911 can call and speak to one of our victim advocates at 805-568-2400.

And I guess the main message is just because you're out of sight doesn't mean you're out of our hearts or out of our minds. Thank you.

Thank you for that very important message. The next presentation will be from Dr. Henning-Anzorg, the county's public health officer. Dr. Anzorg?

Let me just, before Dr. Anzorg does this, so this portion is really in response to some questions that we got last week and then We weren't able to provide the information to the public, so now Dr. Ansorg is going to go over that and before he does I just want to note that in your board packet or on posting was a letter from the Central Coast Medical Association which is the physicians of the central coast about 600 physicians commending and thanking Dr. Ansorg as well as Dr. Bornstein. So just wanted to acknowledge his work.

Thank you CEO Miyasato. That's important to recognize.

Dr. Ansorg welcome Good morning Supervisor Hart and members of the board. I think Supervisor Adam requested a couple of comparisons between the traditional influenza and this new COVID-19 virus, Our epidemiology team tried their best to extract the data requested. The problem with that is that traditionally Influenza data are measured or reported in a very different way than the COVID data. COVID is so new that COVID cases always tested, we always have a test result and there is not a lot of question about the validity of any case number. When we're talking about influenza however The vast majority of diagnoses that are made across the country, across the world by primary care physicians, emergency rooms, any kind of medical provider is sort of like yeah this is like the flu.

Meaning, I just counted we have 71 ICD-10 codes which is a code that a doctor uses to document the visit and bill for the visit that can be used for something like the flu. 71 different diagnosis codes identified. Now if we go, and the reason why I'm going so far away from the graph is just to give it a little bit of background. All our data that we have on influenza are surveillance data and not really measured tests at all. So if somebody were to Google how many die from influenza in 2018 or something you get a horrendous number This number, however, are not measured or lab confirmed cases of the influenza virus at all.

What those numbers are, are surveillance data and they're actually only approximated data to sort of give a picture of a potential true burden of a disease And this disease is not the infection with one particular virus, the influenza virus. But with a whole slew of different pathogens and therefore it's very difficult to compare influenza data with these really hard COVID data that we have right now. This is just as a background information.

So when we look at this graph here, we went through our local vital statistics records and per death certificates we could identify seven deaths in the last few months due to flu. This does not mean they were actually confirmed influenza per lab test, but this is what gets reported on death certificates. Filling out a death certificate is quite a challenging chore for any physician and as an example for instance if somebody has long-standing chronic lung disease from having smoked a long time or from occupational hazards and so forth, and then develops an influenza-like syndrome and dies from this. Now it's really difficult to determine for the physician, well did this guy die actually from his longstanding lung disease?

Or did he die from a virus or from a bacterium? So therefore, any mention on the death certificate of influenza-like illness will be counted as flu. With COVID it's different. COVID has to be the cause of death. So we have had seven deaths in three months over in Santa Barbara County per our death certificate registry, and we had now 11 deaths of COVID in one month.

Next slide please. This was an attempt to plot influenza cases versus COVID cases. As you see, there is no individual influenza case. There is no way to extract those data because influenza is not a reportable disease. COVID is a reportable disease like tuberculosis or gonorrhea or measles. So if we wanted to compare COVID, one reportable disease to another reportable disease, we could have plotted this but unfortunately with influenza it's not possible due to lack of those data.

Next slide please. This was a question with regard to, so how many people do really recover from COVID? And our recovery rate locally is quite good. This orangey sort of graph shows COVID diagnosis and the blue line shows recovery, and there's a very faint gray line at the very bottom which shows deaths. So we had 11 deaths and that's why it's not so significant compared to the over 1,000 cases that we've had in Santa Barbara County since March 15th when we have the first case.

Next slide please. And this is the date of times when these deaths were recorded. The blue lines are all one individual death with the date for influenza-like illness, and the orange lines are COVID deaths worth a notice that two on there are actually missing on the graph. I apologize for that. Next slide, please. Age of death on an average in influenza very high.

Definitely compared to COVID the average COVID death there was a little bit of text underneath this slide My recollection is mid-60s for COVID as an average age of death and 89 as an average death for influenza like illness in Santa Barbara County. Is there another slide? No, it's fine. Thank you. All right. So just to wrap it up a little bit, two boxes here is COVID just fancy influenza by no means? The reason for that is that We look at a virus, at how infectious it is. That means one infected person can infect on average will infect a certain number of other people. The statistical number is called R naught, R with the zero and that's reproduction number for any virus.

For COVID-19, it is anywhere between two and 2 1⁄2 which means one sick individual on average will affect two or 2 1⁄2 other people with the virus. With influenza, it is 1.2 to 1.4 so anybody who is infected with the virus will statistically speaking spread it to 1 .2 to Next is fatality rate. Fatality rate varies greatly from region to region. The United States, COVID currently we have a fatality rate of 5.7%.

However there are pockets and hotbeds in the country where fatality rates are higher and areas where fatality rate is lower. Fortunately California has a fatality rate right now at about 4%. Fatality rate for influenza is anywhere between 0.01 to 0.1%, which is, of course, significantly lower. I'm not playing influenza down but it just doesn't compare to COVID-19 in terms of fatalities, in terms of reproduction number and meaning how infectious this virus is.

Now influenza has been around for a very long time and even though the influenza virus mutates from year to year, at least half of it has been around before. So there is at least a partial immunity to any influenza virus out there in the population Partial immunity sometimes is all it takes to have only a mild cause of disease and get over it as opposed to requiring hospitalization, developing really severe illness and so forth.

Otherwise for influenza, we do have a vaccine. It is not foolproof. Nobody is saying that but it does protect to a good degree and we have actually medications available like Tamiflu and others that can be taken orally to shorten the course of influenza case. COVID-19, everybody knows we don't have a vaccine. Medications are in experimental state at the moment.