Yolo Board of Supervisors Seeking Answers About 'Pitfalls' In Response To County's First Coronavirus Case
YOLO COUNTY (CBS13) — Yolo County's Board of Supervisors is now seeking answers about how the Public County Health Department handled its first confirmed coronavirus patient's case.
That patient, Marilyn Stebbins, made public her account over the weekend and described pitfalls she encountered from local, state and federal agencies overseeing her case.
"I wanted to show that our system has pitfalls that we need to fix," Stebbins said.
Stebbins became Yolo County's first confirmed coronavirus patient on March 5. Seven weeks later, she is still testing positive for the illness.
"And I was tested again today, and I tested positive, so who knows what that means," Stebbins said.
Stebbins published a journal of her own medical journey, including specific frustrations, like how the county initially described her to the public as an 'older woman with underlying health conditions,' despite her fitness as a skier, and a long-distance runner. She ran an 18-mile race just before her positive test.
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"We need people to understand who this happens to," Stebbins said.
Stebbins was also surprised at the California Department of Public Health's guidance for Yolo County public health officials not to contact trace a manicurist who had touched her hands repeatedly just a week before her positive test.
"A manicurist who sits right next to you for an hour touching your hands should be somebody that has a contact investigation," Stebbins said.
Yolo County Supervisor Jim Provenza read the report and will ask the public health officer about Stebbins' account at the next board of supervisors meeting on Tuesday
"We plan as a board to ask questions, get to the bottom of whatever happened," Provenza said.
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The county health department issued a written statement in response to the Stebbins story, explaining their initial public description of her was a miscommunication, and the contact tracing they did, followed state guidelines.
"When we discover things that are going wrong we just need to admit it and tell the public what's going on," Provenza said.
Stebbins says she published her story not to place blame, but to identify how the entire healthcare system can better manage its coronavirus cases in Yolo County and everywhere else.
"How do we get people information, and how do we protect the public," Stebbins said.
