COVID-19

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Two more positive tests for COVID-19 were received in the South Lake Tahoe region of El Dorado County, and one more in El Dorado Hills, bringing the county total up to 22.

Two of the new cases were community-acquired and one is under investigation.

The South Lake Tahoe region of the county runs from Tahoma to Meyers and includes the city of South Lake Tahoe.

To date, 849 have been tested for the virus in El Dorado County with 683 coming back negative and the results on about 144 are still pending.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) as relocated its Warm Room operations to the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Center in order to provide a 24/7 shelter for the most vulnerable residents until at least April 30.

In addition to their expanded operations they have also made the following changes:

● Set up 8 isolation bays for people experiencing non-COVID-19 symptoms.
● Providing 22 private motel rooms for our vulnerable seniors and those experiencing complex underlying health conditions.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - Consistent with directives issued by Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, and the guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control, Douglas County is urging travelers and short-term rental owners/managers, to take this threat to our community seriously, act responsibly and refrain from renting vacation home properties to non-essential travelers at this time.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County has created a new dashboard for COVID-19 cases and it shows South Lake Tahoe leads all areas with confirmed cases.

There are 7 confirmed cases in the South Lake Tahoe region, 3 in Placerville, 4 in El Dorado Hills with the County's other 5 cases spread around the west slope.

797 people have been tested with 648 of those coming back negative for the virus. 130 are still pending.

Of the confirmed 19 cases:

9 - travel-related
1 - contact with a known case
6 - community-acquired
3 - cause under investigation

10 - male
9 - female

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Governor Newsom said it was a possibility two weeks ago, California’s schools chief Tony Thurmond recommended the state’s public schools prepare to provide distance learning through the end of their school years on Tuesday, and now today, it became a reality in South Lake Tahoe.

El Dorado County Office of Education (EDCOE) announced they are taking a safety-first approach and immediate action to extend the school facility closures through the end of the school year.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The precipitation of March did not do enough to boost the snowpack in the Sierra to high figures, but it did give surveyors better figures than the 47 percent of average one month ago. The manual measurement of the snowpack at Phillips Station near Sierra-at-Tahoe showed the snow depth was 43.5 inches with a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 16.5 inches. This is 66 percent of the April 1 average at that location southwest of Lake Tahoe.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Arrests in South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County are down as a result of "Stay at Home" directives from the State, County, and City.

Though exact numbers are not yet available, a look at the daily arrest logs shows a large decrease. County-wide there were three arrests Sunday and five arrests on Monday, when one month ago there were 32 between the same two days of the month, a reduction of 75 percent.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - There have been three more positive COVID-19 cases in El Dorado County, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 18 as of 4:00 p.m. March 31.

County officials said the virus has been identified on the West Slope and in South Lake Tahoe, but the number of each case in each area is not known.

Carson City Health and Human Services on Tuesday morning reported one new positive case of COVID-19 in the Quad County region: Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, and Storey counties. This brings the total number of cases in the Quad-County region to 12.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Lake Tahoe City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, April 1 at 9:00 a.m. to address the formation of a South Lake Tahoe COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force Subcommittee, a moratorium on commercial evictions, and citations and fines for violations of the State of California's Stay at Home order.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - The Nevada Department of Transportation is launching “Walk and Roll Wednesdays” to give socially-distanced Nevada families the opportunity for healthy and fun outdoor activity.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Ever since Governor Newsom issued a 'Stay at Home' order on March 19, 2020, there has been confusion on what businesses are essential and what the public can and cannot do. The order was created to protect the health and well-being of all Californians and to establish consistency across the state in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Once again, Vail Resorts' CEO Rob Katz and his wife Elana Amsterdam are giving back to the communities where their employees live and where their company operates.

Today, they announced a donation of more than $2.5 million to provide immediate support to those areas as all contend with the severe impacts of COVID-19.

Immediate emergency relief grants will total $1.5 million and will be distributed to communities including South Lake Tahoe.

PLACER COUNTY, Calif. - The County of Placer Health & Human Services now reports 57 confirmed cases of coronavirus COVID-19 with two deaths from the virus.

Confirmed cases have been identified in the following areas - Auburn, Carnelian Bay, Granite Bay, Kings Beach, Lincoln, Loomis, Meadow Vista, Newcastle, Olympic Valley, Rocklin, and Roseville. However, testing is still limited.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - Public meetings have gone to a virtual format to protect the public against health threats posed by the coronavirus and COVID-19. Promoting social distancing and reducing public gatherings have led local governments to create materials and procedures for the public to still participate and to follow the Brown Act.

Douglas County Commissioners will no longer have a physical location designated for their meetings and copies of the agenda will no longer be physically posted.

Meeting materials will be posted on the following websites:

The Washoe County Health District is reporting that two more Washoe County residents have recovered from COVID-19 and have been released from self-isolation, increasing the count to seven recoveries.

In addition, the Health District is reporting 18 additional positive cases of COVID-19 in Washoe County, moving the total number of cases to 93 and the active case count to 86. The new numbers include a Washoe County Sheriff's deputy that was assigned to the jail.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County has announced three new COVID-19 cases. As of 4:45 p.m. Friday, March 27, 12 people have tested positive for the virus. Health officials said the virus has been identified in both the West Slope and South Lake Tahoe areas.

There have been no numbers released on how many confirmed cases are in each area.

The best way to prevent the spread is to stay inside, and if going to an essential service such as the grocery store, maintain a distance of at least six feet from others.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - The El Dorado County Public Health Department has announced there are now nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of 4:00 p.m. Thursday, March 26. The County is not identifying the communities where these cases are.

This brings the total number of positive cases in the State of California to 4,040. There have been 82 deaths in the state.

Of those 3,666, 886 are community-acquired cases; 2,120 were acquired through person-to-person transmission, travel (including cruise ship passengers), repatriation, or under investigation. This includes 42 health care workers.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Tahoe Chamber is holding its second Virtual Town Hall meeting in as many weeks on the local response to the COVID-19 crisis response.

Last week, Chamber CEO Steve Teshara hosted South Lake Tahoe Mayor Jason Collin. On Friday, March 27, he will host El Dorado County District 5 Supervisor Sue Novasel, and the County's Health Officer, Dr. Nancy Williams. The event is on the Zoom platform from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - What started out as a charity that shared the magic of the holidays with local children has now become a lifeline of support that immediately provides South Lake Tahoe families with financial assistance when they are in crisis.

The 501c3 non-profit was founded in 1994 and has helped low-income families on a year-round basis with one-time crisis funding, but that role is now growing due to the current COVID-19 health and economic crisis. Tahoe Magic recently launched its new website TahoeMagic to show how those in need can be assisted.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Operational changes, including hospital visitation, screening protocols and testing facilities, continue to be made in the wake of El Dorado County’s first reported cases of coronavirus COVID-19. The health and safety of patients and care providers is Barton’s top priority, and community spread of COVID-19 is a concern. Regardless of confirmed cases in South Lake Tahoe, the advice of Barton Health medical experts is to assume COVID-19 is in the community and stay home unless absolutely necessary, keeping a distance of 6 feet from others if you must leave the home.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - Watercraft inspections to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species (AIS) in Lake Tahoe have halted until at least April 16 in response to Nevada and California Executive Orders on COVID-19, according to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Tahoe Resource Conservation District. Watercraft inspection stations, as well as the boat ramps at Cave Rock, Nevada and Tahoe City, California, will remain closed until it is deemed safe for personnel to return to work, they said.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - Hotels, motels, vacation rentals, and campgrounds are to be used only to house homeless, COVID-19 emergency workers or continue to house residents according to an El Dorado County directive issued on Tuesday. Staying in one of these types of temporary housing is not considered "essential" by Governor Newsom's March 18th "Stay at Home" order.

The vacation home rental (VHR) industry stands with our neighbors, community, and City Leadership in South Lake Tahoe to discourage visitors to our town at this time. South Shore of Tahoe VHR industry companies have blocked calendars to prevent reservations, issued full refunds for cancelations, and offered incentives encouraging visitors to postpone travel to later dates.

We all need to do our part to eliminate the spread of COVID-19 with social distancing, limiting exposure to our friends, family, and neighbors, and make every attempt to flatten the curve.

California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye on Monday issued a statewide order suspending all jury trials in California's superior courts for 60 days and allowing courts to immediately adopt new rules to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In South Lake Tahoe, Judge Suzanne Kingsbury had previously announced new practices in the El Dorado County courtrooms and suspension of the use of juries until April 16.