Coronavirus message from Chair Corless

A Message to our Mammoth Lakes and Mono County Community

Coronavirus is impacting our community. Our isolated location in the Eastern Sierra often makes problems seem distant, but the COVID-19 pandemic is different. As of March 15th, there are no confirmed cases in the county and town. We are prepared for this to change, as one of the few certainties with COVID-19 is rapid change. When our region’s coronavirus threat level rises, local government response and action will also escalate. Good information is key to our collective health and safety. To that end, we’ve created a Mono County/Town of Mammoth Lakes COVID-19 response and information portal here: https://monocounty.ca.gov/coronavirus.

Mono County, like all 58 of California’s counties, is a branch of state government, and our county public health department follows guidance and directives from the California Department of Public Health. Local decisions on closures and cancelations are based on what the state does, and on what the on-the-ground situation is here in Mono County.

This is scary. The response that is happening probably doesn’t feel like enough. We are a frontier county. That means that sometimes, we don’t have access to all the outside resources we want or need, when we want them. We do have a dedicated team of public health and medical professionals, along with other government service providers, acting on and planning for both prevention and the real possibility of a wider outbreak of this virus. Their work and the information they are providing via the web portal and other means includes response to social and economic impacts of this crisis, and where you can get help.

Our community has pulled together in the face of crisis before, and we will do that with COVID-19. It’s going to take all of us. We ask everyone to do their part toward the well-being of our community by following best practices for hygiene and social distancing. We all need to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and to demonstrate concern and kindness—we are in this together. What we do here extends beyond the Eastern Sierra to those who love and care about this special place.

This week, both the Mono County Board of Supervisors and the Mammoth Lakes Town Council will hold meetings to conduct essential business. That includes updates on COVID-19 and our response. You can comment ahead of the meetings and livestream the meetings at monocounty.ca.gov and townofmammothlakes.ca.gov. You can email us at scorless@mono.ca.gov and bsauser@townofmammothlakes.ca.gov.

 

In community,
 

Stacy Corless

Chair, Mono County Board of Supervisors

 

Bill Sauser

Mayor, Town of Mammoth Lakes