Village News

Today in a broadcast, ABC7 aired a false statement that a “Covid-19 outbreak may be linked to Clubhouse One in Laguna Woods.”

Village Management Services has received numerous calls regarding this statement.

This statement is erroneous. The statement made by ABC7 is an aggregation of information published in the Orange County Register on Thursday, January 7, that was picked up by ABC, who perpetuated the error in today’s broadcast.

From the January 7 edition of the Orange County Register, “Local outbreak boosts COVID-19 case count to 225 in Laguna Woods,” written by reporter Brooke Becher:

“The COVID-19 case count in Laguna Woods reached the 200s on Monday
after an outbreak traced to the outdoor fitness center at Clubhouse 1,
Village Management Services CEO Jeff Parker said
during the regular meeting of the Golden Rain Foundation on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

“The potential exposure is limited to the outdoor fitness facility staff and residents
who used the facility and the Pool 1 restroom between
Friday, Jan. 1, and Sunday, Jan. 3., according to a VMS email.
The fitness facility is closed until further notice.

“The active case count in Laguna Woods is at 225, with 12 recorded deaths.
A smaller surge in early December marked Laguna Woods’ breach into the 100s.”

To the best of our knowledge, there is no COVID-19 outbreak in the City of Laguna Woods, and there is no COVID-19 outbreak stemming from the Clubhouse 1 outdoor fitness facility. The case count didn’t suddenly increase to 225, as falsely claimed by Reporter Becher. 

As of yesterday, January 7, the Orange County Health Care Agency reported 237 total positive COVID-19 cases for all of the City of Laguna Woods. This positive case count has been marginally increasing since the county began recording positive COVID-19 data in April, as have all Orange County municipalities.

In fact, on January 5, the OC Register reported “Orange County is on a coronavirus case rate record-breaking streak.

“In a now almost routine upping of the ante, metrics tracking Orange County’s
rate and spread of coronavirus cases again broke records this week,
according to a state update released Tuesday, Jan. 5.

“The county’s case rate was 67.8 cases per day per 100,000 residents,
up from 53.5 cases per 100,000 last week for a fifth straight record-breaking week.

“In comparison, the rate of new cases during the summer surge
peaked at roughly 27 cases per 100,000.

“Testing positivity – the share of positive swabs tests out of all administered –
climbed to 17.1% from 16.9% last week. Recent rates are well above
a relatively modest 3.6% testing positivity recorded in early November.

According to the Orange County Health Care Agency, the County of Orange today, January 8, saw 3,544 positive COVID-19 cases, and the City of Laguna Woods has 243 cumulative positive COVID-19 cases. Again, these numbers, which are reported daily by Laguna Woods Village online, represent the total number of cases since the county began recording positive COVID-19 data in April.

On January 4, Village Management Services notified all Village residents of additional potential COVID-19 exposures among staff and residents at the Clubhouse 1 outdoor fitness facility and the Pool 1 restroom Saturday and Sunday, January 2 and January 3.

Courtesy notices such as this, as well as other regular updates regarding COVID-19 and Laguna Woods Village, are sent to all residents who have opted in to receive digital communications. These notices and updates are in compliance with guidelines issued by the State of California and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so that all community residents can take the steps required to protect themselves from the COVID-19 virus.

We understand the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we strongly encourage everyone to take all precautions to protect yourself and your loved ones.

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