Although the coronavirus continues to infect Sonoma County residents at an alarming rate and more people in the community died in January than in any month in the pandemic, the county’s top public health officer on Monday eased severe business restrictions and public life.
In choosing to suspend the last stay order at home since December 12, Dr. Sundari Mase followed the example of state health officials and Governor Gavin Newsom. Earlier in the day, the governor suspended regional stay orders across the state, a move that was met with surprise and even dismay by some local health officials and medical professionals who questioned the action as the virus spreads.
While Mase’s announcement represented incremental changes, they will give the local economy a much-needed boost after the rise in unemployment in December, reversing the steady monthly improvements since last April.
The most significant effects of its action are the resumption of outdoor dining in restaurants and breweries in the area, haircuts and a range of personal care services in salons and barbershops, along with people being allowed to meet with little ones. groups of friends and go to the gym for outdoor exercise.
Trying to strike a delicate balance by shifting a month-long block back to strict but more moderate limitations, the health officer joined county leaders and local hospital officials to plead with residents for caution and adherence to use wearing a mask and physical distance, despite being tired of the isolation.
Mase urged residents to remain “vigilant” until the vaccine against COVID-19 is widely distributed.
“It’s not like COVID is gone,” said Dr. Chad Krilich, medical director at St. Joseph Health in Sonoma County, owner of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. “I think everyone knows that. I think it’s important that we keep doing the things that limit the spread … social distance, masks, washing your hands. Even if you have been vaccinated, you do these things to reduce the likelihood of spread. “
To speed up the launch of the vaccine that began last month, county health officials also said on Monday that they will partner with a private company to open a vaccination clinic on Wednesday in Rohnert Park for people aged 75 and over. or more can be inoculated.
Meanwhile, the California Department of Public Health action on Monday suspended requests for regional hospitalization for the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California regions, all triggered in mid-December by hospital beds available to patients with viruses that need intensive care in sharp decline. The governor also removed the state curfew from 10 pm to 5 am, but San Francisco kept it.
Mase had the authority to maintain stricter public health regulations, but decided to simplify them, reflecting the state’s measure.
“It looks like we’re in a better place than we have been in the past six weeks,” she said. “I don’t want to say that it is still a trend. But our number of cases per day has certainly decreased. We are more in the range of 100-200 cases per day now than 200-300, which we saw just a month ago. So, things seem to be going in the right direction. “
Still, the spread of the virus remains rampant in Sonoma County and deaths related to complications from the infectious disease are increasing. From January 18 to 24, the county registered an average of about 205 new cases per day. This is an improvement over the beginning of the month, when there were almost 315 new cases daily from January 4 to 13 – but worse than any point in the pandemic before mid-December.
In addition, county officials reported 55 deaths in January, the highest monthly total exceeding the previous pandemic record of 43 in August. Overall, 247 local residents have died of COVID-19 since the death of the pandemic last March and about 25,000 residents have been infected.
With state and local health officials lifting the blockade, California’s 58 counties have returned to the levels of restrictions linked to the state’s four-stage color-coded reopening plan. For Sonoma County, this means life in the purple layer, which includes the stricter rules of the multifaceted regime to combat widespread transmission of the virus.
To move forward, the county would not have to register more than 7 new cases of coronavirus per 100,000 residents on an average of seven consecutive days and a virus test positivity rate of 8% or less. On Monday, those numbers were 41.4 per 100,000 and 9.6%, respectively. Comparatively, in December, when Mase announced that the strict stay order would take effect, there were 25 new daily cases of viruses per 100,000 residents and 162 local residents had lost their lives to COVID-19.