The number of COVID-19 victims in Sonoma County continues to grow, with local public health officials reporting in the first six days of February a total of 15 recent deaths related to the virus.
County officials reported five deaths on Monday, two on Tuesday, three on Thursday and another five on Friday. This brings the total pandemic death count to 275.
County officials released some details of the last eight deaths on Friday and Saturday. Most of these COVID-19 fatalities occurred between January 30 and February 1.
There is often a significant gap between the date of death and the date on which they are reported. One death, involving a man aged 55 to 64 who lived in a specialized nursing home, occurred on December 27.
Four of the deceased were women aged 75 and over, and two of them lived in specialized nursing homes, while the others lived at home. A man aged 75 or older lived in a residential institution for the elderly. The other two men were between 65 and 74 years old and lived at home.
On Friday night, the county reported 165 new confirmed cases of coronavirus. In the past five days, the county has averaged just under 100 reported cases per day, a significant decline from 250 to 300 new daily cases reported during the winter peak in December and January.
Experts in public health and infectious diseases say that deaths often lag behind new cases for up to a month, so the fatal precipitation of an outbreak is often seen even after the outbreak begins to subside.
“Our case rate continues to fall,” said Dr. Sundari Mase, during a COVID-19 press conference on Friday. Mase said the county’s average daily case rate per 100,000 residents is now 26.9.
“And that dropped from 34.3 just five days ago,” she said, adding that the current case rate is still well above the benchmark needed for the county to move to the next less restrictive stage of the state’s reopening plan.
As the case rates improve, the number of local hospitalizations for COVID-19 is also falling. According to state public health data, there were 62 local patients with COVID-19 in local hospitals on Friday.
That number is significantly lower than the record for 110 hospitalizations across the county on January 7. Of the 62 patients with COVID-19 in local hospitals, 17 are receiving intensive treatment.
You can contact editor Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or [email protected]. On Twitter @pressreno.