California’s big pandemic reopening fuels joy, confusion in Sonoma County

And for public-facing businesses, there’s still the question of how to enforce proof of vaccination.

“Anything goes, right?” said Dr. George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology at UC San Francisco. “If you’re not vaccinated, you’re supposed to wear a mask. But it’s all self-attested. So it’s honor-code stuff.”

Despite the moving parts, it looks like the lid will be lifted from a wide range of businesses Tuesday, including restaurants, bars, wineries and breweries, movie theaters, gyms, museums, family entertainment centers, live performances and private events — all of which have been operating at various degrees of limited capacity. The state won’t require customers to wear facial coverings to enter any of them.

Parties can be as large as your ice chests and plumbing allow. Masks are required in K-12 schools, on planes, buses and trains, and in airports and depots, but the state is not mandating any travel restrictions (though it is advising residents to avoid nonessential travel unless they are fully vaccinated).

As always, local health officers have the ability to keep more stringent restrictions in place, but Mase has no intention to do so in Sonoma County. “I talk to the state weekly,” she said. “I’m 100% behind what they’re doing.”

All in all, June 15 looks like a big leap in the continuum of advances Sonoma and other California counties have made since the deadly winter coronavirus surge of December and January.

“We still have guests coming in who tell us, ‘We haven’t been out like this for so long,’” said Jess Gordon, general manager of HopMonk Tavern in Sebastopol. “But every day, it feels like we’re getting less comments like that. I feel like the culture of masks, the culture of distancing, while people are still erring on the side of caution, there’s a noticeable difference in our guests.”

And soon there will be a noticeable difference in HopMonk. The Sebastopol tavern has been seating customers outside for many weeks, and has serenaded them with local musical acts. But the venue’s indoor space has remained closed — including the Abbey, the venerable stage that has been quiet for 15 months. That will change. The remodeled Abbey’s first public indoor show is booked for Friday.

Local gyms are counting the hours until Tuesday as well. Sweatmood, which focuses on cycling classes and full-body circuit training, moved into a larger facility in Rohnert Park in March but hasn’t been able to take full advantage. “We’ve had to turn down people every day,” owner Kari Cinnamon said.

Parkpoint Health Clubs are a larger operation, with locations in Santa Rosa, Healdsburg and Sonoma, but the local chain has experienced similar challenges, and its clients have similar needs. Those include a desire to work out without having to breathe through a mask.

“Our members and staff have been great about doing it, but a lot of members are asking recently if they’re vaccinated, if that’s no longer a requirement,” assistant general manager Heidi Desmond said. “We’ve also had people who are really excited about having our saunas and spas open again.”

Parkpoint currently offers a mix of indoor, outdoor and remote classes, and that will not immediately change June 15. Some members seem to be waiting to see the gym fully reopened, or the mask mandate officially dropped — or for their own comfort level to return — Desmond said, and she and her team are trying to accommodate them.

They’re not the only ones approaching this with trepidation.

“I see June 15, and a little piece of me is nervous about how we roll this out,” Gordon said. “We’ve done everything in our power to prepare for it. But we’re being cautious booking shows for June. We’re having conversations with staff, like, ‘This is what it might look like.’”

While most people will be using their hands to high-five old friends or open bottles of wine after June 15, some among us will be crossing their fingers, hoping this awakening isn’t too much, too soon.

“My worry is mainly for the unvaccinated,” Mase said. “We’re trying and trying, but we’re going to have more cases in that group as we open more. It’s inevitable. I hope we won’t have significant negative outcomes. We’ve done a great job, obviously, vaccinating our most vulnerable, meaning our older population. But there’s immunocompromised people. And we saw deaths early on in (otherwise) perfectly well people who were younger. We don’t want to see any more deaths.”

Sonoma County’s test positivity rate has ticked up to 1.4% lately, driven mostly by unvaccinated residents in the 25-34 age range, Mase said. Overall, though, she and others in public health are feeling pretty good about June 15. Case rates throughout the Bay Area are manageable, and in this county, about 72% of the eligible population has now been at least partially vaccinated. Vaccine supply exceeds demand, and the vaccines seem to be holding their own against the virus’ genetic variants, a major concern over the past few months.

“Would I rather be in Europe, where they’re actually checking your vaccine status at the door? Maybe,” Rutherford said. “Like if I’m going into a movie theater or something. I’m on the distal side of 65, as we say in medicine. I might be hesitant do certain things. By and large, though, I’m not worried. I’m pretty sanguine being fully vaccinated.”

As are most people, judging by the many maskless faces appearing around the region and suddenly competitive restaurant reservation lists. There’s an ongoing communal decompression that has everyone thinking about life’s potential, rather than mere survival.

Cinnamon, for one, said to watch for her out on the town Tuesday night; she’ll be the loud, happy one. Rumble looks forward to resuming his dormant jujitsu classes, and Desmond can’t wait to see smiles and facial expressions again. Mase is eager to visit her elderly in-laws, and to take her son to visit college campuses.

All those things we used to take for granted.

“I’m feeling a sense of relief, like everybody else,” Mase said. “The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer and closer.”

Somewhere in there is a joke about an oncoming train. In the spirit of June 15 and rebuilding optimism after the most dreadful 15 months in collective memory, how about we just let it go.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Skinny_Post.