Outbreaks in Sonoma County show COVID-19 isn’t gone yet

Kristopher Cosca spent several months as director of COVID rapid response for the Sonoma County Office of Education, helping schools and districts around the region deal with reported outbreaks.

By early spring of this year, as virus rates bottomed out and public health mandates disappeared, he felt he was wasting the county’s money.

“It just seemed like the work wasn’t there,” Cosca said. “We were hoping we were past it.”

He left the education office to become interim superintendent of Old Adobe School District in Petaluma. Now Cosca, like many Bay Area residents, has been jolted back to the reality of this pandemic.

Sixth graders from five Old Adobe district schools, as well as two campuses in the Petaluma City Schools system, were hit with a large coronavirus outbreak at a weeklong overnight camp just outside of Cazadero two weeks ago.

Cosca estimates that 60-70 people tested positive at the camp, a tally that includes students, chaperoning school staff and Camp Royaneh counselors, most of whom are high schoolers. He, too, is home sick with the virus, though he doesn’t attribute his infection to the camp cluster.

It’s a heightened example of what is going on right now, but not an isolated case. And it comes as the nation just observed the grim milestone of its millionth COVID death.

At least 25 Sonoma County schools are experiencing active COVID outbreaks, along with “multiple” businesses, restaurants, grocery stores and early childhood educations settings, according to county epidemiologist Kate Pack. Case rates are up at correctional facilities and homeless sites, and more than 40 senior care facilities currently have positive cases.

Government employees are not immune. Positive test results among Sonoma County staff have been trending upward for a month, from 19 cases between April 18-22, to 31 cases from April 25-29, to 36 cases from May 2-6, to 53 cases from May 9-13, according to Pack. Of those 139 positives, 31 were considered potential workplace exposures.

The county departments with the most cases were Human Services (29), Health Services (24) and the Sheriff’s Office (19), Pack said.

City Hall has seen a similar trend, with case rates among City of Santa Rosa staff climbing to a peak of 18 last week, according to a spokesperson. The city reports only potential work transmissions, not those believed to have originated outside the office. The city’s cases have been spread fairly evenly across departments and buildings, the spokesperson added.

The Bay Area has emerged as a COVID hot spot over the past few weeks, with some of the highest case rates in the western half of the United States. Among the nine counties in California with the highest rates of new daily cases right now, eight are clustered around the bay, according to data compiled by the New York Times.

As of Tuesday, Sonoma County’s seven-day rate was 33.6 new cases per 100,000 residents.

“Negative outcomes are still not at all like they were at some times before, like in January of 2021,” Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said. “But the case rates suggest widespread community transmission, so we’re seeing outbreaks in congregant settings. It all points to us being careful. Masking is still a very effective method of limiting disease transmission. And if you’re concerned about being at risk, avoid large gatherings.”

The Petaluma schools knew there was some risk in their large gathering, Cosca said, but believed the benefits of a week in nature outweighed it — especially with the safety protocols put in place for the event.

“We actually went above what the recommendations were for overnight field trips,” said Michele Gochberg, principal at Sonoma Mountain Elementary Charter School and acting principal at the sixth grade outdoor ed camp.

Each of the roughly 450 people who attended the week at Camp Royaneh had to show a lab-verified negative PCR or antigen test result before arrival; most of these tests were overseen directly by the two school districts. Participants tested again on Tuesday, May 3, the fourth day at the camp for students. And when several positive cases turned up, camp leaders set up another round of testing for Thursday, May 5.

They also quickly added mitigation measures.

“Most of camp is outside, so it’s a pretty darn safe place,” Gochberg said. “But we were eating indoors. We were having a camp dance, and that was gonna be indoors. So we said, ‘Let’s have it outside.’”

Organizers ordered meals moved outdoors and required masks for a bus trip. About half the children were staying in open-air cabins, the other half in tents that accommodated 2-5 kids each; after the positive tests, staff opened the tent flaps. They tested everyone a third time on Friday, the final day of camp. Anyone who tested positive that week was sent home immediately.

Gochberg and Costa emphasized that they worked closely with county public health advisers throughout the process. Upon the return to Petaluma, the Old Adobe School District sent off every student and supervisor with an at-home testing kit, then did another round on campus for all sixth graders on May 9.

Despite the inherent drama of a large viral outbreak among schoolkids, Gochberg considers the response a success story. Almost all the positive cases were recorded during in-camp testing, she said. There was very little spread after attendees returned home.

Everything considered, the principal believes the outing was worth it.

“This is a tradition for our district and (Petaluma City Schools),” Gochberg said. “And we’ve had to cancel the last two years. The kids had an incredible experience. Some of them were away from home for the first time. They were hiking, meeting new friends. It’s life changing. I’m just glad we were able to give our kids the opportunity.”

But the Camp Royaneh experience is a cautionary tale, too. COVID rates remain high in Sonoma County. And as UC Berkeley professor of infectious diseases John Swartzberg told The Press Democrat, an even more transmissible mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus — one that approaches the infection rate of measles, the most transmissible pathogen known to humankind — is assuming an ever-greater share of U.S. cases.

Mase preaches good-sense precautions like social distancing, masking in crowded indoor settings and, of course, getting vaccinated and boosted.

“We don’t know exactly where COVID is going to go,” she said. “The modeling shows a peak in mid- to late May. But we’re waiting to see if we actually see a decrease. It’s the whole crystal ball thing again.”

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Skinny_Post. Staff Writer Paulina Pineda also contributed to this story.