Sonoma County again blocked from reopening more businesses due to coronavirus spread

Plagued by continued widespread transmission of the coronavirus, Sonoma County failed again this week to advance from the most restrictive tier in the state’s four-part community reopening plan, local health officials said Wednesday.

Since late August, Sonoma has been stalled in its ability to reopen more businesses and expand operations of others, because the area can’t get the virus spread under control. It’s the only Bay Area county and one of only 10 of California’s 58 counties still stuck in the first phase of the state’s reopening regimen.

What’s more, the county joins a group of only seven counties that have been stymied in reopening for the entire nine weeks since the state launched the four-stage reopening process. The other counties are Imperial; Los Angeles; Madera; Monterey; San Bernardino; and Tulare counties.

As of Wednesday, Sonoma County’s average daily rate of new COVID-19 cases was 11.1 per 100,000 residents, significantly higher than the state’s benchmark of 8 new cases or fewer per 100,000 people needed to advance to the next, less restrictive reopening stage.

Asked during a public health press briefing where the virus spread has been the worst in the past few weeks, county health officials cited southwest Santa Rosa in the ZIP code 95407, with its 225 active cases, and the Sonoma Valley ZIP code 95476, with its 155 active infections. Residents of these two areas represent about a quarter of the county’s overall 1,600 active virus cases. Since the pandemic disease arrived in mid-March, there have been 10,041 cases countywide and 142 deaths connected with complications of COVID-19.

Kathryn Pack, health program manager for the county’s epidemiology team, said employment sectors in which recent cases have been identified include sales, health care, construction and agriculture.

“Agriculture cases, we’re still seeing those occur, though they are at lower rates than what we saw previously,” Pack said. “We do have cases, though, for which people don't necessarily name who their employer is. So, it’s important to note that there is some data there, where we don't have occupation information.”

Dr. Sundari Mase, the county’s health officer, said the area does meet the state’s two virus test positivity levels of 8% maximum each to make reopening progress, but can’t advance until the third benchmark, the virus transmission rate, is reduced.

The county’s overall test positivity, which is the share of all positive COVID-19 tests is 5.2%, and the health equity measure of positive tests in disadvantaged neighborhoods is 7.7%.

Mase said ramped-up neighborhood virus testing in areas like southwest Santa Rosa and Sonoma Valley will turn up more cases and likely then reduce test positivity in disadvantaged communities, as more and more residents get tested.

Meanwhile, during Wednesday’s press briefing, Mase warned that COVID-19 infections are on the rise in other parts of the country and advised residents against domestic and international travel over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

”We know that when you go into an airport, you are with lots of people from all over, different places, whether it's domestically or internationally,“ she said.

On Thursday, Bay Area county public health officers are meeting and are expected to consider issuing a public health advisory before the holiday season, urging people who travel to locations with widespread virus transmission outside California to quarantine for two weeks when they return, or get a negative coronavirus test result before returning to school or work.

Asked if other Bay Area residents should take similar actions if they travel to Sonoma County over the holidays, Mase said there’s no question people who travel here from a community with less virus transmission are at risk.

“If they're coming up to us for tourism purposes, certainly they may have a greater likelihood of being exposed to somebody with COVID,” she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.