Sonoma County health officer advises against holiday travel due to coronavirus

Sonoma County health officials on Wednesday advised against domestic and international travel over the holidays due to rising coronavirus cases in other parts of the United States.

”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,“ Dr. Sundari Mase, the county’s public health officer, 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.

Since the pandemic disease arrived in mid-March, there have been 10,041 cases countywide and 142 deaths connected with complications of COVID-19.

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