Unvaccinated Sonoma County man dies of illness related to COVID-19

Sonoma County public health officials on Monday reported an unvaccinated man has died from complications of the coronavirus, bringing to nine the number of pandemic-related deaths so far in July.

The man, who died at a local hospital July 8, had underlying health conditions, said local officials, who declined to provide additional details about the man or when he contracted the infectious disease.

Since May, when there was only one death in the county attributed to the virus, COVID-19 infections and deaths have steadily increased. By late May, coronavirus transmission began ramping up and in a matter of weeks, local hospitals went from treating a few infected patients to dozens of them.

As of Sunday, there were 44 coronavirus patients in area hospitals, including 10 of them in intensive care, according to state public health data.

Public health officials have warned that hospitalizations and deaths could keep climbing, as the more transmissible delta strain of the virus continues to spread in the county among unvaccinated residents.

Since the pandemic started in March 2020, 328 people in the county have died from illnesses related to COVID-19. The virus has infected 31,763 local residents and 30,530 of them have recovered. Of county residents at least age 12, 68.5% are fully vaccinated against the virus.

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