California, Sonoma County Work to Dampen National COVID Surge

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As the past week ended, the United States set new records in the number of new coronavirus cases, as more than half of all U.S. states reported surging levels of the virus. On Friday the number of new cases nationwide exceeded 180 thousand, the highest one-day level ever recorded during the pandemic. More troubling, the record came only a week after the nation passed the threshold of 100 thousand daily cases.

In California the increase has been less pronounced so far, but still unmistakable. The number of new cases is up as is hospitalizations and the statewide positivity rate, which is now at 4%, an increase of a full point in the past two weeks. The hospitalization rate is considered a key indicator as it generally precedes a rise in the number of deaths.

On Friday the state’s health officer said that more than half of the state’s counties are expected to move to a more restrictive tier in the coming week as cases and hospitalizations surge. And the state is reportedly looking to act quickly to head off the kind of dangerous surges that are happening in many other states. That may mean tightening up restrictions on activities that are known to spread the virus, and imposing new quarantine and travel rules in the coming days and weeks.

In Sonoma County, the case rate curve has essentially mirrored the state’s, with a recent rise in the number of new cases after weeks of steady or decreasing numbers. Hospitalizations have not risen at the rate of the rest of the state thus far, but with a rise in cases local health officials are bracing for a possible upward movement in patients requiring hospitalization.

Meanwhile, Sonoma County health officials have asked the state for credit for additional local testing done by private labs. It is hoped that with more tests to the county’s credit, the virus metrics will change allowing the county to move into the less restrictive red tier.

However, with the virus on the increase across the state, and with many counties moving into more restrictive tiers, it’s uncertain how successful Sonoma County will be in its latest bid to escape the most restrictive state’s purple tier.