Mortality Report Underscores COVID’s Impact on Sonoma County and Latinx Community

However in terms of excess deaths compared to the three prior years, COVID was by far the greatest cause of new mortality in Sonoma County last year, accounting for 194 deaths.

Those were among the findings of a report issued Wednesday by Sonoma County’s Department of Health Services. Surprisingly, although the report shows that COVID came from nowhere to become a leading cause of death in 2020, it also revealed that deaths due to drug overdose had increased by some 78% across the county in 2020 compared to the 3 prior years, by far the largest increase outside of COVID related causes.

Sonoma County health officials said on Wednesday they suspect that at least part of the increase in drug overdose deaths may be due to mental health issues made worse by COVID-19 related stress and lockdowns.

MINORITY COMMUNITY IMPACT

The report also underscored the huge impact COVID-19 has had on the county’s Latinx and other minority communities. Excess deaths (beyond expected) among the county’s Latinx population increased by more than 30%, from an average of 341 deaths a year from 2017-2019, to 448 in 2020. Meanwhile, excess deaths among the county’s white population increased by around 5%.

However, although in raw numbers much smaller, the report revealed that the community most heavily impacted on a percentage basis was the Native American community, which saw deaths increase almost 40% last year beyond the most recent 3 year average.

OTHER FINDINGS

In terms of geography, excess deaths last year increased most among residents of the Russian River area, at almost 25%, followed in order by Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Healdsburg and Sebastopol.

Although overall deaths were up due mainly to COVID-19 and drug overdose, some other causes of death including influenza, pneumonia and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease decreased in 2020 in Sonoma County.

Among the other disturbing findings was that beyond COVID, suicide and drug overdose disproportionately impacted the Latinx community in 2020. Although deaths by suicide generally decreased last year among the county’s demographic groups, among the Latinx community those numbers were up substantially from 2017-2019.

The report will be used by the county to help inform policy and guide response in the wake of the unprecedented impact COVID-19 has had on Sonoma County’s 500 thousand residents.