Record 24 Hour Cases. County Figures Show Hospital Surge Underway.

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Sonoma County health officials reported another daily record of new detected cases, 116 late Sunday, which tops the previous record of 89 set only two days earlier. Two additional deaths were reported over the weekend, bringing the number of COVID-19 deaths countywide to 16.

Despite those numbers, the county reported 203 patients had recovered, actually reducing the number of active cases countywide by 87 to 827.

The total cases since the beginning of the outbreak in Sonoma County now stands at 1819.

One key factor is hospitalizations. Since the end of June, Sonoma County has seen hospitalizations more than double to now stand at 36, while available ICU beds are now in the single digits at 8.

Despite the loss of Sonoma State University as an alternate care site, the 7 primary hospitals in the county say they have surge capacity to increase their bed county, if necessary, by over 200 beds including in some cases using temporary structures onsite.

That is the current situation according to county figures as a large swath of businesses formally shut down indoor activities today, July 13th, in a business rollback ordered by the state that will last until August 2nd.

Sonoma County joins 29 other California counties currently ordered by the state to modify business reopenings due to a rise in positive cases, coronavirus spread, and hospitalizations.

Sonoma County’s surge is part of a larger pattern in California and much of the nation as reopenings have been identified as a primary factor in a rise in cases and transmissions.

California health officials are working with counties to rollback activities that may cause virus spread, including indoor bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues as the state sees record numbers of new cases, and the daily death toll rises.