Watch List, Business Rollbacks “Likely” This Week

Share with Friends

Sonoma County’s health officer said it’s likely that the county will join three others in the Bay Area and almost half the counties in the state on a watch list of regions where the spread of coronavirus is worrisome.

The tally of cases per 100 thousand, added over a two week period, has stayed above 100 since Friday. With 87 new cases reported Friday, 53 Saturday, 25 Sunday and 36 Monday, the county’s number stands at 106.6. The state will normally add a county to the watch list, and mandate a rollback of business opening, when this figure stays above 100 over three consecutive days. That has now happened.

Still, although record case counts are being reported, the number of active cases, in red, has not risen as fast. It stood at 681 on Tuesday, with 773 people reported to have recovered.

Another key metric, the percentage of positive tests that are returned is now up to approximately 2.7 percent, after hovering around 2 percent for weeks. Still, that is far below the state percentage of approximately 6.

One additional COVID-19 death was reported in the county, bringing the total to 12. 7 of those deaths have come in the last 2 weeks. And, as of Monday, hospitalizations of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients are up to 33 in Sonoma County.

Local health officials and the state also look at other factors, like hospitalizations and community spread before deciding on watch list status. Late last week Marin county joined other Bay Area counties of Solano and Santa Clara on the state watch list.

For her part, Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase has not said when the county may have to rollback business openings, but has hinted that depending upon disease factors, that rollback may go beyond the state mandated three week closure of indoor business sectors.