As C-19 cases in Sonoma County continue to rise, no specific time frame for ending the shelter-in-place rule is being discussed by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors — though Fourth of July celebrations are highly unlikely.
Gorin said local active cases and hospitalizations still going up. “We need the number of cases to plateau and then decline before we can collectively breathe a sigh of relief. We’re optimistic that this peaking may occur in the next four to six weeks.”
Recapping Tuesday’s board meeting, Supervisor Susan Gorin said the Health Department is looking for the following indications before easing the Shelter in Place Order: a demonstrated plateau, followed by decrease in hospitalizations and confirmed cases; tests available for anyone who needs one; and ability to quarantine and isolate new cases.
Regarding any 4th of July celebrations, “big public events like this are unlikely to occur. We will continue to monitor and communicate if the situation changes but, for now, backyard BBQs are much more likely.”
Another big question has been if there will be summer camps for kids, Gorin said. “That is still uncertain, at this time, and will depend on the status of our cases as we near summer.
The next modeling for Sonoma County is expected early next week, April 20-22, to help guide future decision making.
“Looking ahead, we want a systematic, phased-in approach to how we come out of this,” Gorin said. “It’s about how we reopen, not when, and we must also be mindful to coordinate our efforts with other Bay Area counties so as to limit a secondary spike.”
Other points from the Gorin recap:
The County has organized additional healthcare facilities. Our initial Alternate Care Facility (ACS) at Sonoma State University is being prepared this week with help from the National Guard. The first individuals, about 200 homeless, will begin moving into this ACS on Monday, April 20 to get the healthcare and support they need in this crisis. FEMA trailers are also being set up to house 20 non-infected, high-risk homeless people who are age 65+ or medically compromised.
While the County has skilled nursing wards ready for the peak, “we’re also looking to expand our testing in Sonoma County to see who may have already had the virus, since recovered and is now likely immune.” These tests are called antibody, or serology tests, and the County is seeking 1000 antibody tests to start. “We need more at the County so we can have better data upon which to build our next modeling projections. The sooner we have this data, the sooner we can more accurately predict the safest and soonest way out of Shelter in Place.”
Sheriff Mark Essick said the Sheriff’s Office is practicing social distancing in jail, as well as enhanced medical screening for all new inmates. As April 14, 14 staff have been tested and 10 inmates have been tested. All tests came back negative.
Jail population daily average has decreased from 1,080 before Coronavirus to 720 now, a 33% decrease. Daily bookings are down from 40 per day to 12 a day. The Sheriff thanked the District Attorney, Public Defender and local Police Chiefs for their help in this effort.
Emergency call volume is running at about 85% compared to before the pandemic, so we still have a solid amount of calls. For residents in the unincorporated county, the non-emergency line for the Sheriff’s Office is 707-565-2121. For residents in the City of Sonoma, the non-emergency line for the Sonoma Police is (707) 996-3602. For residents in Santa Rosa, the non-emergency line for the Santa Rosa Police is (707) 543-3550.
Sonoma County Emergency Management Director Chris Godley relayed unemployment claims rose from 200 a week before this crisis to 16,200 last week.
Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector Erick Roeser shared some financial data with the board, including 90-day costs related to this crisis to total $49.6 million.
Some of those costs were already budgeted for staff and contracts, which have now been shifted over to emergency operations, yielding a budget shortfall of $22.1 million. And out of that budget shortfall, we could see funding from FEMA of around $9 Million. This likely means we’re looking for an additional $13.1 million of emergency funding.
In recent property taxes, Roeser reported “95.7% of the levy” was paid, which is in line with the eight-year average. Lost revenues, sales taxes and productivity have not been estimated yet.
“We at the County are doing all we can to help our local businesses, including contracting 18 restaurants to feed local workers at Emergency Operation Center.,” Gorin said. “We continue to be creative with filling local needs with local solutions.”
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