At its biggest one-day peak to date, Sonoma County recorded 92 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, nearly doubling the previous record of 50 set on June 22.
The 24-hour increase brings the county’s total number of cases so far to 1,359 since March, according to the Division of Public Health.
The drastic increase comes at the end of an alarming week of increasing transmission and six coronavirus-related deaths.
It sets the county’s case rate at 106 per 100,000 residents, bringing Sonoma County closer to a place on the state’s watch list, which could make it subject to state intervention and additional restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus .
Twenty-two California counties are already being monitored due to high transmission rates and other metrics that have exceeded benchmarks for three consecutive days.
If Sonoma County has two more days above the 100 per 100,000 case rate, it will also be on the list and you will be required to again ban indoor food and drink in restaurants, bars, tasting rooms, breweries and other establishments for three weeks. In addition to other possible setbacks.
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chair Susan Gorin said Saturday that she and the rest of the board had been notified of the surprising increase, part of an increase in cases expected with the recent lifting of the restrictions. to business and activities, though.
Supervisors have also seen the case rate increase throughout the week and anticipated the likelihood that the county is vulnerable to the status of the watch list.
“We have loosened a lot, and that just distresses me, but it really doesn’t surprise me,” Gorin said. “We have been moving forward slowly, and I suspected a huge case load sometime next week, and here it is.”
You can contact writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or [email protected]. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.
