July 4, 2020, 1:17PM
Updated 1 hour ago
In its most substantial one-day spike to date, Sonoma County posted 92 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, nearly doubling the previous record of 50, set 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 rise comes at the end of an alarming week of surging transmission and six coronavirus-related deaths.
It sets the county’s case rate at 106 per 100,000 population, bringing Sonoma County closer to a spot on the state’s watch list, which could make it subject to state intervention and further restrictions to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Twenty-two California counties already are being monitored because of high transmission rates and other metrics that have gone above benchmarks for three consecutive days.
If Sonoma County has two more days above the 100 per 100,000 case rate, it, too, will be on the list and required to revert to prohibitions on indoor dining and drinking at restaurants, bars, tasting rooms, brewpubs and other establishments for three weeks in addition to other potential rollbacks.
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Susan Gorin said Saturday she and the rest of the rest of the board had been notified of the shocking rise, part of a rise in cases that was expected with recent lifting of restrictions on business and activities, though nonetheless concerning.
Supervisors also have seen the case rate rise all week and anticipated the likelihood the county would be vulnerable to watch-list status.
“We’ve loosened up a lot, and it just distresses me, but it doesn’t really surprise me,” Gorin said. “We’ve been inching up, and I sort of suspected a big case load at some point in the next week, and here it is.”
You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.
