Sonoma County health officials on Monday reported four new deaths from COVID-19, the first recorded in September, which raised the total number of pandemic deaths to 372.
The county’s official count doesn’t yet include the death of 40-year-old Lieutenant of Corrections, Lieutenant Bobby Travelstead, a veteran of the sheriff’s office who died at a local hospital on Sept. 1 from COVID-19 complications.
The deaths reported Monday involved a vaccinated woman between the ages of 80 and 90, with an underlying health problem, who died Sept. 2 in a residential care facility. Officials said a vaccinated man between the ages of 90 and 100, also with an underlying disease, died Sept. 6 at a local hospital.
An unvaccinated man between the ages of 60 and 70 with an underlying health problem died Sept. 2 at a local hospital; and an unvaccinated woman between the ages of 40 and 50, also with an underlying disease, died Sept. 5 at a local hospital.
Because of the time it takes to confirm deaths from COVID-19 with the state, there is often a delay of days or weeks before county public health personnel can officially register or register pandemic-related deaths.
There is still a possibility that deaths will continue to be reported in August. Last month saw the second highest number of pandemic deaths since January, when the peak of the deadly winter rise killed 68 people.
New infection rates have been declining for several weeks in Sonoma County, as well as in other parts of the state, even as deaths from COVID-19 continue to be reported. According to public health experts, pandemic deaths usually delay new cases by a month or more.
The current average transmission rate is 15.7 new cases per 100,000 people per day. That’s less than half of what it was the first week of August, when it reached 34 new daily cases per 100,000.
In Mendocino County, infection rates are also declining, although pandemic casualties continue to rise. Andrew Coren, Mendocino County Health Officer, said in a coronavirus update before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning that 70 county residents have died from COVID-19 complications since the start of the pandemic, including five a week past. On Tuesday afternoon, authorities added another death to the toll booth.
But Coren said transmission rates have continued to decline in recent weeks, from an average of 55 new daily cases per 100,000 residents in early August to about 39 new cases per current 100,000. Hospitals continue to be hit by the summer hike, causing exhaustion among local medical staff.
“We are finding many of our own hospital workers, although it is very difficult for us to work the extra shifts,” he said.
There are currently 26 Mendocino County residents hospitalized, eight of them in the ICU. Currently, five are receiving ICU treatment in Santa Rosa and San Francisco, and as of Tuesday morning, there were no ICU beds available in Mendocino County, Coren said.
Coren told supervisors he had reviewed a health order forcing companies to adopt vaccination policies after meeting with companies during a “protest rally” earlier this month. The health order required companies serving food and drink to require employees to demonstrate vaccination or test frequently, and for employers to check their vaccine status if they want to eat indoors.
Coren, who acknowledged the financial hardships small businesses have endured throughout the pandemic, said he has changed the order from a requirement to a “strong recommendation.”
But he said, in response to other members of the community, he requires companies to put the pandemic caution they are taking so that customers can make an informed decision about where to eat safely.
“I think this will protect employees and employers without hurting small businesses or the community,” Coren said.
You can contact personal editor Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or [email protected]. On Twitter @pressreno.