Sonoma on the cusp of red tier

Restaurants, movie theaters and gyms may be able to reopen at reduced capacity as soon as Sunday, if Sonoma County is allowed to move out of the most restrictive tier that it has been stuck in since August, officials said Wednesday.

“We are very close to moving out of the purple tier,” said Dr. Sundari Mase, chief health officer for Sonoma County. The purple tier is the most restrictive segment of the state’s color-coded Blueprint for a Safer Economy implemented last summer.

There are different combinations of metrics that qualify Sonoma County to move to the red tier, which opens up more of the economy, and the state is making modifications that will help Sonoma County reach the less restrictive segment, she said.

One metric that Sonoma County officials are focused on is the testing positivity rate in the lowest quartile of the Healthy Places Index, the low-income areas that have been hit hardest, Mase said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week an emphasis on getting vaccinations into the 8 million residents of poorer communities and included a metric connected to that.

Once two million vaccinations have been delivered to that group and since the county’s adjusted case rate is now under 10 – it was at 8.2 percent per 100,000 at last count in the daily adjusted case rate – the county is eligible to move into the red tier.

The state reported Wednesday that it had inoculated just under 1.93 million people.

Adam Radtke, deputy county counsel said at Wednesday’s press conference that the state indicated it could reach the 2 million mark by Friday.

“If that were to occur the state’s plan is to assess on Saturday data from the last two Tuesdays, and counties that are eligible for the red tier based upon the revised metric for the red tier may be eligible to move into the red tier on Sunday,” Radtke said. “The last two weeks of (Sonoma County) data does meet the state’s revised metric.”

Mase doesn’t want to lose “momentum” once the county reaches the red tier and is aiming to move into the orange and yellow tiers as soon as possible to get back to “business as usual,” she said.

The red tier would allow restaurants to open up indoor seating at 25 percent of capacity, or 100 seats, whichever is smaller. Bars and brewpubs that serve food may open under the same guidelines and grocery stores can open to full capacity. At limited levels movie theaters, gyms and museums would be allowed to reopen, too.

Wineries would continue to operate outdoors only. Wedding receptions will be allowed inside provided there are no more than three households in attendance.

The county’s vaccine supply is anticipated to be flat for the next two or three weeks, said David Rabbitt, District 2 county supervisor.

The county learned that next week’s vaccine allotment is 7,680 doses of Pfizer and Moderna combined, but no Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The county received 1,700 Johnson & Johnson doses this week.

Rabbitt said with the addition of pharmaceutical company Merck making the Johnson & Johnson vaccine he expects to see an upward trajectory in supply in a few weeks.

Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chair Lynda Hopkins cautioned that “we’re not out of the woods yet” though there is hope of moving forward.

Mase stressed that people, even if vaccinated, need to continue to wear masks and social distance.

“We don’t want to undue all the progress we’ve made,” she said.

Testing remains an important piece of the county’s strategy and can help the county move into less restrictive tiers based on the metrics. It can also point to signs of a surge or locales of concern, as well as identify if a new variant has made its way into the county, she said.

Blue Shield, the state’s third-party provider, will take over for the county later this month, and will shift appointment making operations to the state’s My Turn website (myturn.ca.gov), said Dr. Urmila Shende, vaccine chief. There will be a call center telephone number as well for those who do not have a computer or access to the internet.

Contact Anne at anne.ernst@sonomanews.com.