Sonoma reopens, but cautiously

As California slowly migrates through its four tiers of reopening, rapidly changing standards have proven confusing for many. Indoor shopping was permitted in Napa for weeks but forbidden in Sonoma until just last weekend; beaches were open in some places but shut tight in others; wineries with the means to add food service were allowed to conduct business, until last night at midnight, when that changed, too.

While the state of California graduated last week from Phase 2 to Phase 3, Sonoma County maintained its more cautious position, allowing progression to “advanced Phase 2” on the orders of county Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase.

Nonetheless, the shift in the Valley on June 6 was observable. Ladies in tennis whites crowded Maxwell Park courts, regulars palmed their pentanque boules in the dappled shade at Depot Park, browsers rifled the racks at retailers around town, and wooly Sonomans crowded hair salons everywhere.

The parks were crowded with unmasked picnickers playing cornhole, and the sidewalks were thick with what appeared to be tourists, strolling without urgency toward newly reopened shops. Every parking space on the Plaza was occupied.

The new freedoms found many people around town in a celebratory mood.

“Just had dinner at La Salette, it was great!” Joann Smith said. “Nice to be out and about.”

“We had a nice lunch at HopMonk sitting outside on Saturday,” Ian Kelleigh told the Index-Tribune. “Everyone was comfortable and everyone was sitting at a good distance. Felt liberating to eat out again.”

But others remained decidedly wary, reluctant to wade back into the fray. “Not a snowball’s chance in hell that I’m going to be resuming my pre-COVID-19 routine,” Sean Kirkpatrick said. “Life is never going to return to how it was before. Nobody knows what it’s going to look like, but it won’t be the same.”

Hair salons were one of the business sectors permitted to reopen last week, and at Cheveux Salon on East Napa Street, owner Sharna Haver was grateful to be working again after a long, lean three months off. The work stations at Cheveux are spaced widely apart, so Haver didn’t have to reconfigure her shop before calling her six stylists back to work. But her manicurists, aesthetician and itinerant dermatologist will have to wait until Sonoma County moves fully into Phase 3, and everyone - stylists and clients - are required to wear masks.

“It’s hard to wear a mask all day. We get a little light-headed,” Haver said on a break between clients. But business was booming, and her team was finding its way through. “We cannot even keep up with all the phone calls! Everyone wants to get in. I could use four new stylists right now.”

In Sonoma County, as of press time, there have been 680 cases of coronavirus, 58 percent of them afflicting people between the ages of 18 and 49. Of those, 316 cases remain active, 370 have recovered, and four individuals have died of COVID-19. More than 32,000 of the county’s 495,000 residents have been tested for coronavirus, and in the last 24 hours, 19 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded. Whether that increase is proof of the virus continuing spread or simply a result of increased testing remains a point of debate, and depending on which side of that conversation one falls on, individual behaviors are following suit.

Mary Beth Halsey said she took a drive down to the Plaza last Saturday “just to see what was going on with the new rollback.”

“I must say I was shocked at the crowd of people moving in and out of stores and restaurants,” said Halsey. “The ice cream shop had a line down the block, some with masks but definitely not social distancing outside. I’m not sure I’m all that comfortable joining in such crowds at this point.”

But Debra Vaughn, of Sonoma, is frustrated by the shifting - and seemingly arbitrary - counsel of county leadership.

“I am very much in support of easing restrictions. We can use sensible precautions and begin to live again versus existing,” Vaughn said. “Many of Dr. Mase’s restrictions make no sense. Requiring a winery to serve you food increases your exposure. Someone had to pick, deliver, store, prepare and serve you the food. How’s that decreasing your risk versus someone pouring your wine from a bottle?”

Jaime Love, executive director of Sonoma Arts Live, agreed with Vaughn, though admitted that the huge crowds at recent civil right protests have given her pause. “I’m beyond frustrated that it seems so willy-nilly. Churches can open, but not movies? Haircuts, but not nails? I would really love some clarity and I really stand behind the good doc when she says we need to wait and see what the waves of protest bring, virus-wise.”

Political protests over the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police may indeed prove to be a flash point in control of the virus, and a “wait and see” approach struck many as prudent.

Meanwhile, personal responsibility seemed to be the uneasy consensus between residents with differing opinions struggling to make sense of the new normal.

Victoria Richardson of Boyes Hot Springs said she’s only left her home five times since the shelter in place began in mid-March.

“My firm belief is that I am solely responsible for my own welfare,” said Richardson. “If I go out and someone sneezes on me that is the risk I decided to take. They did the sneezing, but I was there to be sneezed on by my own choice.”

Irrespective of what Mase and other local officials decide, Richardson, 65, believes the choice to go out or stay in should be individual. “No one can control what others do. Will I mostly stay in until there’s a vaccine?” Richardson asked, rhetorically. “Yes.”

As California prepares to lift additional restrictions today, Dr. Mase announced Monday that Sonoma County will not permit further reopenings until June 22 so that two weeks can elapse between the last wave of reopenings and the next. “Lifting too many restrictions too soon could potentially lead to a large increase in cases and result in avoidable hospitalizations and deaths,” Mase said during a press briefing. “It may also lead to longer term economic harms.”

Contact Kate at kate.williams@sonomanews.com.