Weekly Roundup for May 13, 2022

COVID-19 cases in California are seeing a significant uptick with the case rate climbing to about 8,000 cases a day over the past week, up 18 percent from the prior week’s average of 6,800 cases a day. It’s the highest case rate since the end of February, as California was easing out of the first Omicron surge.

In Sonoma County, the rate of new daily cases for unvaccinated individuals per 100,000 population is 40.9, compared to 26.5 for vaccinated individuals.

County health officials continue to urge unvaccinated people to get vaccinated and boosted if eligible, wear masks in indoor public settings, and get tested if exposed or develop illness.

People who are unvaccinated in Sonoma County are 3.2 times as likely to be infected, 18.8 times more likely to be hospitalized if they get COVID and are 12.8 times more likely to die than those who are vaccinated.

Today’s digest provides helpful and important updates on the following:

1. New COVID-19 community briefing available for viewing
2. Local COVID-19 vaccine and testing opportunities
3. Other County of Sonoma news of note

Watch This Week's COVID-19 Community Briefing

The Sonoma County health officer, vaccine chief and epidemiology team provided a COVID-19 community update this week following the recent increase in local cases.

There were 18 COVID-related hospitalizations in the county as of Monday. One of those COVID patients was in the ICU. There have been a total of 490 COVID-related deaths reported here since the start of the pandemic. Nearly 82 percent of the county’s eligible population is fully vaccinated.

Watch the community update here (English and Spanish): 
https://www.facebook.com/CountyofSonoma

Current Sonoma County metrics are available here: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/1edbb41952a8417385652279305e878d/page/Metrics-and-Trends/

Local Vaccine & Testing Opportunities

Vaccination and testing clinics are being held throughout the county to serve people who do not have convenient or affordable access to healthcare providers.

As of Wednesday, 1,059,926 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Sonoma County residents with over 80 percent of the eligible population now fully vaccinated. The county is averaging about 1,726 COVID-19 tests a day, which does not include all at-home rapid tests.

There were 20 COVID-related hospitalizations in the county as of Monday. Four of those COVID patients were in ICU beds. There have been a total of 490 COVID-related deaths reported here since the start of the pandemic.

People who are unvaccinated in Sonoma County are 3.2 times as likely to be infected, 18.8 times more likely to be hospitalized if they get COVID and are 12.8 times more likely to die than those who are vaccinated.

Visit the Sonoma County Office of Education to learn about clinics for students and families:
https://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/school_staff_immunization.html

View the county’s vaccine clinics and appointment page here: 
https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/vaccine-information/clinics/

Testing appointments are still recommended but more testing sites now can accommodate walk-ins.

For details or appointments at COVID-19 testing clinics, including a pop-up testing calendar, please visit: 
https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/testing-and-tracing/

Residents who test positive using an at-home antigen test are urged to report the result by calling the county’s COVID hotline at (707) 565-4667 (4701 in Spanish). Anyone who needs help making a vaccination or testing appointment may also contact the hotline.

Other County of Sonoma News

Sonoma County Housing Authority opens project-based voucher waitlists for units in Healdsburg and Petaluma 
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/sonoma-county-housing-authority-opens-project-based-voucher-waitlists-for-units-in-healdsburg-and-petaluma

Board approves $4.1 million in grant funding to support homeless action plan projects 
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/board-approves-41-million-in-grant-funding-to-support-homeless-action-plan-projects

Board of Supervisors approves temporary moratorium on new vacation rental permits 
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/board-of-supervisors-approves-temporary-moratorium-on-new-vacation-rental-permits

Board of Supervisors approves list of SB1 infrastructure projects for Fiscal Year 2022-23 
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/board-of-supervisors-approves-list-of-sb1-infrastructure-projects-for-fiscal-year-2022-23 

Sonoma Water receives 2022 excellence in innovation award 
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/sonoma-water-receives-2022-excellence-in-innovation-award

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https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Newsroom/SoCo-Correspondent/