San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Sonoma County stuck in strict tier
California has achieved notable success corralling the coronavirus pandemic while cases have again surged nationwide. The Bay Area in particular is a standout, with eight of nine counties progressing to lessrestrictive levels in the state’s fourtier reopening system.
The exception: Sonoma County, still stuck in the purple tier indicating “widespread” virus risk. It’s one of just 12 counties in California with that designation, which places tight restrictions on businesses and other activities.
Sonoma meets two of three requirements to move to the nextlessrestrictive tier: positive test rate and equity measurements. But its coronavirus case rate is still far too high to make the transition, edging up this week after stubbornly hovering around 10 cases per 100,000 people.
Why is Sonoma struggling so much harder than its Bay Area neighbors to tamp down the coronavirus?
The reasons, officials, experts and community members say, are a combination of socioeconomic factors and a response that did not ramp up fast enough while the county was quickly reopening in the summer.
Sonoma’s agricultural industry is akin to those in Monterey and Mendocino counties, which have also struggled during the pandemic.
“All of the agricultural parts of the state still have high
rates,” said UCSF infectious disease expert George Rutherford. “Sonoma is just like a lot of other big agricultural communities: There are lots of cases in the Latinx community, lots of cases in farmworkers.”
The Latino community has been disproportionately affected during the pandemic. Across California, Latinos make up 39% of the population but account for 61% of coronavirus cases and 49% of deaths. In Sonoma County, many perform essential jobs and often live in crowded housing.
Health officials have been aware of the disparity since the pandemic’s beginning and have tried to address it, but their efforts haven’t been enough.
‘ Third wave’ in county
In Sonoma County, the Latino population accounts for 54% of reported cases where ethnicity is known, despite constituting only 26% of the population.
County data shows that Santa Rosa is the driver of virus cases, particularly the Latino-dominated 95407 ZIP code. At its peak in midsummer, that area recorded 40.8 cases per population of 100,000, and only a moderate decrease has occurred since then.
“The entire state has a racialized spike in COVID cases,” said Alegría De La Cruz, director of Sonoma County’s new office of equity.
Earlier this month, California introduced a health equity metric for its reopening system keyed to the positive test rate in disadvantaged communities. It requires larger counties to submit a plan outlining investments to cut transmission in those populations. While Sonoma County is just under the purple tier’s equity metric threshold, at 7.5%, it’s much higher than the other Bay Area counties.
Difference in Napa County
While Sonoma County has struggled, Napa County has turned the corner on the coronavirus and last week moved to the orange “moderate” reopening tier.
Despite their similarities, Napa County’s population is only about onethird of Sonoma’s. County spokesperson Janet Upton said early shutdowns mandated by the state, strict adherence to safety measures and infection control policies at care facilities like nursing homes have also helped curb the virus.
Napa County also has a disparity, with 57.1% of cases in the Latino community that makes up 34.6% of the population and it also has a Latino outreach program. An ongoing uphill battle in Sonoma
Margarita Garcia, a 38yearold who harvests grapes and other crops throughout Sonoma County, is a staffer at female farmworker network Lideres Campesinas.
She said her employer, which she did not want to name for fear of losing her job, tells workers to wear a mask, keep distanced and confirm they’re not exhibiting symptoms.
“But not everyone tells the truth because of the necessity that exists in our community,” she said.
She said for many, not being able to put food on the table is a bigger concern than catching coronavirus. And undocumented workers are not receiving as much help as they should, so getting through to her peers is not always easy.
Garcia said she’s encountered workers who have special needs, or can’t read or write. Wearing face coverings is difficult in such intense, physical work, so sometimes workers have to take them off.
Dr. Toni Ramirez, a former Santa Rosa physician who was part of Sonoma’s Latino health task force before recently moving to Texas, said many immigrant workers are too afraid to ask for time off to isolate.
“They have heard a majority of people survive ( coronavirus), but they know they won’t survive a missed paycheck,” Ramirez said. “The county needs to work on getting the education out there for paid sick leave, workers’ rights and go a step beyond that.”
Sonoma’s growers and vintners organizations say the winemaking industry has been proactive from the beginning.
Karissa Kruse, president of Sonoma County Winegrowers, said efforts have included creating small worker “pods,” supplying masks and handwashing stations and offering best practices in bilingual videos.
Michael Haney, executive director of Sonoma County Vintners, said the organization provided a testing program for local wineries and helped with funding to make it “as approachable as possible.”
But both Ramirez and De La Cruz said a gap between some employers and employees still exists, particularly among immigrant and undocumented workers.
Sonoma introduced the Latinx Health Work Group in May to help reduce the spread and in early summer, many Sonoma County businesses were allowed to reopen as cases remained relatively low.
But by midJuly, cases spiked. The county was placed on the nowdefunct state watch list, and indoor operations of wineries, restaurants and bars were closed.
By then, 71% of the county’s positive cases were attributed to the Latino community.
County health officer Dr. Sundari Mase said the county and the work group have provided outreach in Spanish through Facebook live streams, town halls and presentations, messaging through bilingual radio stations and recruiting bilingual contact tracers.
They’ve also worked to isolate cases and quarantine close contacts, and offer housing and treatment at an alternate care site. But Mase said hesitance by some to access government services has created challenges.
Tackling problem together
Sonoma has recently stepped up its effort to coordinate a countywide response backed by dollars.
Nonprofit On the Move’s La Plaza: Nuestra Cultura Cura program — which reaches farmworkers, laborers and domestic workers — received $ 1.3 million in mostly federal funding through December.
Director Javi CabreraRosales said efforts by La Plaza and 15 partner agencies will include financial relief and health care for undocumented workers, including for Latino and Indigenous people who must quarantine.
The Botanical Bus, another program partner, is a bilingual mobile herb clinic that provides holistic health education, including around COVID19, to agricultural workers, day laborers and domestic workers.
When planning for the campaign is completed, CabreraRosales said, it will fill in a lot of gaps, but it is also just the beginning.
“We’re very aware that this really is not nearly enough,” he said.
Being stuck in the purple tier has been difficult on the county’s winemaking and tourism industries. And this year’s historic Bay Area wildfires created another layer of challenges.
Owner Julie Pedroncelli said Pedroncelli Winery in Geyserville has been offering only outdoor wine tasting, and she recently wrote to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking if the state would reconsider allowing indoor tasting rooms in Sonoma.
“We’ve done so much to conform and followed all the guidelines,” Pedroncelli said.
Photo IC3LP13K virus_ sonoma. 14
Mark Bodenhamer, CEO of the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce, is concerned that the time before winter begins and business slows down is quickly closing.
“Sonoma businesses, which are mostly independent and locally owned, are facing incredible challenges due to being stuck in the purple tier,” Bodenhamer said.
Some business owners and others in the community think the Latino outreach should have come a long time ago.
“The approach is fantastic, but wouldn’t it be great if it was done in May?” said Ozzy Jimenez, Healdsburg councilman and business owner.
De La Cruz acknowledges that it took time for the policy to come together, “but it takes a lot of time to unseat inequities that have been created over generations.”
Still, there’s been progress. Latinos don’t make up as high a share of cases as they once did. At its height, the two weeks starting June 7, 91% of reported cases were attributed to the Latino community. The most recent week provided, Oct. 11, shows 71%.
Ramirez is hopeful the new campaign will move the needle while empowering the organizations at the forefront of the Latino community.
“They understand the community and its fears, and can connect them to the medical help they need,” Ramirez said. “Unfortunately it took so long to get there ... but hopefully we’ll see some improvements.”
Frustration all around