Napa County’s quest to jump from red to orange on the state’s color-coded COVID-19 rating system – and ease restrictions on local businesses – is in a holding pattern.
The county remains entrenched in the red category, where it has been ever since the state debuted the system more than a month ago. It must further reduce the number of COVID-19 cases to move into a less-restrictive category.
California announced Tuesday that Napa County has a state-adjusted rate of 5.1 new cases per 100,000 residents averaged over seven days. This needs to drop below four cases for two consecutive weeks before the county can enter the orange category.
An orange rating would allow restaurants, fitness centers and houses of worship to have more people inside. It would allow winery tasting rooms to open indoors, instead of being outdoors only.
“I think right now we need to focus on going to orange as quickly as possible,” Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza said.
California places its 58 counties into four categories for its COVID-19 ratings. Purple is the most restrictive, followed by red, orange and the least-restrictive yellow.
Counties can go backward, as happened on Tuesday when Tehama County went from red back to purple. Napa County is in no immediate danger of sliding to purple, given its 5.1 figure would have to rise to over seven.
Of course, the ultimate will be the day when Californians can forget about color rating systems, burn their face coverings and crowd together again for sporting events and concerts. Pedroza said some frustrated residents fear things will never return to normal.
Dr. Karen Relucio, county public health officer, addressed that fear Tuesday during her regular COVID-19 update to the county Board of Supervisors. She found reason for optimism from the belief of many health officials that a coronavirus vaccine could soon be successfully developed.
A small amount of a coronavirus vaccine could be available by year’s end, she said. That amount would go up in time. If enough people are vaccinated or have the disease, the community immunity would increase, even though coronavirus could still be present.
“I think we’ll get there,” Relucio said. “It’s going to take some time, though….I don’t see this as being a forever thing. I think this is temporary, until vaccinations are more widely available.”
Pedroza said the county needs to give people hope.
“I think we’re all tired, right?” he said. “We’ve been at this a long time. But we need to double down on our prevention efforts, to try to move the (state rating) tiers … I do understand the frustration our community is feeling, our businesses being impacted, our (students) having to do distance learning, teachers being concerned.”
The message to the community is we are all in this together, he said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said masking and social distancing will likely be needed even after a vaccine is initially available. He told Business Insider recently that spring 2022 is a good bet for planning such large gatherings as weddings.
Relucio gave supervisors demographic data on local COVID-19 cases.
The Hispanic/Latinx population accounts for 56.9% of Napa County cases, even though this demographic is 34% of the population. Non-Hispanic whites account for 19.4 % of the cases and 53% of the population. Other races account for 12.3% of the cases and 13% of the population. Demographics for 11.4 % of the cases are unknown.
California is launching steps to keep coronavirus positive testing rates from being significantly higher in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Indicators for disadvantaged neighborhoods include economics, education and housing.
Napa County and other counties must by Oct. 13 submit a plan to the state to address the issue. Steps can include augmented testing, disease investigation and outreach efforts.
The county has had COVID-19 outbreaks recently at eight congregate living facilities, with five of the outbreaks ongoing. One skilled nursing facility had six staff members and 10 residents testing positive. Another had 35 staff members and five residents testing positive. Relucio did not reveal the names of the facilities.
One of the county’s correctional facilities has three staff and five residents testing positive. Another has one resident testing positive.
Watch now: Dr. Fauci's flu season tips
You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.
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October 08, 2020
https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/napa-county-still-stuck-in-the-red-for-covid-19-restrictions/article_547df82d-27df-5867-891a-a567d3b21fda.html
Napa County still stuck in the red for COVID-19 restrictions - Napa Valley Register
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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