No Bay Area County is Close to Getting off State Watch List
During a Monday press conference, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced changes to the state’s COVID-19 monitoring list for the first time since a data glitch delayed accurate case counts across the state.
There are six different indicators that can land a county on the watch list:
1. A seven-day average of fewer than 150 tests conducted per 100,000 residents
2. More than 100 cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days
3. More than 25 cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days AND a seven-day average of test positivity over 8%
4. A 10% increase in the three-day-average for hospitalizations
5. Having less than 20% of ICU beds available
6. Having less than 25% of ventilators available
All nine Bay Area counties remain on the list, which was previously frozen while state officials cleared a backlog of 300,000 unreported test results and disseminated new data to individual counties. While county websites still have yet to update case counts and test positivity from the past two weeks, the state’s site reports updated case figures from the past 14 days for each county.
The state site shows that not a single Bay Area county is close to coming off the list anytime soon, as all nine are well over the state’s threshold of 100 recorded cases per 100,000 residents over the past 14 days.
Here’s where all nine Bay Area counties currently stand:
Alameda
Cases over last 14 days: 216 per 100K residents
Other indicators marked: None
Contra Costa
Cases over last 14 days: 281 per 100K residents
Other indicators marked: None
Marin
Cases over last 14 days: 260.4 per 100K residents
Other indicators marked: None
Napa
Cases over last 14 days: 204.1 per 100K residents
Other indicators marked: None
San Francisco
Cases over last 14 days: 146.3 per 100K residents
Other indicators marked: None
San Mateo
Cases over last 14 days: 170.2 per 100K residentsMore for you
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Other indicators marked: None
Santa Clara
Cases over last 14 days: 190.7 per 100K residents
Other indicators marked: None
Solano
Cases over last 14 days: 195.8 per 100K residents
Other indicators marked: Only 11% of ICU beds available. Must have > 20% to satisfy criteria.
Sonoma
Cases over last 14 days: 266.6 per 100K residents
Other indicators marked: Only 4% of ICU beds available. Must have > 20% to satisfy criteria.
The watch list’s criteria has been criticized by Solano County health officer Dr. Bela Matyas, who said it may be impossible for his county to get off the watch list. Matyas said 95% of the county’s cases are coming from social gatherings and not reopened businesses.
“It is possible that our county may remain on the watch list for a very long time because we aren’t going to be able to change those behaviors adequately to reduce the numbers,” he said. “The cause of the outbreak is something we have very little control over.”