Bars are packed and COVID-19 cases are spiking. Why Sacramento isn’t slowing reopening plan
Sacramento County is suddenly seeing COVID-19 cases at a rate not seen in two months as bars and health clubs and other businesses are allowed to reopen.
But the health official in charge of Sacramento County’s response to the coronavirus pandemic says the higher caseloads aren’t reason enough to “tap the brakes” on the reopening of the economy.
Dr. Peter Beilenson, the county’s health services director, said in an interview Monday that the increased caseloads don’t appear connected to the gradual resumption of economic activity. Rather, Beilenson said the numbers are being driven by increased testing as well as large gatherings of people at birthday parties and other non-business settings.
“It really doesn’t make much sense or difference to restrict the businesses,” he said.
A possible exception might be bars and taverns, which were allowed to reopen last Friday. Beilenson said he was concerned about reports in The Sacramento Bee and other media of people in bars not practicing social distancing — a problem that’s likely to worsen as people drink more throughout the evening and shed their inhibitions about socializing.
“I’m concerned about the bars probably more than anything else,” he said.
California continues to move ahead with a gradual resumption of economic activity. Last week bars, movie theaters and health clubs were among those businesses allowed to reopen; this week it’s expected that nail salons and tattoo parlors will get the green light. At a press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom defended the approach Monday, saying restoring the economy goes hand in hand with maintaining good public health.
Sacramento County reported 41 new COVID-19 cases Monday, bringing the two-day total to 78, the highest two-day total since April. What’s more, coronavirus hospitalizations have risen from as few as eight people in late May to as many as 39 last Thursday, before subsiding over the weekend.
At the same time, more people in Sacramento County are being tested than ever for the coronavirus. Over the past month, the county has increased its overall testing by about 24 percent — up to an average of 1,436 tests per day last week.
In addition, just under 2 percent of all tests conducted in Sacramento County last week came back positive. That’s an increase from four weeks ago, when about .88 percent of tests were positive for the coronavirus, but still well under the 8 percent threshold established by state Department of Public Health officials as one of the key markers of whether a county should continue reopening its economy.
Another sign that the county is holding its own against COVID-19: It has been removed from a list of 15 counties on a state “watch list” of counties struggling with a surge in caseloads. The county was on the list last week but removed as of Monday.
The state hasn’t said why Sacramento was taken off the list. Beilenson said he believes it’s because the county was able to show that the recent surge in cases was the result of private parties and other gatherings, not businesses reopening.
Beilenson said the total number of cases isn’t as important as the volume of COVID-19 patients having to be hospitalized or, worse, placed in an intensive care unit. In that respect, Sacramento remains in good shape, he said.
“If we’re seeing people ending up in hospital ICU’s in large numbers, that’s concerning,” he said.
Only 3 coronavirus cases from George Floyd protests
Beilenson said he was pleasantly surprised that only three cases of the coronavirus have been traced to the series of protest marches through Sacramento following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Why so few cases? Probably, Beilenson said, because many protesters have been wearing masks, are relatively young — and have kept their rallies outdoors, where the virus is less likely to spread.
But because the virus can take up to two weeks to incubate, the full effect of the Floyd demonstrations won’t be known for another week or so, he said.
On a day when California recorded another 2,597 cases, Newsom acknowledged that reopening the economy will lead to more people getting sick. “The prospect of seeing an increase in the number of positives, increase in the number of hospitalizations, is very real,” he said.
Since last Tuesday, California has seen between 2,500 and 3,000 new cases a day. While that’s still below the peak of 3,705 recorded May 30, it contrasts with the statistics from a month ago, when the economy was still largely in a deep freeze and the numbers of fresh cases rarely topped 2,000 a day.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the state Health and Human Services Agency, last week said a key reason for the increase has been a major increase in the amount of testing being performed.
Newsom, who in mid-March was one of the first governors to impose a statewide stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the virus, said Monday the shutdown of the economy created its own form of devastation. By sending 5.5 million Californians filing for unemployment assistance, the state left many without “access to basic preventative health care” as well as mental health problems that can leave them more vulnerable to medical problems such as the coronavirus, the governor said.
It would be misguided, he said, to see “lives and livelihoods completely destroyed without considering the health impact.”
Newsom said testing for COVID-19 has ramped up sharply, to 78,000 tests Saturday alone, and that’s caused total caseloads to increase. But the rate of positives has stayed steady at 4.5 percent in the past two weeks – meaning the state is recording 4.5 positives for every 100 people who are tested.
What’s more, hospitalization rates have stabilized and “ICU numbers are flat,” the governor said. Only 1,053 Californians are currently in ICU beds, less than one-third of the total ICU beds available, he said.
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 3:35 PM.