Category Archives: Napa County CA

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Napa County CA, San Francisco Bay Area, San Mateo County CA, Solano County CA, Stay-at-home

Coronavirus live updates: All of Bay Area region now under stay-home order as ICU capacity drops to 12.9%

Hard-hit Solano County finally joins with all other Bay Area Counties – shutdown to begin at midnight Thurs Dec 17

San Francisco Chronicle LIVE UPDATES, by Aidin Vaziri , Vanessa Arredondo , Erin Allday and Rita Beamish, Dec. 16, 2020
Signs posted on the door of the Luscious Salon in Lodi (San Joaquin County) advise customers about the pandemic guidelines. ICU capacity has dropped to zero in the greater San Joaquin Valley region.
Signs posted on the door of the Luscious Salon in Lodi (San Joaquin County) advise customers about the pandemic guidelines. ICU capacity has dropped to zero in the greater San Joaquin Valley region. Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press

12:06 p.m. Bay Area falls into mandatory shutdown status: The Bay Area region’s intensive care capacity at its hospitals is down to 12.9% capacity. That means the region now must adhere to the state’s stay-home order restrictions as of midnight Thursday. Much of the Bay Area had already taken the step voluntarily. Read the story here.

12:27 p.m. California shutdown grows: Northern California is the state’s only region that now is not under the California mandatory stay-home order that kicks in when a region’s intensive care capacity falls below 15% availability. Aside from the Bay Area, which fell to 12.9% ICU capacity on Wednesday, state data showed other regions’ ICU available capacity at: Sacramento, 14.1%; San Joaquin Valley, 0%; and Southern California, 0.5%, with the Northern California region still having 29.1% ICU capacity. About 40 million people, 98% of the state population, are under the regional order’s restrictions. Statewide, available ICU capacity was 4.1 %.

1:03 p.m.  Solano , San Mateo, Napa counties now must go under stay home order: Only three Bay Area counties were not voluntarily adhering to the state’s recent stay-home restrictions. With Wednesday’s intensive care metrics in the region faltering, the order becomes mandatory, including for Solano, San Mateo and Napa Counties.

Latest updates from today:
#Masks4All, #wearamask, Contra Costa County, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Marin County CA, Napa County CA

Contra Costa is 3rd Bay Area county to order fines for violating COVID health orders

$100 for not wearing a mask? Contra Costa approves fines for health order violators

San Francisco Chronicle, by Catherine Ho, July 28, 2020
Bar manager Marc Pontavella wears a mask and gloves while making a cocktail for a customer at Teleferic Barcelona in Walnut Creek, Calif. Tuesday, June 9, 2020. They Bay Area is opening at a fairly fast pace, with Contra Costa County announcing plans this week to reopen indoor dining and hair salons soon, while it reports near-record new cases.
Bar manager Marc Pontavella wears a mask and gloves while making a cocktail for a customer at Teleferic Barcelona in Walnut Creek, Calif. Tuesday, June 9, 2020. They Bay Area is opening at a fairly fast pace, with Contra Costa County announcing plans this week to reopen indoor dining and hair salons soon, while it reports near-record new cases. Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

Contra Costa County on Tuesday approved fines for individuals and businesses that violate coronavirus health orders, including not wearing a mask.

The county’s board of supervisors passed an urgency ordinance establishing fines for individuals starting at $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second and $500 for each additional violation within one year of the initial violation.

Fines for businesses will start at $250 for the first violation, $500 for the second and $1,000 for each additional violation within one year of the initial violation.

“Some people are just defiant,” said Supervisor Diane Burgis. “We’re trying to get COVID under control and we need people to put on their masks. … We’re not doing it to make money, to try to control people. We’re trying to get control over this disease and get our economy back so we need people to cooperate, put on their mask.”

Contra Costa is the third Bay Area county, and the largest, to pass administrative fines for not following health measures. Napa and Marin counties this month enacted similar fines of up to $5,000 and $10,000, respectively, for businesses.

Officers designated by the director of Health Services, the director of Conservation and Development, and the Sheriff’s Office will enforce the ordinance. The county has received about 200 complaints from residents reporting businesses and individuals that allegedly broke health order rules.

Individuals and businesses that are fined will have the option to appeal the fine within 10 days.

Officials have said they are focusing more on businesses than individuals — such as if businesses are open when health orders require that they shut down, or if business owners are not enforcing mask-wearing among their workers or customers.

Several members of the public called into the virtual meeting to oppose the ordinance, saying it would curtail their individual liberties and that mask-wearing should be voluntary. Supervisors said voluntary compliance and education have not worked to keep infection rates down. Ample research shows that widespread mask-wearing significantly reduces transmission.

Sonoma County and the city of Berkeley are also considering fines for individuals and businesses that do not comply with COVID-19 safety measures.

Benicia, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Marin County CA, Napa County CA, Solano County CA

Should Benicia and Solano impose fines on COVID violators like Napa and Marin?

Coronavirus: Marin County votes to impose fines on violators of public health orders

Individuals can be fined up to $500 and businesses up to $10,000 — but the goal is to be educational, not punitive
A man leaves a restaurant with a take-out order in between outdoor eating tables at City Plaza on Fourth Street in San Rafael, Calif. on Wednesday, May 27, 2020. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Mercury News, by Evan Webeck, July 22, 2020

Another North Bay county has the newfangled authority to fine anyone not wearing a mask or complying with social distancing protocols.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors approved a temporary measure to make violations of public health orders punishable by administrative fines, following in the footsteps of officials in Napa County, who put a similar measure in place last week.

The move authorizes city and county employees, as well as police officers, to cite businesses and individuals not complying with the orders, though the priority is first to intervene and educate. Depending on the severity and frequency of the violations, individuals can face fines between $25 and $500, while businesses can be fined between $250 and $10,000.

The policy suggests a “grace period” of up to 72 hours before an enforcement officer would issue a fine, but it doesn’t prevent a citation from being issued on the spot. It also does not eliminate the misdemeanor penalty that such violations were originally categorized as, but supervisors said that enforcement mechanism had rarely been used.

Officials’ goal is to move public health citations out of the lengthy legal system and allow to enforce the orders without levying a misdemeanor the heftier financial penalty that accompanies it.

“It was a pretty steep fine that police officers were reluctant to give,” County Administrator Matthew Hymel said during the virtual board meeting. “A lower-level fine, they’re more comfortable giving that out.”

In a staff report sent to the board recommending the measure, officials also emphasized Gov. Gavin Newsom’s threat to withhold federal stimulus funds — up to $26.5 million from Marin County — from counties that don’t follow the state guidelines.

The county also recently launched a new email address that residents can send complaints about businesses violating the public health orders. Supervisors said they had received about 60 responses since the tool launched last week.

The public can submit complaints to SIPViolation@MarinCounty.gov.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Marin County CA, Napa County CA, Solano County CA

Solano, Napa and Marin COVID-19 cases spike in month of June

Chart shows increase in coronavirus cases, deaths by Bay Area counties

KRON4 News by: Tristi Rodriguez, Jul 2, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — Confirmed coronavirus cases are increasing at a threatening rate in the Bay Area and throughout most parts of the United States.

Four U.S. states — Arizona, California, Florida and Texas — reported a combined 25,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases Thursday as the infection curve rose in 40 of the 50 states.

This spike just ahead of the 4th of July holiday weekend, prompting concerns as county officials encourage their residents to stay home.

In just a little over a month, cases have climbed in the Bay Area. As of July 2, the confirmed number of cases neared 26,000.

The chart below shows the percentage of the increase in cases and deaths by county from May 31 to July 2.

The data was retrieved from each respective county health department.

Napa, Solano and Marin counties saw the largest spike in cases.