By Jondi Gumz
Because of a low rate of COVID-19 cases, Santa Cruz County moved up into the state’s Orange Tier Tuesday, giving breweries, bars, bowling alleys, climbing gyms and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk a chance to reopen with restrictions after months of shutdown.
Fruition Brewing, owned by David Purgason and Tallula Preston, plan to open their patio at the East Lake Village Shopping Center in Watsonville Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m.
Sam Carter is happy to be back on the lanes at the Boardwalk Bowl in Santa Cruz. • Photo Credit: Andrew Cameron
“We are jumping for joy!” the Boardwalk Bowl posted on Facebook, noting many new health and safety protocols in place and getting positive comments in return.
The state guidelines allow rides to operate at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk but attendance is limited to 500 people from Santa Cruz County who buy tickets in advance—which means the amusement park is off limits to visitors from the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Valley.
The Orange Tier allows places of worship, restaurants, movies and museums at 50% capacity indoors, and wineries, dance studios, yoga studios, gyms, card rooms, bounce rooms and family entertainment at 25%, with weddings up to 200 guests.
In Scotts Valley, Kissed by an Angel Wines posted on Facebook that the Orange Tier allows 14 people inside in addition to outside seating.
Perfect Union in Scotts Valley already shifted workout classes outdoors under canopies, with lights and walls for the canopies as the weather changes. The latest addition is a battery-operated outdoor speaker in case of a power outage.
Kim Pursley, owner of Kalani Day Spa in Scotts Valley, reopened when the county was in the Red Tier and now has a staff of 12.
Kim Pursley, owner of Kalani Day Spa in Scotts Valley, hosts a ribbon-cutting Oct. 30 with the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce for her newly renamed spa. • Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz
“We’re making it work,” she said, explaining how she expanded the time between appointments from 90 minutes to two hours for sterilization and to reduce cross-traffic. The spa was known as Exhale, and she changed the name due to a copyright issue.
“We’re feeling good about where we are as a county,” said Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel Tuesday. “I want to give credit where credit is due, the community… following the guidelines of the state.”
On Tuesday, Santa Cruz County had 2,821 COVID-19 cases, including 207 active cases in the past two weeks, 3.5 cases per 100,000 people per day.
Previously the county had 4 or more new cases per 100,000 people per day, staying in the more restrictive Red Tier for much of September and most of October.
Heart-Breaking
While the pace of new cases has slowed dramatically, the death toll has risen to 19 at the hotspot in the county, Watsonville Post Acute Center.
That boosted the number of county deaths Friday to 26 overall.
Newel called the situation at the nursing home a “heart-breaking tragedy.”
Of the 19 deaths, 16 have been county residents and three were out-of-county residents.
Age and underlying health conditions are factors in COVID-19 mortality.
During the outbreak, 50 of the 74 residents and 21 staff at Watsonville Post Acute tested positive for COVID-19.
Newel said the outbreak had stabilized with no recent new infections and no current infected patients.
Gerald Hunter, the administrator at the nursing home, posted an update Oct. 19 on the facility’s website: “The facility staff has been true heroes in dealing with all of the difficulties and personal sadness associated with Covid-19.
The facility has turned the corner and at this point in time we only have 2 active cases of Covid-19, one resident and one staff member. The staff is trying to reestablish normal routines. We anticipate new guidelines affecting visitation very soon from CDPH. Please note that effective today I am passing the Administrator torch to Rae Ann Radford an accomplished administrator who will lead the facility going forward.”
Radford has been administrator at Valley House Rehab in Santa Clara for three years. Before that, she was executive director at Kindred Nursing & Transitional Care in Santa Cruz, and administrator at Country Villa in Watsonville.
Another Factor?
Newel was asked if anyone is checking Vitamin D levels for nursing home residents as studies in other countries show a correlation between Vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 mortality.
She said low Vitamin D levels are associated with increased rates of some cancers, adding, “there has not been a clear delineation about the risk of a low Vitamin D with COVID infection but potentially that could be at risk.”
She acknowledged elders could be at greater risk because they are not outdoors as much and getting sunlight, which humans need to produce Vitamin D.
For those who are concerned, “anyone can ask their primary care provider for a Vitamin D level (lab test) and you can have your Vitamin D level checked but that is not something at this time that we are routinely doing in our COVID patients.”
Asked about the impact of the Orange Tier on schools, Newel said there’s no difference from the Red Tier as along as surveillance testing of adult staff takes place.
Stanford Labs is setting up “pop-op” sites to test 25 percent of school staff because of an agreement made by the Santa Cruz County Office Education “so that hurdle has been met,” she said.
Most of the districts hope to open for a hybrid model of classroom and online-learning starting in January, she added.
Newel and Mimi Hall, director of the county Health Services Agency, remain concerned about Halloween gatherings potentially causing more infections.
The COVID-19 infection is most commonly spread by family, friends and partners, Newel said, advising everyone to wear masks, keep their interactions under 15 minutes cumulative over 24 hours and get tested “at the very first sign of illness.”
Stay outdoors, limit the gathering to two hours, and maintain six feet distance from others in all directions, she said.
More Testing
Hall advised anyone having a gathering to “make sure you know who’s at your home” in case someone gets a positive diagnosis and contact tracing is needed.
She said the county has applied to the state to add four days of test capacity at the OptumServe site at Ramsay Park in Watsonville, which would allow for 330 tests a day, and to add a testing site in Mid/North County for 165 tests a day.
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COVID-19 Cases as of Oct. 30
| Aptos | 127 |
| Ben Lomond | 23 |
| Boulder Creek | 24 |
| Capitola | 67 |
| Felton | 28 |
| Freedom | 162 |
| Santa Cruz | 574 |
| Scotts Valley | 69 |
| Soquel | 66 |
| Watsonville | 1,632 |
| Unincorporated | 33 |
| Under Investigation | 79 |
| Total | 2884 |
Source: santacruzhealth.org