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MONDAY, MAY 4, 2020 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

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INSIDE

County marks 3rd virus death

2 more counties defy Newsom

LOS ANGELES — Pressure to reopen parts of California con-tinued to build over the week-end, with more rural counties vowing to ease stay-at-home restrictions and protesters marching against the closure of Orange County beaches, a move intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Polls show most Californians support stay-at-home rules, which have been credited with helping California avoid the massive death toll of New York and other hot spots, and fear that lifting them too soon could cause more outbreaks.

But the social distancing re-strictions have devastated the economy, and some parts of California that have not been hit particularly hard by the corona-virus are pushing to get back in business.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said he understood the frustrations and suggested he would announce an easing of some rules as early as this week.

“I just want folks to know we’re getting very close to mak-ing really meaningful augmen-tations to that stay-at-home order,” Newsom said Friday. “I want to say many days, not weeks, as long as we continue to be prudent and thoughtful.”

The governor has described the next phase of his stay-at-home order as allowing some lower-risk businesses to reopen in communities across Califor-nia, including retail locations, manufacturing sites and small businesses.

“The only thing that’s gonna hold us back is the spread of this virus,” Newsom said. “And the only thing that is sure to ad-vance the spread of the virus is thousands of people congregat-ing together. Practicing social distancing or physical distance, we can avoid that.”

A poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Stud-ies last week showed California

Sonoma County marked its third coronavirus death Sunday as officials prepared to launch the county’s first testing sites open to all residents who need or want a test.

The COVID-19 death was the

first for the county since April 10 and it comes at a time when coronavirus patients are becom-ing increasingly scarce in the county’s hospitals, which last week received authorization to begin performing elective surgeries again. As of Sunday, there were 17 suspected or con-firmed coronavirus patients at area hospitals, including three in intensive care units, accord-ing to state data.

Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin identified the per-

son who died Sunday only as an “older gentleman,” and county spokeswoman Jennifer Laro-cque, who also confirmed the death, said the county would not share more information about the person who died, including his age and how he is suspected to have contracted the illness.

Cases in Sonoma County grew rose by five Sunday to 257, including 128 people who have recovered, according to data available on the county’s COVID-19 dashboard.

On Monday, the county’s lat-est shelter-at-home order takes effect, allowing a wider group of businesses to reopen, includ-ing auto sales, landscapers, flo-rists and golf courses. At the same time, health officials are working with the state and pri-vate-sector partners to dramat-ically scale up another front for tracking for the disease in the general population, while also crafting a framework with those in health care, business and nonprofit circles that would

help position those sectors of the county’s battered economy to more quickly recover.

As county leaders have begun to seek a balanced, cautious ap-proach to reopening, however, hundreds of protesters gathered Saturday in downtown Santa Rosa to voice their discontent over the county’s response, in-cluding the shelter order that first went into effect March 18.

Blaring freedom-themed

By-appointment testing for all for coronavirus to start on TuesdayBy TYLER SILVYTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

TURN TO TEST » PAGE A2

Beach closures protested; rural areas push back in bid to reopen businessesBy RONG-GONG LIN II AND ALEX WIGGLESWORTHLOS ANGELES TIMES

TURN TO SHELTER » PAGE A2

CORONAVIRUS

PHOTOS BY KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Firefighters with the Sonoma County Fire District prepare to extinguish a brush fire on Thursday on Rolling Oaks Road in Rincon Valley.

Pandemic complicatesfire season preparations

SONOMA COUNTY » DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Before the yearly grip of wildfire in California takes greater hold, local and state authorities are preparing

for a fire season unlike any other, with new coronavirus measures complicating the intense hands-on work and mass evac-uations needed to confront large blazes.

The safeguards meant to curb the pan-demic may scramble the base camps that serve as command and living quarters for fire crews, as well as the shelters that take in displaced residents, officials said. The health precautions may even effect the way that large fires are managed, they said.

“You may be looking at more frequent and larger evacuations because your abili-ty to get your arms around the fire may be limited, and you can’t take chances,” said Chris Godley, Sonoma County’s emergen-cy management director.

“But we can’t just pile people into congregate shelters,” he added. “You have to maintain that social distancing. That may require a larger effort to mount a virus-proof type of response.”

Below-average winter rainfall means that brush and other fuel on the landscape is drier than it would normally be, point-ing to a busy fire season, said Marshal

Turbeville, a Cal Fire battalion chief based in Healdsburg.

In contrast, last year after a heavy dose of rain, fire numbers and acreage burned were relatively low — until the Kincade fire erupted in late October.

“All it took was one night for Sonoma

County,” he said. “It’s amazing how things can turn quickly, and that’s why folks need to put a lot of focus on prevention and preparedness.”

The massive response to the Kincade

Evacuation shelters, base camps may need changes for social distancingBy WILL SCHMITTTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

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Part of the Northern Sonoma County Fire Protection District fuels reduction crew, Nathan Ziegler, Carla Delgadillo and Juan Martinez, chip cleared brush on Saturday from along a heavily forested and high-fire danger area of Koch Road in West Dry Creek.

Virus upends high court tradition

WASHINGTON — A few months ago, a coalition of news organizations asked the Supreme Court to allow live audio cover-age of major arguments on gay rights and immigration. Chief

Justice John Roberts rejected the request within hours, in keeping with long-standing practice at an institution that almost never de-parts from tradition.

But Monday, the court will break with history twice: hear-ing the first of 10 cases that will be argued in a telephone confer-ence call, and letting the public listen in. It is a momentous step for a cautious and secretive in-stitution and yet another way in which the coronavirus pandem-

ic has forced American society to adjust to a new reality.

“It’s a remarkable develop-ment and completely unexpect-ed,” said Bruce Collins, the gen-eral counsel of C-SPAN, which will offer live coverage of the arguments.

Among the cases the justices will hear by phone over the next two weeks are three on May 12 about subpoenas from prosecu-tors and Congress seeking Pres-ident Donald Trump’s financial

records, which could yield a politically explosive decision this summer as the presidential campaign enters high gear.

The court has never before heard a case by phone, a move that some lawyers fear will de-grade the quality of the argu-ments and the spirited give-and-take of the courtroom. Nor has it allowed live audio coverage of its arguments, on rare occa-

Supreme Court making history, allowing public to listen in to argumentsBy ADAM LIPTAKNEW YORK TIMES

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