Three Bay Area counties are not under shelter in place

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - As six Bay Area counties impose shelter-in-place orders, at least three jurisdictions are not. 

Solano, Napa and Sonoma counties are sticking with current guidelines on crowds and social distancing, at least for now. 

Sonoma County supervisors will meet Tuesday morning to hear from the Public Health Officer. 

With six COVID-19 cases, including two in the past few days, odds are rising that Sonoma County will be next to ban non-essential commerce and activity outside the home.  

"This is worse than the wildfires, it's changing so fast, we can't see it, and we don't know how long it will last," said Natalie Cilurzo, co-founder of the Russian River Brewing Company.

Cilurzo's two brewpub restaurants remain open, with half the furniture removed to accommodate social distancing. 

"We have six feet between everyone," said Cilurzo, showing large gaps in floor space at her WIndsor location. 

"Normally you want to strike up a conversation with someone next to you and we normally allow people to come stand at the bar and order a beer but not now." 

The venue is following state guidelines to prevent spread of coronavirus, as it tries to keep its 200 member staff working. 

But the owners wonder for how long. 

"I don't know if they're going to go as extreme as shelter in place, but I think they'll soon close restaurants, they're just trying to avoid people gathering," said Cilurzo.  

Beginning Tuesday, Sonoma County and its largest city, Santa Rosa, scale back to only essential services.

All other public employees stay home.  

"This is obviously new territory for us, things are rapidly evolving," said Santa Rosa's Assistant Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal. 

Urgent water and public works calls will be answered but only essential permits will be processed, and all other meetings, recreation, and customer service will be halted.   

Police and fire personnel will not be affected, but will take extra precautions to avoid exposure and prevent disease spread. 

"On a call, we might ask questions about someone having a fever," said Lowenthal," and if a victim is in a bedroom, if they're able and its safe to do, we want them to meet us outside so we can limit our exposures." 

Also Tuesday, for the first time in its 6 year history, the Graton Resort and Casino in Rohnert Park will shut down. 

"We have as much or more to lose than any business and we're doing the right thing," said Greg Sarris, Tribal Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. 

For three weeks, Sarris had been monitoring the outbreak and intensifying the cleaning regimen.

"No matter how much we scrubbed, people are still going to be close to one another," he acknowledged. 

Every other slot machine was turned off, to create space between players. 

But the casino draws thousands of visitors daily, far surpassing the 250 person limit urged by Governor Newsom

Sarris plans to pay the casino's 2000 employees while they are off the rest of the month, perhaps longer. 

"Closing is the responsible thing to do, " he said, " and it's because of our employees that we make money and are successful. In this crisis, we owe it to them to do the right thing and take care of them."    

Sarris expects, and supports, a shelter in place decree.  

At Russian River Brewing, where cleaning wipes and hand sanitizer are visible, patrons tended to agree, even though the North Bay doesn't have the population density of some of the other counties. 

"It's not quite as condensed here, but personally I think it's better to get it done early and isolate now than wait until something gets out of control," said Dan Harting of Santa Rosa, sipping a beer.