COVID cases on the rise in rural northern California where they refuse to wear masks

Residents of the region have been the most reluctant to adopt security measures against the coronavirus and those who are taking the longest to get vaccinated

Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

The rural area in the north of California is seeing a worrying increase in COVID cases and hospitalizations – 19 , an alarming trend that comes at a time when residents and businesses continue speaking out against safety measures and vaccines .

Although the region represents a small part of the state’s population, the growth in the number of cases has been considerable and is recorded when the set of California has any of the COVID rates – 19 lowest in the country and is preparing for the reopening scheduled for the next 15 of June.

The area now leads the number of cases in the state with almost 40 For each 100, 000 inhabitants during the past week , according to data from Los Angeles Times . Tehama County ranks first in the Los Angeles daily statistics with 139 cases for each 100 , residents . In nearby Siskiyou County, 10 of the 21 COVID deaths – 19 recorded have occurred since early May.

It is one of the regions of the state more have vigorously rejected safety measures such as face masks , safety distance or trade restrictions and have shown more reluctance to vaccinate.

In fact, opposition to these measures has continued to grow over time. A coffee shop in the city of Mendocino announced that it would charge $ 5 to customers who ordered something with the mask put and threatened to also charge $ 5 to anyone who “is caught showing off their vaccine.”

“It’s about time the advocates of these ineffective government measures start paying for the collateral damage they have collectively caused,” café owner Chris Castleman told NBC News . It also offered a 50% discount for customers who threw their masks in the trash.

Kerri Schuette, director of programs for the county department of public health Shasta, said its county had seen an increase in cases and hospitalizations since mid-May , but that new cases have decreased somewhat since last week.

“We are hopeful that this latest increase will not cause more deaths,” he said. “But our hospitalizations have increased, so that’s worrying,” Schuette added.

About a 43% of Californians are fully vaccinated , but upstate residents have taken longer to inoculate. A 57% of residents in the Golden State have at least one dose. In Tehama, Del Norte and Lassen counties, vaccination rates are among the worst in the state, with only a quarter of the population having received either the two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single dose of Johnson & Johnson , according to data from The New York Times .