COVID updates: California cases surpass winter 2020 surge. When will state near omicron peak?
California’s case rate for COVID-19 has surpassed 200 per 100,000 residents for the first time, continuing to shatter transmission rates on a daily basis during the intensifying omicron surge.
California Department of Public Health officials on Thursday reported 108,000 new lab-confirmed cases, bringing the seven-day average to about 87,000, or 216 per 100,000 residents.
That means about one in 66 Californians tested positive for COVID-19 last week, not including unreported at-home test results.
The statewide case rate now exceeds the peak from California’s winter 2020 surge, which hit 112 per 100,000, by more than 100 daily cases per 100,000.
CDPH reported test positivity at an even 23%, a tiny sliver of good news as the state had recorded positivity at 23.1% on Wednesday. California has processed nearly 4 million tests over the past week, the most of any week in the pandemic by a margin of more than 1 million, CDPH data show.
About 12,900 are hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus cases statewide, including just over 1,950 in intensive care units, according to CDPH. Hospitalizations are up 49% and ICU patients up 37% in the past week, according to state data.
During a Wednesday news conference on pandemic budget priorities, Gov. Gavin Newsom predicted the omicron wave will be California’s last major surge of the pandemic.
But he has also said he anticipates the coming weeks will see California break hospitalization records at a time when many health care facilities are short-staffed due to omicron, putting “tremendous strain on our hospital system.”
“All the projections indicate that we will likely reach a peak in January or early February,” Sacramento County health officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye said on a Thursday call with reporters. Those projections come from the state, she said.
Asked if Newsom’s prediction of omicron as the last surge was reasonable, Kasirye referenced a point often she said is often made by Dr. Anthony Fauci: “It’s what all of us are hoping will happen ... but the virus is the one that will dictate that.”
“The important thing, of course, is continuing to get vaccinated because that is our protection.”
Kasirye said data show COVID-19 “can be a very serious disease” for the unvaccinated.
At the state level, CDPH reports that unvaccinated people are about eight times more likely to be hospitalized and 21 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than those who are fully vaccinated.
Just over 80% of Californians ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with children younger than 5 not yet eligible.
Surge continues in Sacramento County
COVID-19 transmission continues to increase in Sacramento County, including at businesses, schools and the county’s two jail facilities, Kasirye said Thursday.
The county’s case numbers are roughly three times higher than the same time last year, Kasirye said, with the local health office reporting a daily case rate of 190 per 100,000 compared to a pre-omicron record of 64.
Kasirye last week issued an order requiring public boards, councils, commissions and similar public bodies suspend in-person meetings and hold them virtually.
Kasirye has not introduced any new measures or restrictions this week, and on Thursday she highlighted the need for individuals and families to do their own personal “risk assessments” before moving forward with gatherings or activities.
She also reiterated pleas for residents not to call 911 or visit emergency rooms for the sole purpose of getting a COVID-19 test, or for a mild case of the virus.
Kasirye also said the county continues to work closely with K-12 school districts, and is monitoring the situation while making efforts to keep campuses open for in-person learning.
The county’s Main Jail downtown had 76 confirmed inmate cases as of Wednesday, up from 27 a week earlier, Kasirye said. The Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Elk Grove has 48 active infections, up from zero last week. The county is not aware of any jail inmates currently hospitalized with COVID-19, Kasirye said.
Liz Gomez, a county health program coordinator, said county-partnered community test sites processed about 16,000 tests last week. While still very high, that figure represents “a little bit of a leveling off” in week-to-week growth, Gomez said.
Gomez said the county continues to add staff at community test sites to address wait times.
“Unfortunately, more staff are continuing to be impacted by COVID every day.”
Lines at community test sites currently range anywhere from a one- to four-hour wait, Gomez said.
Many PCR test results are taking between one to two days to return, Gomez said, as state labs become inundated with record-level testing.
Kasirye said the county is consulting with businesses that seek assistance implementing safety measures, which she said can include anything from recommending telework to providing hand sanitizer.
“To a certain extent, it does depend on what their business need is.”
California set to change ‘mega-event’ thresholds
Beginning Saturday, CDPH will lower its thresholds for what constitutes a “mega event.” That classification will now apply to any indoor event with at least 500 attendees and outdoor event with 5,000 attendees.
Indoor mega-event venues must require vaccination verification or proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test; outdoor venues are recommended, but not required, to do the same.
“It doesn’t mean that an event organizer has to wait until they hit those numbers to implement those measures,” Kasirye pointed out Thursday. “This includes vaccine verification ... before allowing clients to attend.”
Sutter County school closes due to ‘escalating’ COVID cases
Butte Vista Elementary School, a K-8 campus in Yuba City, announced Thursday night it will close for on-campus learning this Friday through at least next Tuesday due to outbreaks of COVID-19 cases.
The school of about 900 students did not disclose how many positive cases it has recorded, but in a statement to its website said the rate of COVID infections at the campus is “escalating” and “warrant(s) a temporary school closure.”
A COVID-19 dashboard for Yuba City Unified as of Thursday morning showed 206 positive cases among students and staff this week across the district, including 30 staff members in quarantine.
“While we cannot rule out other schools eventually facing a similar situation, there are currently no plans to change the instruction model at any other YCUSD school,” Yuba City Unified School District officials wrote. “This decision pertains only to Butte Vista.”
Sutter County has the third-highest COVID-19 test positivity rate among California’s 58 counties at 33.7%, CDPH reported Thursday.
Butte Vista appears to be the first campus in the six-county region of Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba to close for in-person learning amid the omicron surge.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers
Sacramento County has recorded 207,805 total lab-confirmed cases and 2,582 deaths from COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, according to local health officials.
The county added more than 3,600 new confirmed cases Wednesday and nearly 3,500 Thursday, increasing the daily case rate to 201 per 100,000 residents, an all-time record. The case rate is now more than triple the pre-omicron record of 64 per 100,000 from December 2020.
According to CDPH, Sacramento County’s latest test positivity rate is 24.5%.
County hospitals were treating 483 patients with confirmed COVID-19 as of Wednesday, up from 307 one week earlier. The ICU total increased to 80 from 65.
Placer County has tallied 47,096 cases and 499 virus deaths to date, last updated Wednesday.
Local health officials last reported the daily case rate at 88.7 per 100,000 for the week ending Jan. 3.
Placer’s positivity rate is 25.4%, according to CDPH.
Placer County hospitals had 211 COVID-positive patients Wednesday, up from 151 one week earlier. The ICU increased to 34 from 22.
Yolo County has confirmed 25,152 infections and 266 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Tuesday.
The county’s latest reported case rate is 110 per 100,000, for the week ending Jan. 6.
CDPH reports Yolo County’s positivity rate at 8.5%, among the state’s lowest.
Yolo County hospitals were treating 16 patients with COVID-19 on Wednesday, up from 12 one week earlier. The ICU total held at three patients.
El Dorado County has reported 20,334 cumulative cases and 178 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Wednesday.
El Dorado’s latest reported case rate, for the week ending Jan. 5, was 101 per 100,000, expanding on an all-time record.
The county had a positivity rate of 24.3%, CDPH reported Thursday.
Hospitals in El Dorado County had 14 COVID-positive patients Wednesday, down one from 15 a week earlier. Only one was in intensive care, down from five.
Sutter County has recorded 16,699 cases and 203 deaths, and Yuba County has recorded 12,708 cases with 90 deaths, according to a Tuesday update from the bi-county health office.
CDPH reported Sutter County at 76 daily cases per 100,000 and Yuba County at 79 per 100,000 as of Wednesday.
Positivity was 33.7% in Sutter and 32.2% in Yuba, ranking third- and sixth-highest, respectively, among California’s 58 counties, according to CDPH.
The lone hospital serving Yuba and Sutter counties, Adventist Health and Rideout in Marysville, as of Wednesdayhad 40 patients with confirmed COVID-19, up from 21 one week earlier. Six were in the ICU, the same as one week earlier.
This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 11:16 AM with the headline "COVID updates: California cases surpass winter 2020 surge. When will state near omicron peak?."
