As the death toll passes 100, COVID-19 spreading into more workplaces in Sacramento County
Sacramento’s ongoing coronavirus pandemic appears to be seeping increasingly into a new area – the workplace.
After weeks of virus infection increases stemming mainly from unsafe family gatherings, officials in Sacramento County and elsewhere say they are seeing new cases popping up at workplaces, including stores, restaurants, warehouses and agricultural areas.
That evolution creates a new challenge for Sacramento and makes it less likely that the economy will open up anytime soon.
“We don’t know if this is second generation infections, from family gatherings, where someone brings it into the workplace,” county health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson said on Friday. But, “It is progressing to businesses. Once it gets there, it is more widespread.”
A recent spate of employee infections has forced a handful of local restaurants and other businesses to shut down.
Speaking at a noon press conference Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom echoed the workplace concern, saying his health staff has heard from county health officers around the state about an uptick in work-related infections, and said the state will increase its oversight of businesses, with a focus on labor protections and safety practices.
El Dorado County officials said they too are seeing more workplace infections, and have called on residents to avoid going to work if they feel sick or if they believe they have been in contact with an infected person.
In Sacramento County, the COVID-19 trend continued in the wrong direction on Friday. The county recorded another 307 infections, which is considerably higher than the recent daily average of 230 cases. The death total jumped by five to 103. By Saturday, another five deaths had been added to the toll, along with 82 more infections.
County hospitals record mounting patient loads, hitting a pandemic high of 213. Of those, 69 were in intensive care units, leading to continued concern that hospitals will have to scramble to increase intensive care unit capacity in the near future.
Beilenson said Sacramento has not yet detected any major outbreaks in workplaces, only infection hits here and there.
County officials are struggling to keep track of where COVID-19 clusters are occurring, due to recent testing delays, some of which have been so extended that the person in question may not even realize they are infected until after the virus has left their body, typically in two weeks.
As well, the delayed test results and limited personnel have caused the county’s contact tracing program to fall behind in its work, making it harder to know exactly where the virus is spreading. County officials put in a request to the state this week for 15 more contact tracers to bolster a currently overwhelmed staff of 60.
Recent test results show that the percentage of people testing positive is still on the rise in Sacramento, an uptick that has been consistent since the state and county allowed businesses to start reopening in May and June. After being below 2% several months ago, one of the best rates in the country for a large county, it has now risen to 7.3%, barely below the state’s 7.5% average.
Sacramento’s rate now trails that of hard-hit Los Angeles County, which has had a 6% rate over the past two weeks. San Francisco’s rate is 2.4%.
Despite those trends, county health chief Beilenson said he believes the county must stay the course for the next few weeks to see if recent state-mandated shutdowns will help lower the rate. He said he does not have plans to issue new, more restrictive orders on businesses or individual movement.
Newsom recently ordered the closure of most interior business, including at hair and nail salons, food service, bars and fitness centers in the state’s harder-hit counties.
This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 2:31 PM.