Coronavirus updates: Sacramento schools report cases; California gets color-coded system
August has been a wild ride in California’s battle with the coronavirus.
The month started with a system glitch that resulted in underreported COVID-19 case totals statewide, and with California reaching an all-time total of 10,000 dead from the respiratory disease within the first week. It’s ending with an official death toll close to 13,000, and with Gov. Gavin Newsom late last week unveiling a new “blueprint” to assess counties’ risk levels and determine what can and can’t be open in various parts of the state.
In the weeks in between, California saw significant improvement in some key metrics, reflecting that spread of the virus may finally have slowed after about a month-and-a-half surge. The state’s hospitalization total for patients with confirmed COVID-19 cases dropped from close to 6,500 on July 31 to fewer than 4,000 as of Sunday’s update from the California Department of Public Health; the number of patients in intensive care dropped from nearly 2,000 to below 1,300 in that same period.
The rate of new infections, as well as the percentage of diagnostic tests returning positive, also declined between July and mid-August, though the all-time total for lab-confirmed cases has crept to 700,000, reaching 704,085 as of a Monday morning update from state health officials.
September is shaping up to be another challenging and critical juncture in the pandemic for the Golden State. Academic calendars will be getting into full swing, with students, teachers and parents across California still adjusting to frequently changing plans and protocols. Health experts, meanwhile, are essentially begging people to get their flu shots as soon as they possibly can, desperate to ward off the dual threat of another COVID-19 surge combined with a severe flu season.
At the same time, the state is wading back into economic reopening, which Newsom said will be a slower process this time around using a four-tier risk system. Renewed guidance at the end of last week allowed indoor barbershops and hair salons to reopen throughout the state in places where the local health office doesn’t have its own more stringent shutdown order keeping them closed.
What are the four tiers in California’s new county risk assessment system?
For more than three months, the state health department maintained what it referred to as a monitoring list. The so-called “watchlist” put counties on notice if any one of a number of metrics — including new infections, test positivity percentage and rate of hospitalization increase — surpassed certain thresholds. Counties on the watchlist were subject to stricter business shutdowns, and were not allowed to open school campuses for on-campus learning.
At its peak — which coincided with CDPH freezing the watchlist for more than two weeks as health officials dealt with a backlog caused by the data issue — the list contained more than 97% of California by population.
California has done away with the watchlist in favor of a color-coded tier system. Instead of a binary on-or-off the list, there are four more gradual levels meant to reflect prevalence of virus spread in an area.
It’s a more complex system than the watchlist in that it contains four levels rather than two, but the tier system considers only two metrics — new positive cases per capita and test rate positivity — rather than five. The tiers don’t factor in hospitalization rates at all.
The four levels are:
▪ Widespread (purple): More than seven new daily cases per 100,000 residents, or more than 8% of tests returning positive. The most restrictive tier contains most of the counties that were on the state’s final edition of its watchlist, and represents the majority of California’s population. For counties in the purple tier, “many” non-essential, indoor businesses must stay closed.
▪ Substantial (red): Between four and seven daily new cases per 100,000, or between 5% and 8% of tests returning positive. In “substantial” tier, “some” non-essential businesses remain closed. Nine counties are in the red tier to start: San Francisco, Napa, Lake, Lassen, Sierra, Nevada, El Dorado, Calaveras and San Diego.
▪Moderate (orange): Between one and 3.9 daily new cases per 100,000, or between 2% and 4.9% of tests returning positive. The state says counties in the “moderate” tier can have “some” businesses — including non-essential ones — open with modifications. This tier includes eight counties, including the northwest corner of the state: Del Norte, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Trinity, Shasta, Plumas, Mariposa and Mono.
▪Minimal (yellow): Less than 1 new daily case per 100,000, and less than 2% of tests returning positive. The least restrictive tier, “most” indoor businesses can open back up, with modifications, in counties that reach the yellow. That’s just three counties at this time: Alpine, Modoc and Tuolumne.
The system went into place Monday. It’ll be updated weekly on Tuesdays beginning Sept. 8.
Counties must stay in their current tier a minimum of three weeks before being able to advance; they must meet the next tier’s criteria for two straight weeks to do so; and they can only move forward one tier at a time, even if their numbers qualify for a better tier, according to CDPH.
Two Sacramento County schools report cases following distribution events
Sacramento City Unified School District and Elk Grove Unified School District officials over the weekend confirmed multiple positive cases of COVID-19 among employees, at least two of whom were handing out school supplies to students and parents this month in advance of the academic year.
Sacramento City Unified said an employee at Woodbine Elementary School who distributed materials last Wednesday for the upcoming school year, which begins this Thursday, has tested positive. The district told parents who picked up materials at the event that they may have come into contact with this person, though the event was outside, socially distanced and required masks.
An employee at Bret Harte Elementary School in Curtis Park also tested positive, a district spokesperson said.
In a memo to parents, Elizabeth Pinkerton Middle School said a worker who helped distribute textbooks and other supplies to seventh-graders at an Aug. 6 event tested positive. The Elk Grove Unified school will be cleaning facilities and equipment that employee may have used.
Latest in Sacramento area: Thousands infected, hundreds dead
Local health officials in the Sacramento region have seen declines in new cases and hospitalization rates. In Sacramento County, deaths continue to mount in the wake of an infection surge that started in June.
Sacramento County surpassed 18,000 lab-positive cases and reached 293 deaths on Monday, with 19 new fatalities reported since last Friday’s update. Of the infection total, health officials estimate that about 14,271 patients have since recovered, leaving about 3,500 active infections.
Deaths have flooded in for Sacramento County and the capital city, the latter now making up nearly 11,000 cases, over 60% of the county’s infection total despite having about one-third of its population. The city of Sacramento’s COVID-19 death toll has surged from 100 to 175 in less than four weeks, according to county health officials.
The county now says a staggering 120 of the 293 total deaths — 40% of them — happened in the month of August, which is only one fewer than the combined total for July (85), June (18) and May (18).
State data shows that 196 people are currently hospitalized with confirmed cases, 55 of whom are in ICUs. On July 30, 281 patients were in hospitals with COVID-19, the peak for Sacramento County. Hospitalizations have been steadily dropping since then, now beneath 200 for the first time since July 18. The county has 109 ICU beds still available for its roughly 1.5 million residents.
Yolo County health officials have reported a total of 2,424 COVID-19 cases and 52 deaths. Monday’s update brought 34 new cases and no new deaths. The county reported 52 cases Sunday, 25 cases Saturday and two new deaths Thursday. Five patients currently are in county hospitals, three of them in ICUs. The county has seven ICU beds remaining, according to state data. The county has seen outbreaks at several long-term care facilities, which account for 141 of the total number of cases and 26 of the deaths.
Woodland’s Stollwood Convalescent Hospital reported an outbreak in April and it is still the most severe outbreak in the county. There, 66 people connected to the facility have been infected with coronavirus and 17 died. The facility will close permanently in September.
Placer County has reported 3,003 cases of coronavirus and 33 deaths. On Monday, 30 new cases and one new death were reported. On Sunday, 26 new cases were reported. There are 39 people hospitalized in the county and 11 are being treated in ICUs. The county has 29 ICU beds available.
The county was removed from the state’s regional coronavirus watchlist, owing to its relatively low transmission rate, but is in the purple “substantial” tier under the new system. The county health office, in a detailed COVID-19 update posted last Friday, said it was placed there due to the inclusion of data from early August; officials expect easing of restrictions Sept. 8 “if trends continue in the right direction.”
Placer County said it has learned from CDPH that schools will still be allowed to resume on-campus learning Tuesday, as removal from the watchlist had indicated earlier.
El Dorado County has reported a total of 967 COVID-19 cases and two deaths, last updated Monday, when 16 new cases were reported. One person is currently hospitalized in an ICU. The county has 10 ICU beds remaining.
Sutter County has reported a total of 1,400 cases and 10 deaths as of Monday. The county reported 14 new cases Monday and two fatalities were reported Thursday. Nine people are currently being hospitalized, with three in the ICU.
In neighboring Yuba County, 915 people have been infected and six have died. On Monday, no new cases were reported. On Friday, nine new cases were reported, eight were reported Thursday and one death was reported Wednesday. Seven people in Yuba County are being hospitalized, with one in the ICU.
World numbers: 25 million infected, nearly 850,000 dead
The world officially reached 25 million infections Sunday, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University. More than 848,000 people have been killed by COVID-19 globally as of Monday afternoon.
The United States also hit a milestone Sunday, reaching 6 million infections, according to New York Times and Johns Hopkins tracking data. More than 183,000 Americans have died, according to the university.
Brazil is next, with over 3.8 million infections and 120,000 deaths. India is third in reported infections with more than 3.6 million infections and in deaths at more than 64,000. Over 64,000 have also died in Mexico, where the reported infection total is only about 595,000. Russia is nearing 1 million infections, but has reported only 17,000 deaths.
What is COVID-19? How is the coronavirus spread?
Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within 6 feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure.
Most people develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal. The disease is especially dangerous to the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 8:48 AM.
