Coronavirus updates: California COVID death rate at all-time high as infections slow
California’s COVID-19 infection metrics continue to improve even as the state grapples with its highest death rate of the pandemic.
The state over the past two weeks has reported 7,591 coronavirus deaths for an average of 542 per day, shooting its all-time death toll to 41,330, the California Department of Public Health reported Tuesday.
The fatality rate should begin to slow soon because the rate of hospital and intensive care unit admissions for confirmed COVID-19 cases have each been declining rapidly since about mid-January.
But even with that fast decline, hospital and ICU patient totals are roughly twice as high as they had ever been prior to the winter surge, which saw COVID-19 infections boom from the start of November through early January.
And the ICU total — reflecting those most seriously ill with the virus — has been falling more gradually, meaning it could take several weeks for the death rate to fall back to pre-surge levels.
Cases are declining fast, though, falling from a 14-day average of over 37,000 on Jan. 20 down to about 19,500 just 12 days later. The rate of diagnostic tests returning positive during that stretch has fallen from 11% to 7.4%.
Concern among health officials remains high. California’s vaccine rollout has been slow, and the threat of genetic variants that spread more easily or diminish vaccines’ effectiveness continues to loom.
State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly in a Tuesday news briefing warned that social distancing and avoiding gatherings still remain critically important, especially as a pair of dates that normally draw large gatherings or parties approach: the Super Bowl this coming weekend and Lunar New Year on Feb. 12.
“Let’s not have the Super Bowl become the next beginning of a huge surge in California,” Ghaly said. “We give COVID an inch, and it takes a mile.”
Latest Sacramento-area numbers: Total cases near 140,000
The six counties that make up the bulk of the 13-county Greater Sacramento region — Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties — have reported nearly 140,000 combined positive cases and at least 1,840 virus deaths.
Following the statewide trend, the rate of new cases is slowing in all six of those counties; reports of deaths, which lag a few weeks behind infections, continue to pour in.
Sacramento County has confirmed 87,037 cases since the start of the pandemic, and at least 1,281 of those residents have died of COVID-19. The county added 242 new cases and 10 fatalities Wednesday following.
By date of death occurrence, December and January have been Sacramento County’s two deadliest months of the pandemic. Local health officials have confirmed 377 deaths for December and at least 224 for Jan. 1 through Jan. 29. January’s total will continue to grow, as it can take weeks for death confirmations to be made official.
Prior to December, the county’s deadliest month of the pandemic was August, at 181 virus deaths.
The hospitalized total for virus patients was 325 as of Tuesday’s state data update, down from 339 on Monday. The ICU total has fallen to 93 from a peak of 130 two weeks ago. CDPH reported 68 ICU beds available in Sacramento County as of Tuesday, an increase by 20 since last Friday.
The virus death toll for the city of Sacramento has reached 703 residents, the county reported this week, and nearly 48,000 living within city limits have tested positive. That means roughly one in 10 Sacramentans have tested positive, with one death for about every 710 residents.
Placer County health officials have confirmed a total of 18,638 infections and 201 deaths. Placer on Tuesday added just 30 new cases. The county on Monday reported 209 cases and two new deaths in an update covering the weekend.
State data Tuesday showed 102 virus patients in Placer hospitals, down from 105 on Monday and from 121 on Sunday. However, the ICU total grew from 24 on Monday to 26 by Tuesday. The state says 17 ICU beds remain available, up from 13 on Monday.
Yolo County has reported a total of 11,717 cases and 156 deaths, reporting 50 new cases and increasing the death toll by seven on Tuesday. Health officials recently noted that death reporting can come in clusters — none for a few days, then several in one day — due to how the death confirmation process is performed.
State data showed Yolo with 14 virus patients Tuesday, after its tally of 12 on Monday had marked its lowest total since early November. Seven patients are now in ICUs, down from eight on Monday, with available ICU beds increasing from one to two.
El Dorado County has reported 8,479 positive test results and 81 deaths. The county on Monday reported 84 cases and two deaths in a three-day update covering the weekend, followed by 36 cases and no new deaths Tuesday.
El Dorado has reported a remarkable surge in virus deaths: 77 residents have died of COVID-19 since late November, compared to four from March through mid-November.
State health officials on Monday reported 12 virus patients in El Dorado hospitals, down from 17 Sunday, with the ICU total holding at three. Nine ICU beds now remain available, two more than on Sunday.
In Sutter County, at least 8,355 people have contracted the virus and 89 have died. Sutter on Monday added 91 new cases and three deaths for the three-day reporting window including the weekend.
Neighboring Yuba County has reported 5,389 infections and 32 dead. The county added 65 new cases and one fatality in a Monday update covering the weekend.
The lone hospital serving the Yuba-Sutter bicounty region — Adventist-Rideout in Marysville — had 39 hospitalized virus patients as of Tuesday’s state data update, down from 43 both Sunday and Monday. The ICU total dipped from 13 to 11, but the available ICU bed count dropped from four to two.
This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 10:29 AM.
