Coronavirus updates: Yolo County could be one week away from looser restrictions
California’s coronavirus infection numbers continue to fall while the pace of vaccination picks up, both promising signs as the state recovers from a brutal winter surge that killed thousands.
The two-week test positivity rate — a metric closely looked at by health experts to track the spread of COVID-19 — has dropped from 12.9% to 4.2% in a month, according to California Department of Public Health data updated Tuesday.
The recent percentage is California’s lowest since the first two weeks of November. Before the winter surge, in a plateau that lasted from mid-September through October, the positivity rate hovered between about 2.5% and 3%, according to CDPH.
Hospitalizations for confirmed COVID-19 cases are likewise cratering, down below 8,500 as of Tuesday’s update, state data show. That’s more than 2 1/2 times lower than the early January peak of nearly 22,000.
The intensive care unit patient total has fallen from about 4,950 to fewer than 2,500 in that same stretch.
Meanwhile, CDPH data show California has administered about 6.26 million total vaccine doses in the roughly two months since inoculations began. That’s more than three-quarters of the more than 8 million doses that have been delivered to county health offices and local health departments.
Local officials in recent weeks pointed out the CDPH data dashboard has been underreporting vaccine administration numbers for various counties throughout the state, sometimes by substantial amounts.
Even so, the pace represents significant progress from the first few weeks of rollout. California at one point in mid-January had reportedly administered only about 37%, which had the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranking the state 51st among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Even worse data reporting problems were likely at least partially responsible for that abysmal rate.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration Monday released details of the state’s contract with insurance company Blue Shield as its “third party administrator” for vaccine distribution. Among other stated goals, the contract says vaccine providers in California should be able to administer 95% of their vaccine doses within a week of receiving them.
To date, more than 3.4 million Californians have tested positive for COVID-19 and over 47,000 have died, according to CDPH. The fatality rate is falling slowly, from a peak two-week average of about 540 daily deaths down to around 410 as of Tuesday’s update.
Yolo improves in state tier list
CDPH on Tuesday morning released its weekly updated tier list for counties, which determines restriction levels based on recent COVID-19 case and test positivity rates.
A vast majority of California by population remains in the strictest “purple” tier, requiring multiple types of businesses, including indoor dining, gyms and movie theaters, to remain closed for indoor operations.
Two counties in the Greater Sacramento region made progress in this week’s update: Plumas, which has roughly 19,000 residents, advanced to the red tier; and Yolo County, home to 220,000 people, notched the first of two consecutive weeks meeting red-tier criteria to be promoted.
The main two criteria for promotion from the purple to red tier are a test positivity rate below 8% and daily new cases averaging fewer than seven per 100,000.
Yolo met both marks at 1.8% positivity and 6.6 cases per 100,000 for the survey week of Jan. 31 to Feb. 6. Yolo’s test positivity ranked best among any county with a population of more than 30,000. Plumas had 0.9% positivity and 6.0 new cases per 100,000.
Forty-four of the state’s 58 counties met the test positivity threshold for the red tier or better in this week’s update, but only five — Plumas, Mariposa, Sierra, Trinity and Yolo counties — also recorded fewer than seven cases per 100,000 people. Mariposa is in the red tier, while Sierra and Trinity are one tier better, in orange.
The next-closest counties to meeting red-tier requirements were Marin, San Francisco and Humboldt counties, ranging from 8.8 to 9.0 new cases per 100,000.
Sacramento County had 18.7 new cases per 100,000 and 6% positivity; El Dorado had 14.7 and 5.4% positivity; and Placer had 12.7 and 4.8% positivity.
Counties may impose their own stricter public health guidelines than those laid out in the state’s tier structure, but not looser restrictions.
Vaccine allocation update coming
Also weekly on Tuesdays, the CDC posts its allocations of vaccine doses to states. California this week is slated to receive more than 1.1 million vaccine doses: 622,100 first doses plus 485,800 set to arrive as second doses. Today, the CDC will release first-dose allocations for next week.
Week over week, California’s supply increased by about 5% each of the past two allocation, and by 16% the one before that. All those increases came from boosts to Moderna allocations while Pfizer numbers stayed mostly steady.
Nearly 2,000 COVID-19 deaths in six-county Sacramento area
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 more than 145,000 combined positive cases and at least 1,995 virus deaths.
Sacramento County has confirmed 90,930 cases since the start of the pandemic, and at least 1,382 of those residents died of COVID-19. The county on Tuesday added 965 new cases and 10 fatalities for the four-day reporting period including Presidents Day on Monday. The county reported 331 new cases and increased the death toll by 12 last Friday.
By date of death occurrence, December and January were Sacramento County’s two deadliest months of the pandemic. Local health officials have confirmed 382 deaths for December and at least 290 in January. Local health officials have confirmed 28 resident deaths for Feb. 1-9.
Prior to December, the county’s deadliest month of the pandemic was August, at 181 virus deaths.
The countywide total for hospitalized virus patients dropped from 237 last Friday to 223 by Monday, though it rose up to 227 by TUesday, according to CDPH. The ICU total, reported at 65 last Friday, dipped to 59 on Monday but was up to 62 by Tuesday.
Placer County health officials have confirmed a total of 19,175 infections and 222 deaths, last updated Thursday. Placer reported 54 new cases and five new deaths Thursday, following 85 cases and one death reported Wednesday.
State data showed 77 virus patients in Placer hospitals as of Tuesday, changing minimally from 76 last Friday, but with the ICU total rising from 18 to 21.
Yolo County has reported a total of 12,208 cases and 172 deaths. The county last 36 cases and no deaths in a Saturday update.
Yolo officials recently noted that deaths are confirmed in groups, meaning there may be no deaths noted for several days and then many confirmed in a day or two.
State data showed Yolo with 10 virus patients in hospitals both Monday and Tuesday, with the ICU total dropping from five to four.
El Dorado County has reported 8,855 positive test results and 90 deaths, last reporting 28 cases and two deaths in a Friday update.
El Dorado has reported a significant spike in virus deaths compared to the first several months of the health crisis: 86 county residents have died of COVID-19 since Nov. 25, compared to four from last March through mid-November.
State data show El Dorado’s COVID-19 patient total, after plummeting down to two last Friday from 21 two weeks earlier, spiking up to six and then back down to three, all of whom are in intensive care. The ICU total held at zero for six straight days, from Feb. 6 through last Thursday.
In Sutter County, at least 8,656 people have contracted the virus and 93 have died, last updated Friday. Yuba County, which shares a health office with Sutter, reported 5,583 infections and 36 dead.
The lone hospital serving the Yuba-Sutter bicounty region — Adventist-Rideout in Marysville — had 29 hospitalized virus patients as of Tuesday’s state data update, down from 32 last Friday, and the ICU total has fallen from 11 to nine. It’s the hospital’s first time with fewer than 30 confirmed COVID-19 patients since Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 8:35 AM.
