COVID updates: Newsom hints at ‘endemic plan’ for California as omicron surge eases
As the calendar flips to February, California’s coronavirus numbers are still improving steadily from sharp peaks during the omicron surge, which took root in mid-December and continued to disrupt businesses, schools and government operations throughout much of January.
The state’s COVID-19 infection rate, test positivity percentage and totals for COVID-positive patients in hospital beds and intensive care units are all on the decline, though the figures remain well above pre-omicron levels.
The California Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported the state’s daily case rate at 180 per 100,000 residents, down 39% from an all-time high of 295 per 100,000 recorded two weeks earlier.
Seven-day positivity fell to 13.8%, the state’s lowest mark since the week ending Dec. 27 and down from the omicron wave’s peak of 22.8% on Jan. 10.
The state had 13,367 virus patients in hospitals Monday, including 2,494 in ICUs, down from respective peaks of about 15,500 and 2,600 around mid-January.
Newsom teases ‘endemic plan’ for California COVID response
Gov. Gavin Newsom, during a Monday news conference centered on housing, said his administration will be releasing an “endemic plan” for the state’s COVID-19 response within “the next couple weeks.”
A disease is considered endemic when infection totals are relatively stable and follow established patterns, as opposed to major outbreaks continuing and prompting emergency response as has happened throughout the pandemic phase. Seasonal influenza is an example of an endemic disease.
Newsom has not laid out what an endemic plan might include. The state’s mask requirement for indoor public places, which returned in mid-December and was extended by a month in January, is set to end Feb. 15 unless state health officials extend it again.
Newsom faced criticism after photos, including one posted to Instagram by NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, showed the governor without a mask as he attended Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.
That violates stadium rules, which say masks must be worn at all times regardless of vaccination status, except while actively eating or drinking.
Newsom during a Monday news conference said he was “very judicious” and removed his mask to pose for the photo. The incident drew ire from Republican critics.
“Quite the message for @GavinNewsom to send to California parents, that they still must send their children to school in masks while he ignores his rules and gets to watch some football mask free,” California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson tweeted, in part.
Other photos showed San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, also not wearing masks.
Rural counties break COVID hospital records
Hospital trends vary by region. Los Angeles County remains on the downslope, and its omicron surge ultimately peaked at about 60% as many patients as its peak during the winter 2020 surge. Patient totals are also dropping in other Southern California counties, as well as in the Bay Area and most of the Sacramento region.
Hospital surges have continued in some parts of the state, including rural and foothills counties. Amador, Merced, Nevada, Placer and Yuba counties all broke their all-time hospitalization records amid the omicron wave, CDPH data show.
The Yuba-Sutter bi-county area, where vaccination rates trail the state average significantly, reached an all-time record of 89 COVID-19 patients Monday, soaring past the peak of 73 during the winter 2020 surge.
The region has one hospital, Adventist Health and Rideout in the Yuba County seat of Marysville, where virus patients now occupy two out of every five licensed beds, state data show.
Yuba County in an infographic said that 123 Yuba and Sutter county residents were hospitalized the week of Jan. 20 to Jan. 26 specifically for COVID-19, including 17 in intensive care.
Of the 123 admitted patients, only one was fully vaccinated and boosted; 37 were fully vaccinated but without a booster; and the remaining 85 were not fully vaccinated.
Of the 17 seriously ill patients in intensive care, seven were fully vaccinated without a booster and 10 were not fully vaccinated. None had received a booster dose.
Only 51% of Yuba County and 60% of Sutter County residents ages 5 and older are fully vaccinated, compared to 73% of all Californians in the eligible age group, according to CDPH.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers
Sacramento County has recorded 262,408 total lab-confirmed cases and 2,696 deaths from COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, according to local health officials.
The county on Tuesday reported the daily case rate at 115 per 100,000 residents, down from an all-time high of 243 per 100,000 recorded Jan. 10.
According to CDPH, Sacramento County’s latest test positivity rate is 18.1%.
County hospitals were treating 607 patients with confirmed COVID-19 as of Monday, down from 647 one week earlier. The ICU total fell to 106 from 105.
Placer County has tallied 58,361 cases and 523 virus deaths to date, last updated Monday.
Local health officials last reported the daily case rate at 135 per 100,000 for the week ending Jan. 22.
Placer’s positivity rate is 18.9%, CDPH reported Tuesday.
Placer County hospitals had 194 COVID-positive patients Monday, down from an all-time record of 258 one week earlier. The ICU tally decreased to 42 from 43.
Yolo County has confirmed 32,842 infections and 270 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Monday.
The county’s latest reported case rate is 147 per 100,000, for the week ending Jan. 24.
CDPH reports Yolo County’s positivity rate at 4.7%, second-lowest among all of the state’s 58 counties.
Yolo County hospitals were treating 24 patients with COVID-19 on Monday, up from 23 one week earlier. The ICU total held at five.
El Dorado County has reported 25,183 cumulative cases and 188 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Monday.
El Dorado’s latest reported case rate, for the week ending Jan. 24, was 106 per 100,000.
The county had a positivity rate of 17.7%, CDPH reported Tuesday.
Hospitals in El Dorado County had 18 COVID-positive patients Monday, down from 23 a week earlier. Five patients were in ICUs, down from six.
Sutter County has recorded 20,646 cases and 210 deaths, and Yuba County has recorded 16,235 cases with 96 deaths, according to a Monday update from the bi-county health office.
CDPH reported Yuba County at 160 daily cases per 100,000 and Sutter County at 132 per 100,000 as of Tuesday. Positivity was 27.5% in Yuba and 25.3% in Sutter.
The lone hospital serving Yuba and Sutter counties, Adventist Health and Rideout in Marysville, as of Monday had 89 patients with confirmed COVID-19, continuing to expand on an all-time record for the pandemic and an increase from 64 a week earlier. Eleven were in intensive care, up from 10 the previous Monday.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 10:57 AM.
