COVID updates: Virus deaths rising in California weeks after peak in omicron cases
California’s COVID-19 case numbers continue a trend of improvement from the peak of the omicron surge about three weeks ago, though hospitalizations remain elevated across most of the state and the death rate has begun to creep up in recent weeks.
The California Department of Public Health on Wednesday reported the state’s daily case rate at 160 per 100,000 residents, a sharp drop from 180 per 100,000 reported Tuesday and from an all-time peak of 296 per 100,000 last month.
The test positivity rate continues to fall, reported at 13.4% after peaking at 22.8% on Jan. 10.
CDPH reported 12,995 COVID-positive patients were in hospital beds Tuesday including 2,435 in intensive care units. Those are down from peaks of about 15,500 and 2,600 last month, with the virus patient total dropping below 13,000 for the first time since Jan. 12.
But California’s hospitalizations and ICU cases amid the omicron surge remain higher than at any point in any previous wave of the pandemic except the devastating winter 2020 surge.
Though omicron is generally less severe than the previously dominant delta variant, deaths from COVID-19 have accelerated and are continuing to climb in the weeks following a record-setting peak in infections.
The state is now averaging about 96 virus deaths a day, according to CDPH, compared to about 55 per day in mid-December before the omicron surge — a 75% increase.
The delta variant surge saw the seven-day average for fatalities stay above 90 from mid-August through early October, peaking in early September around 135 per day.
Neither compares to the winter 2020 surge, in which average daily deaths approached 700 during January 2021.
Recent waves have been less deadly largely because of widely available vaccines: A vast majority of recent coronavirus deaths have come in unvaccinated residents.
CDPH reported that the COVID-19 death rate among unvaccinated Californians was nearly 17 times higher than among fully vaccinated residents for the week ending Jan. 2, the most recent period with that data available.
To date, California health officials have recorded 7.94 million lab-confirmed cases and 79,621 confirmed deaths from COVID-19.
FDA to consider Pfizer’s COVID vaccine for children under 5
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced it will hold a virtual meeting of a key panel Feb. 15 to discuss a request for emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children 6 months to 4 years old.
“Having a safe and effective vaccine available for children in this age group is a priority for the agency and we’re committed to a timely review of the data, which the agency asked Pfizer to submit in light of the recent Omicron surge,” acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said in a statement.
This is a highly unusual move: companies typically request emergency use authorization for vaccines on their own timetables, rather than the FDA asking them to do so.
The FDA granted authorization to Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine in October for use in children ages 5 to 11.
The vaccine would have to be cleared by the full FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and, for California, the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, before it could be launched for use in young children.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers
Sacramento County has recorded 263,240 total lab-confirmed cases and 2,710 deaths from COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, according to local health officials.
The county on Wednesday reported the daily case rate at 110 per 100,000 residents, down from an all-time high of 243 per 100,000 recorded Jan. 10.
County health officials tallied 19 newly reported virus deaths in Tuesday’s update and 14 on Wednesday, two of the highest increases since the delta surge.
According to CDPH, Sacramento County’s latest test positivity rate is 17.8%.
County hospitals were treating 603 patients with confirmed COVID-19 as of Tuesday, down from an all-time high of 657 one week earlier. The ICU total rose to 102 from 98.
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 19.1%, CDPH reported Wednesday.
Placer County hospitals had 193 COVID-positive patients Tuesday, down from 247 one week earlier. The ICU tally decreased to 46 from 49.
Yolo County has confirmed 33,006 total infections and 270 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Tuesday.
The county’s latest reported case rate is 147 per 100,000, for the week ending Jan. 26.
CDPH reports Yolo County’s positivity rate at 4.3%, the lowest among all of the state’s 58 counties.
Yolo County hospitals were treating 23 patients with COVID-19 on Tuesday, up from 22 one week earlier. The ICU increased to six from five.
El Dorado County has reported 25,230 cumulative cases and 188 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Tuesday.
El Dorado’s latest reported case rate, for the week ending Jan. 25, was 98 per 100,000. The county, which peaked around 168 per 100,000 on Jan. 11, dropped below 100 per 100,000 for the first time since Jan. 3.
The county had a positivity rate of 17.2%, CDPH reported Wednesday.
Hospitals in El Dorado County had 19 COVID-positive patients Tuesday, down from 27 a week earlier. Five patients were in ICUs, down from seven.
Sutter County has recorded 20,790 cases and 211 deaths, and Yuba County has recorded 16,290 cases with 96 deaths, according to a Tuesday update from the bi-county health office.
CDPH reported Yuba County at 144 daily cases per 100,000 and Sutter County at 122 per 100,000 as of Wednesday. Positivity was 27.7% in Yuba and 24.5% in Sutter.
The lone hospital serving Yuba and Sutter counties, Adventist Health and Rideout in Marysville, as of Tuesday had 86 patients with confirmed COVID-19 after reaching an all-time record of 89 on Monday. The hospital had 58 virus patients the previous Tuesday. Twelve of the 86 currently hospitalized are in intensive care, up from nine a week earlier.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 10:20 AM.
