COVID updates: Sacramento County passes 3,000 dead; infections drop across California
Coronavirus activity in California has fallen to one of its lowest points in the two-year pandemic, with infection and hospital numbers recently dropping to levels only previously seen before the highly contagious delta and omicron variants arrived.
The California Department of Public Health on Thursday reported the statewide daily case rate for COVID-19 at 9.7 per 100,000 residents, with test positivity at 1.9%.
Those figures, which soared as high as 300 daily cases per 100,000 and 23% positivity in January, are each the state’s lowest since July 2021.
The state also fell this week below 3,000 COVID-positive patients in hospital beds for the first time since July.
CDPH on Thursday reported 2,796 hospitalized virus patients, including 516 in intensive care units, which are also the lowest figures in nearly eight months. Hospitalizations spiked above 15,000 and ICU cases to more than 2,600 earlier this year.
Fatalities continue to pour in from the omicron surge at a pace of about 115 per day, CDPH said Thursday. That’s down from a peak of about 220 per day in early February, but still roughly double the rate in December before the omicron variant took root, when state health officials were recording about 60 daily deaths.
To date, more than 8.4 million Californians have tested positive for COVID-19, not including unreported at-home tests. At least 86,185 have died.
Sacramento County surpasses 3,000 COVID-19 deaths
On Wednesday — exactly two years after the first recorded coronavirus death in a Sacramento County resident, on March 9, 2020 — the county’s official death toll eclipsed 3,000.
Local health officials in a weekly update newly confirmed 42 virus fatalities, bringing the two-year death toll to at least 3,013. For the county of more than 1.5 million, that’s about one death for every 515 residents.
The three thousand-death milestones have coincided with Sacramento’s three worst surges. The county reached 1,000 coronavirus deaths in January 2021, during the winter 2020 surge that remains California’s worst of the pandemic; surpassed 2,000 last September, amid the delta surge; and has now crossed 3,000 in the wake of the omicron surge.
This January marked Sacramento’s third-deadliest calendar month of the pandemic with at least 251 county resident deaths. That edges out the 245 who died in August 2021, and is topped only by December 2020 (403 resident deaths) and January 2021 (336).
At least 149 county residents died of COVID-19 in February, though that tally will likely grow as death confirmations can take several weeks.
Sacramento school district to keep mask requirement, for now
Sacramento City Unified officials announced Wednesday that the K-12 district will keep its indoor mask requirement until Sacramento County has been classified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as having a “low” community level of COVID-19 activity for four consecutive weeks.
The CDC as of last week categorized Sacramento County in the “medium” level. But based on the CDC’s data for recent case rates and hospital admissions, the county will likely be moved into “low” in the federal agency’s weekly update posted Friday.
California health officials announced the statewide mask mandate for K-12 campuses will end after this week.
Other major districts in Sacramento County — Folsom Cordova, Natomas Unified, San Juan Unified, Twin Rivers and Elk Grove Unified — will each move to strongly recommending mask-wearing beginning Saturday.
Several districts in the greater Sacramento area preempted the end of the state order, lifting their mask policies in recent weeks, including some in El Dorado, Placer and Nevada counties.
Sacramento-area numbers by county
Sacramento County’s latest case rate is 7.1 per 100,000 residents, local health officials said in a Wednesday update, its lowest infection rate since June 30.
CDPH reported Sacramento’s test positivity rate at 2.7% as of Thursday.
Hospitals in Sacramento County were treating 150 virus patients Wednesday, state data show, compared to 185 one week earlier. The ICU total decreased to 23 from 33.
The CDC classifies Sacramento County in the “medium” level of COVID-19 activity, as of last week’s update.
The county, home to about 1.5 million residents, has recorded 279,422 lab-confirmed infections and 3,013 virus deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the local health office.
Placer County’s latest case rate is 8.6 per 100,000 residents, local health officials said in a Wednesday update, its lowest infection rate since July 10.
CDPH reported Placer’s test positivity rate at 2.8% as of Thursday.
Hospitals in Placer County were treating 72 virus patients Wednesday, state data show, compared to 77 one week earlier. The ICU total decreased to 10 from 17.
The CDC classifies Placer County in the “medium” level of COVID-19 activity.
The county, home to about 405,000 residents, has recorded 62,317 lab-confirmed infections and 592 virus deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the local health office.
Yolo County’s latest case rate is 12 per 100,000 residents, local health officials said in a Wednesday update.
CDPH reported Yolo’s test positivity rate at 0.9% as of Thursday.
Hospitals in Yolo County were treating four virus patients Wednesday, state data show, compared to 12 one week earlier. The ICU total decreased to one from four.
The CDC classifies Yolo County in the “medium” level of COVID-19 activity.
The county, home to about 216,000 residents, has recorded 35,851 lab-confirmed infections and 302 virus deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the local health office.
El Dorado County’s latest case rate is 6.4 per 100,000 residents, local health officials said in a Wednesday update, its lowest infection rate since July 5.
CDPH reported El Dorado County’s test positivity rate at 3.5% as of Thursday.
Hospitals in El Dorado County were treating six virus patients Wednesday, state data show, compared to seven one week earlier. The ICU total decreased to three from five.
The CDC classifies El Dorado County in the “medium” level of COVID-19 activity.
The county, home to about 191,000 residents, has recorded 26,562 lab-confirmed infections and 201 virus deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the local health office.
Sutter County’s latest case rate is 14.6 per 100,000 residents and Yuba County’s is 13.2 per 100,000, bi-county health officials said in a Wednesday update.
CDPH reported Sutter at 4.4% test positivity and Yuba at 5.1% as of Thursday.
The only hospital in Yuba County, which serves the bi-county area, was treating 19 virus patients Wednesday, state data show, compared to 18 one week earlier. The ICU total decreased to two from six.
The CDC classifies Sutter and Yuba counties in the “medium” level of COVID-19 activity.
Sutter County, home to about 100,000 residents, has recorded 22,413 lab-confirmed infections and 225 virus deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the local health office. Yuba County, home to about 82,000, has recorded 17,517 infections and 106 deaths.
