California’s COVID-19 case count tops 10 million. This is how the latest surge is trending
California has officially recorded more than 10 million lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic nearly 2½ years ago — a total that represents more than one-quarter of the state’s population of 39.5 million.
The California Department of Public Health in a Friday update reported the cumulative total at 10,024,326 infections. Of those, at least 93,056 have died of COVID-19.
Statewide transmission numbers had been on a consistent climb, from one of the lowest points of the pandemic in early April until peaking in mid-July at one of the highest case rates of the health crisis.
The growth was fueled by subvariants of omicron: BA.2 lineages at first, which dominated new cases throughout spring, followed by the BA.4 and BA.5 strains, which took over early this summer.
Infection and hospital numbers have improved gradually in recent weeks.
The latest daily case rate is 37.7 per 100,000 residents, or about 15,000 total cases per day, a 13% decrease from one week earlier.
California’s test positivity rate is also steadily falling, from 15.3% to 14.4% in the past week after topping out at 16.3% last month.
The CDPH on Friday reported 4,435 virus-positive patients in hospital beds statewide, a 5% decline in the past week, with 505 in intensive care units, down 8%.
A significant chunk of California has departed the “high” community level for COVID-19 danger within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s framework, including the entire four-county Sacramento region.
The CDC in a weekly update Thursday classified 28 of California’s 58 counties in the high community level for coronavirus, down from 39 last week and 50 two weeks ago.
The 28 counties still classified in the high level are: Alameda, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Fresno, Humboldt, Imperial, Kings, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Orange, San Benito, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tuolumne and Ventura.
The designation means the CDC continues to advise residents to wear masks in public indoor settings in those counties.
Lassen, Plumas and San Luis Obispo counties are now in the CDC’s low level. The state’s remaining 27 counties are in the medium level.
Sacramento and Yolo counties re-entered the CDC’s medium level this week for the first time since June 1, joining neighbors El Dorado and Placer counties, which made the move last week after having been in the high level since June 23.
The downgraded risk assignment came as the weekly case rates in Sacramento and Yolo counties, each reported at about 240 per 100,000 residents last week, dropped to 189 and 154 this week, respectively.
Though the CDC classified Los Angeles County in the high community level for a fourth straight week, local health officials last week ditched plans to reintroduce an indoor mask mandate due to stabilizing case and hospital numbers.
The CDC’s threshold for weekly hospital admissions for the high level is 10 per 100,000 residents, and the agency on Thursday reported Los Angeles County at 10.1 per 100,000, down from 10.8 last week.
Sacramento-area numbers by county
Sacramento County’s latest case rate is 29.8 per 100,000 residents, state health officials said in Friday’s update, an 11% decrease from one week earlier.
Hospitals in Sacramento County were treating 224 virus patients Thursday, state data show, up from 201 one week earlier. The intensive care unit decreased to 29 from 33.
▪ Placer County’s latest case rate is 21 per 100,000 residents, a 1% decrease from one week earlier.
Hospitals in Placer County were treating 73 virus patients Thursday, down from 93 one week earlier. The ICU total decreased to six from nine.
▪ Yolo County’s latest case rate is 23.6 per 100,000 residents, an 11% decrease from one week earlier.
Hospitals in Yolo County were treating eight virus patients Thursday, up from five a week earlier. The ICU total increased to four from one.
▪ El Dorado County’s latest case rate is 19.5 per 100,000 residents, a 4% increase from one week earlier.
Hospitals in El Dorado County were treating seven virus patients Thursday, the same as one week earlier. The ICU total also held at one.
▪ Sutter County’s latest case rate is 31.3 per 100,000 residents, up less than 1% compared to last week, and Yuba County’s is 29.2, down 25%, state health officials reported Friday.
The only hospital in Yuba County, which serves the Yuba-Sutter bicounty area, was treating 10 virus patients Thursday, up from seven a week earlier. The ICU total increased to two from one.
This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 10:14 AM.
