California COVID-19 numbers spiked last holiday season. See what trend looks like now

This time one year ago, California was heading into a COVID-19 winter spike, according to coronavirus data.

As vaccines became more widely available and the delta variant surge subsided in late 2021, COVID-19 case number began to plateau until the omicron surge last winter. Even with the omicron bivalent vaccine and relativity low case rate, health officials warn history could repeat itself.

The state’s two worst surges of the nearly three-year pandemic, according to previous Bee reporting, have each come around this time of year. Cold weather and winter holidays drive people to gather indoors, where COVID-19 is easily transmitted.

California’s seven-day average sits at more than 3,500 cases — or 8.8 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the latest available data, updated weekly. At this time last year, the case rate was about 11.2.

The data used in this interactive line graph, collected by Johns Hopkins University, was last updated November 2022. Johns Hopkins and state data vary, but show a similar trend. Here is a look at California’s COVID-19 cases, plus the state’s seven-day average from November 2021 to November 2022:

Since the pandemic began nearly three years ago, according to California’s official COVID-19 case tracker, the state has recorded 10.5 million cases and more than 96,000 deaths as of Nov. 17.

On average, 14 people die per day because of a COVID-19-related illness. If you’re unvaccinated, your chances are 3.1 times greater.

Close to three-quarters of the California population is vaccinated with the primary series. Just over 16% of people have received the bivalent booster.

In Sacramento, an average of 156 COVID-19 cases and one death is reported per day. Sacramento’s seven-day test positivity rate sits at 7.7%.

This story was originally published November 23, 2022 at 11:50 AM.