California COVID state of emergency ends soon. What it means for Sacramento residents
Perhaps you heard California’s COVID-19 state of emergency is ending — or maybe you didn’t.
Tuesday marks almost three years since California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared COVID-19 a public health emergency, giving his administration broad power to issue mandates and use state funds to fight the virus.
What does the end of the emergency declaration mean for Sacramento residents?
The Sacramento Bee consulted spokeswoman Samantha Mott with Sacramento County’s Department of Health Services to understand how the state shift will trickle down to individuals and took a look at both California and Sacramento recent COVID-19 transmission rates.
“COVID-19 will not go away on February 28 when the local public health emergency declaration ends,” Mott said in a February email to The Bee.
What does the end to California’s state of emergency mean for me?
The end to California’s COVID-19 state of emergency means the governmental approach to the pandemic changed. It doesn’t mean your life will be largely impacted.
Mott said Sacramento County’s COVID-19 dashboard will publish its final update on Tuesday. Since the pandemic began in March 2020, the website harbored the latest cases and deaths, positivity rates and vaccinations.
The county is directing people to the California Department of Public Health’s website for updated COVID data, which publishes similar information once filtered to your county.
Mott gave one reason behind the shutdown: “It coincides with the ending” of the state of emergency.
“California has the tools needed to continue fighting COVID-19 when the State of Emergency terminates at the end of February,” Newsom’s administration wrote in an October statement “including vaccines and boosters, testing, treatments and other mitigation measures like masking and indoor ventilation.”
The end to the state of emergency allows for the phasing out of the last of regulations and executive orders issued since March 2020. Most were already finished by the time the state announced the sunset in October.
The federal COVID-19 state of emergency will end May 11, which could effect COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccinations costs.
What happens next?
California will follow the SMARTER plan the state announced in February 2021, according to previous Bee reporting. It follows the seven letters in the word “smarter” with S signifying shots, M for masks, A for awareness, R for readiness, T for testing, E for education and R for Rx treatment.
The endemic plan, as it was presented, aims to expand the state’s network of healthcare providers, update contact tracing protocols and boost its stockpile of supplies like masks, ventilators and prescriptions.
The end of the emergency does not mean the pandemic is over as COVID-19 continues to adaptive new variants.
Are masks required in California?
The ending to California’s COVID-19 state of emergency doesn’t disrupt statewide mask rules.
Face coverings are still required in certain settings including both healthcare facilities and long-term care centers, according to the state.
There are a few exemptions to the rule:
▪ A medical condition
▪ A mental health condition
▪ People for whom seeing the mouth is essential for communication
▪ People for whom wearing a mask would create a risk as they work
What is the COVID-19 transmission rate in California?
When Newsom announced California would break its COVID-19 state of emergency in October, the reason behind the shift was the decline in hospitalizations and deaths.
More than 11 million people contracted COVID-19 in California since the pandemic began nearly three years ago, according to the latest available state data, updated Thursday. More than 100,000 people died.
California’s daily average sits at more than 2,800 cases — or more than seven new cases per 100,000 people, as of Friday.
The data used in this interactive line graph, collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was last updated February 2023. Here is a look at California’s COVID-19 vaccination rates by county:
The majority of California counties are in a low risk level, according to the CDC, with eight in medium and zero counties in the high category.
The CDC has a low, medium and high rank to determine recommended actions people in a specific county should take. The rating depends on the area’s case rate, new COVID-19 hospital admissions and number of beds used by coronavirus patients.
SACRAMENTO COUNTY COVID-19 NUMBERS
As of Thursday, according to the CDC, Sacramento County is at a medium risk community COVID-19 level. That means residents may consider wearing a mask for extra protection, but those at high risk or those who test positive for the virus should use quality face coverings.
Sacramento County’s caste rate sits at 55.22 per 100,000, with a hospital admissions rate of 10.4 per 100,000. Roughly 5% of staffed in-patient hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients.
State health data, last updated Thursday, showed Sacramento County with the fifth largest group of COVID-positive patients in hospital beds.
Sacramento County recorded 146 positive patients, an increase from 132 patients on Feb. 11.
Los Angeles County, the most populated county in California, took the top spot with 692 COVID-positive patients in hospital beds.
In Sacramento, according to the California’s official COVID-19 case tracker, an average of 116 COVID-19 cases and one death are reported per day. Sacramento’s seven-day test positivity rate sits at 7%.
This story was originally published February 27, 2023 at 5:00 AM.