COVID surge hits Bay Area, strongest rise in California cases
The Bay Area is experiencing the most substantial increase in COVID-19 cases amid the latest surge to hit the state.
Dr. Erica Pan, the state epidemiologist, told doctors
in an online event
this week that the California Department of Public Health is tracking several indicators that point to worsening trends, including the rate of positive tests, hospitalizations and sewage samples from dozens of sewer sheds.
The latter, one of the most reliable forms of surveillance since it does not depend on
individual testsshows a high level of
coronavirus
Driving through Northern California.
“The Bay Area is where we’re seeing the strongest increases,” Pan said. “Some of the levels in these sheds are actually higher than during the omicron peak.”
The daily number of new cases reported statewide rose to 8,669 on Thursday, an increase of 32% from the previous month and 11% from last week, according to
health department data. That translates to about 23 new daily cases per 100,000 residents statewide, while the Bay Area is reporting 30 per 100,000.
New hospital admissions of patients with confirmed COVID-19 statewide increased to 4,508, up 121% from a month ago and up 3% in a week. Hospitalizations are reaching the peak of 4,826 reported during the BA.5 omicron summer wave in July, with 82% of the state’s hospitalizations
hospital beds currently in use.
California’s rolling seven-day coronavirus test positivity rate, which tracks the percentage of lab test results that are positive for COVID-19, is just over 11%, the same as last week but more than double what it was in the first week of November.
Half of the state’s population, including the entire Bay Area, is now “medium”
COVID-19 Community Levelsbased on metrics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At that level, the use of masks is required in certain high-risk settings, such as prisons and shelters, based on Department of Public Health guidelines Of California.
But Pan said officials are encouraging everyone to “go ahead and get back to wearing masks indoors and in crowded settings,” not only because of COVID but also because of
an influx of influenza and RSVor respiratory syncytial virus.
In their first joint message in months,
a dozen Bay Area health officials warned Thursday
that high levels of circulating viruses are overloading health systems in the region.
Echoing Pan’s message, also
urged people to mask up indoors
in addition to getting vaccinated, staying home when sick, and getting tested before gathering.
“Masks can prevent transmission of COVID, flu, RSV, and other respiratory viruses all at once,” health officials from Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco counties wrote. , San Mateo, Solano, Sonoma and the city of Berkeley.
They specified that people should wear a high-quality mask, such as KN94, KN95, or N95.
“The use of masks indoors in public places is strongly recommended to prevent the spread of viruses and reduce the risk of disease,” the joint statement said. “Masks also reduce the likelihood that you’ll pass on an infection if you’re already sick, even if your symptoms are mild.”
About 9% of the state’s total inpatient hospitalizations are currently for COVID-19 patients, Pan said. Once that number reaches 10%, additional measures will be activated. “This is similar to what we saw last winter during our omicron surge,” he said. “Hospitals are really stretched.”
New coronavirus cases have risen in 90% of the country, White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said Thursday.
during a briefing.
Deaths and hospitalizations are also rising in the US, with nearly 3,000 deaths reported in the past week. Most of them have focused on people 65 and older, Jha said.
“We have seen COVID cases increase. We have increased hospitalizations,” she told reporters. “Deaths are starting to rise. We obviously want to make sure that doesn’t go any further.”
Pan said uptake of bivalent boosters remains dismal in California. Among the state’s highest-risk people, only 22% of people 50 and older have received the new vaccines and 37% of people 65 and older.
“Unfortunately we are way below where we would like to be for the state right now,” Pan said, lamenting that “this virus really finds the most vulnerable.”
He also confirmed that the state has shifted its approach to making therapies like the antiviral Paxlovid available to anyone who tests positive for the virus.
“Providers need to have a low threshold to treat,” Pan told state doctors. “The default should be prescribe.”
Aidin Vaziri is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com