Coronavirus infections making steady climb in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Coronavirus infections have continued a steady climb in California since early April, and while the curve of new cases remains less steep than winter’s omicron variant surge, the rising spread of two contagious subvariants is still prompting concern about a fresh wave of virus cases.

The California Department of Public Health on Friday reported the statewide daily case rate for COVID-19 at 14 per 100,000 residents, a 27 percent increase in the past week and up 71 percent in the past two weeks.

Test positivity has spiked from 2.8 percent to 3.9 percent in the past week for California’s highest reading since Feb. 18, when the state remained on the downslope of the omicron surge.

California’s case rate dipped as low as 5.2 per 100,000, and positivity as low as 1.2 percent, in mid-March.

Hospitals statewide were treating 1,112 patients with confirmed COVID-19 Thursday, after bottoming out at 950 on April 25, for a 17 percent jump in the past 10 days. Virus patients in intensive care units during the same window spiked 50 percent, from 112 to 168, CDPH reported Friday.

Some of the state’s highest transmission rates are now being recorded in the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco now has the highest daily case rate at 32 per 100,000, a 66 percent increase compared to two weeks earlier.

San Francisco also has the state’s fourth-highest positivity rate at 8.6 percent, behind only Imperial County at 10.3 percent and the state’s two least populous counties, Alpine and Sierra, both at 14.3 percent.

More concerning, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in San Francisco has more than doubled in the past 10 days from 26 to 55, according to state health figures updated Friday. San Francisco’s ICU total shot from three to 10.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in an update this week to its three-tiered, nationwide map of “community levels” for COVID-19, showed Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties in the “medium” level of coronavirus activity. California’s other 53 counties are “low.”

High schools in both Sacramento and the Bay Area are reporting outbreaks or clusters of COVID-19 cases, some of them coming a couple of weeks after schools held prom or similar dance events and a few weeks after spring break.

“We are seeing an uptick in cases in general and we have seen an uptick in cases and outbreaks being reported by schools in recent weeks,” Sacramento County health office spokeswoman Samantha Mott said in an emailed statement Thursday.

A pair of highly transmissible omicron subvariants, known as BA.2 and BA.2.12.1, now make up a vast majority of U.S. cases, with the prevalence of the latter creeping upward. The two variants are likely responsible in large part for California’s rising transmission rates.

“I strongly recommend masking indoors with a high-quality mask and getting tested if you have symptoms, have a known exposure, or recently participated in a large gathering like Picnic Day,” which was held April 23, Yolo County health officer Dr. Aimee Sisson said. “If you are eligible for a booster, now is a good time to get that booster — do not wait.”