Testing lags in San Joaquin County
Fewer COVID-19 tests, new equity metric may delay move to next tier
STOCKTON — San Joaquin County health officials were hoping to move into the state’s “orange” tier for COVID-19 transmission by Halloween, but a recent uptick in a recently-added metric may hinder that promotion.
Last month, the California Department of Health created a health equity metric that requires counties with more than 106,000 residents to bring COVID19 infections down in the hardest-hit places where low-income residents and a handful of minority ethnic groups live.
In order for San Joaquin County to advance to the orange tier for moderate transmission, it must ensure that the testing positivity rate for residents in its hardest-hit census tracts — which includes east Lodi — is less than 5.2%. On Tuesday, Oct. 6, that rate was at 5.6%, but by Friday, Oct. 16, it had climbed to 7.4%.
Public Health Officer Dr. Maggie Park said it was discouraging to see the increase, but noted when the state originally created the metric nearly a month ago, the county was close to an 8% rating.
The health equity metric also mandates that testing must increase, and positive cases must decrease, for Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, and Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
Hispanics and Latinos make up 41.1% of the county’s population, and account for 30.7% of the COVID-19 cases reported and 42.5% of the deaths. However, 46.1% of the county’s cases are not identified by race, so the true percentage of infections by race or ethnic background is unknown.
Blacks and African Americans represent 6.6% of the population and make up 3.7% of cases and 9.7% of deaths.
“We’re still finding through contact tracing that people are contracting the virus at large gatherings,” Park said. “In addition, the second-most kind of contraction of the virus is from households. People are coming home and giving it to those they live with.”
Public Health Services is increasing its messaging campaign, Park said, and suggested the department could provide Spanish-speaking advocates to reassure Hispanic and Latino residents there are not penalties
for being tested.
“There are legal ramifications and fears that are holding many in these census tracts back,” she said. “We have to be able to tell them they’re not going to lose
their jobs if they get tested, or they will not be deported if they get tested. They will not lose any money if they are tested. There are so many reasons they don’t do it.”
The health equity metric is not the only goal the county must meet in order to advance to the orange tier.