COVID-19 case rates in county dropping rapidly

STOCKTON — San Joaquin County health officials said the three metrics that measure tier placement in the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy are decreasing at a steady pace.

However, it is unknown when San Joaquin County will be promoted to the red, less restrictive tier.

“The case surge we had in the winter is now resolving,” Dr. Maggie Park, the county’s Public Health Official, told the San Joaquin County Supervisors Tuesday morning.

“And our case rates are coming down progressively,” she added.

Park said that as of Tuesday, the county’s new COVID-19 case rate was at 17.1 per 100,000 residents, and that its test positivity rate is now at 6.6%. The county’s health equity rate is now at 8.7%, she said.

Those numbers dropped from a case rate of 25.1 per 100,000 residents last week, as well as a 7.8% test positivity rate and a 10.3% health equity rate.

The current test positivity rate falls under red tier guidelines, but the county’s new case rate must be less than 7 per 100,000 resident, and the health equity rate must be less than 8%.

Park noted that because the county’s new case rate is now less than 25 per 100,000 residents, school districts can return to inperson instruction at the kindergarten through sixth-grade levels.

Lodi Unified School District will be one of the few to not return to in-person instruction under this guidance, as a memorandum of understanding agreed upon in November dictates that school will reopen when the county returns to the red tier.

As the county’s COVID-19 case rate declines, Park said hospitalizations are decreasing as well.

She said there were 121 patients being treated for the virus in the county’s seven hospitals Tuesday morning, of which 42 were being treated in an intensive care unit. Of those, she said 41 were on ventilators.

According to the San Joaquin County Emergency Medical Services Agency’s daily hospital report, there were 13 COVID-19 patients at Adventist Health Lodi Memorial, with three of those in the ICU.

The hospital, according to San Joaquin County Public Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard,

has received 1,685 doses of vaccine for the virus.

However, public health said that 9,190 total COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Lodi. In addition, while county public health has received a total of 78,175 vaccine doses, 95,743 have been administered.

“The number of doses being administered will be higher because other entities like Kaiser and Sutter Health are receiving vaccines directly from the state,” Park said.

To receive a vaccine, residents can either complete a vaccine interest form at www.sjready.org or www.sjgov.org, as well as through the MyTurn application at

Park said 34,824 people have registered for the vaccines through the county’s websites.

She noted that San Joaquin County Office of Education has begun vaccinating teachers at its 2922 Transworld Drive offices as of Friday, and a mass vaccination event at the Lodi Grape Festival Grounds drew 900 people.

Shellie Lima, director of the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services, said another vaccination event in Lodi is planned for late February.

The event will be by appointment only, and it is anticipated that 400 will receive vaccinations. Other events are planned for other parts of the county as well, she said.

“Not all the dates are set yet,” she said. “We’re still working out the details and it al depends on how much vaccine we receive. Once dates are confirmed, we’ll add them to www.sjready.org, and that is where we want everyone to go first to get current and updated information.”

Board vice chairman Chuck Winn, who represents Lodi’s fourth supervisoral district, said while county public health and OES were doing great jobs to get as much COVID-19 information and vaccine news to the public as they could, he thought it could be improved.

He said the public would benefit from knowing what geographic locations or businesses might present significant exposure

to them.

Park said her department tells the public which industries have had the most outbreaks on the COVID-19 dashboard, but specific addresses or locations are not disclosed.

Winn said when state health officials announce the closure of restaurants to keep people from socializing, residents lose faith in government.

“This whole process is frustrating,” he said. “People have gotten to the point, where they just have COVID fatigue. They’re just tired of it. A lot of people are either scared to death that something is going to happen, or they’re so fed up with everything they’re going to do what they want to do.”