Uptick in coronavirus cases in California spark new concerns
SAN FRANCISCO — Coronavirus cases are continuing to increase in California, prompting one health official to warn that the state is heading into the next wave of the pandemic.
California has seen its coronavirus case rate rise by 10% in the past week, from 5,700 new cases a day to 6,300 cases a day. Health experts note, however, that the official case numbers may be a significant undercount, given the now-widespread availability of athome tests — the results of which are not reliably reported to health agencies.
And while still at relatively low levels, statewide coronavirus-positive hospitalizations have risen for eight consecutive days: from 950 to just above 1,100.
The number of COVID19 patients needing intensive care has also risen from a record low set last month — but still remains at one of the lowest levels of the entire pandemic. It remains unclear, however, how serious this new uptick will be.
“We’re now into our sixth wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Sara Cody, the public health director and health officer for Northern California’s most populous county, Santa Clara County, said at a public meeting Tuesday. “It’s notable because it’s come relatively quickly after resolution of the last surge. We didn’t get much of a lull before cases started rising again.”
California is not alone in seeing a resurgence of the coronavirus. Nationwide, cases have been gradually rising for the past month, and New York City this week raised its COVID-19 threat level and encouraged residents to voluntarily wear masks.
“I know many people are tired of the pandemic. They’re tired of wearing masks and they want life to go back to normal. And they believe that the responsibility now lies with each individual to take actions to minimize their personal risk,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Tuesday. “But we do have a collective obligation to take public health measures to protect our most vulnerable.”
Both L.A. and Santa Clara counties are observing increased reports of outbreaks at workplaces and schools, as well as rising coronavirus levels in their respective sewage systems. Cody said Santa Clara County is seeing a rise in coronavirus-positive hospitalizations, too, with the daily census increasing from 74 in midApril to 101 on Tuesday.
L.A. County has seen its case rate rise by 24% in the past week, from nearly 1,700 cases a day to about 2,100 cases a day. That amounts to 142 cases a week for every 100,000 residents. A rate of 100 or more is considered a high rate of coronavirus transmission under the thresholds established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health officials say the latest uptick is being fueled by a rapidly emerging lineup of omicron subvariants — each apparently more contagious than the last. The culprit behind last winter’s wave was a subvariant known as BA.1, which emerged in California in November and was 50% more transmissible than the Delta strain that rocked the state last summer.