Coronavirus in Shasta County: 4 more resident die; new toll stands at 506
The omicron variant of COVID-19 has spread throughout the North State, including Shasta, Tehama and Butte counties.
County public health branches report the more-contagious strain of the virus is responsible for a spike in outbreak, and is responsible for more vaccine breakthrough cases than previous strains.
Scroll down for updates this week, Jan.10-16, 2022. For updated case numbers and data as it becomes available scroll below updates.
Friday: 4 people die; 1,000 sick with COVID-19
The county had more than 1,000 known active cases and another four people died of the disease, Shasta County Public Health announced on Friday.
The four latest deaths were:
A man in his 40s
A woman in her 50s
A man in his 60s
A woman in her 70s
The deaths bring the number of county residents who died from COVID-19 to 506. Public Health confirmed 15 of those deaths in January.
Omicron spread quickly in Shasta County during the first half of January. As of Friday, there were 1,013 known active cases of the virus. That's the most active cases reported by Public Health since the height of the delta variant outbreak on Sept. 17. The active caseload does not factor people who self-test at home and do not report their results to the county,
For more information go to the county's "Get Tested" website at bit.ly/3fn3DgJ or to ShastaReady.org.
6 p.m. Thursday: 2 more Shasta County people die of COVID-19
A Shasta County man in his 50s and woman in her 60s are the latest to die from COVID-19, public health officials confirmed on Thursday.
Their deaths brought the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 502. Public health reported 11 of those deaths in January.
"The omicron variant appears to cause less severe illness than delta," health officials said in their daily afternoon update. "However, because it's so much more contagious than delta, more people will be infected so the number of people hospitalized could be similar to the delta surge."
Delta caused a spike in cases from August through October 2021, packing hospital wards. The numbers of Shasta County residents who died of COVID-19 were higher in September and October than any other months, according to local data.
More: Shasta Union, Anderson schools offer take-home tests — for COVID-19
9 a.m. Thursday: J&J vax recipients should get Moderna, Pfizer booster
People who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson for their initial COVID vaccine should choose either a Pfizer or Moderna brand booster, Shasta County Public Health said.
Those who got a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine are advised to get the same brand of booster — although it's safe to get a different brand, Public Health said.
People ages 12 to 17 are only eligible for a Pfizer vaccine and booster.
For more information or to schedule a booster go to bit.ly/3KbjQnp or call the California COVID-19 hotline at 833-422-4255; hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends.
More: Shasta County limits in-person services due to COVID-19, omicron outbreak
Wednesday: COVID cases six times higher than 2 weeks ago
COVID-19 cases tracked by the CDC show Shasta County's case rate is now more than six times higher than it was at it's lowest point in December.
Shasta County Public Health reported the county’s transmission rate was 467.6 per 100,000 people on Tuesday.
That's a significant jump over the transmission rate on Dec. 27, which was 71.6 per 100,000 people.
"Shasta County’s (COVID-19) case rate is growing at the highest rate we have seen locally," Public Health said Tuesday evening.
The agency started tracking the disease in March 2020.
More: Shasta County's COVID-19 death toll reaches 500
Monday: Positive test results triple since December
The number of new COVID-19 cases reported by Shasta County more than doubled last week.
Public Health attributes the outbreak to holiday gatherings and the spread of the more-contagious omicron variant of the virus.
On Monday, Shasta County Public Health released new data on cases tracked throughout the county last week.
From Jan. 3 to Sunday, there were 402.6 cases per 100,000 people in the county — almost four times the 101 cases the CDC considers widespread outbreak.
That's up from 173.8 cases per 100,000 county residents from Dec. 27 to Jan. 2.
Shasta County's seven-day test positivity rate — the percentage of COVID tests that come back positive from state labs — tripled over the past three weeks:
From Jan. 3 to Sunday, the positivity rate was 8.4%,
From Dec. 27 to Jan. 2, the positivity rate was 5.0%,
From Dec. 20-26, the positivity rate was 2.5%
Hospitalizations went up last week, too:
From Jan. 3 to Sunday, an average of 47.6 people were hospitalized per day with COVID-19.
That's up from an average of 40 people hospitalized per day from Dec. 27 to Jan. 2.
Test results reported by Public Health don't include those from at-home tests.
COVID-19 numbers in Shasta County
Here are the latest case, hospitalization and other numbers reported by Shasta County Public Health branch on Friday. Case numbers don't include positives confirmed by at-home tests.
New cases: 168
Total cases: 24,828 — 11,249 men, 13,350 women, 229 gender unidentified
New deaths reported: 4
Total deaths: 506
Hospitalized: 60 — 11 in intensive care units
Known active cases: 1,013
New cases by age group:
Ages 0-12: 16
Ages 13-19: 25
Ages 20-29: 37
Ages 30-39: 19
Ages 40-49: 20
Ages 50-59: 22
Ages 60-69: 13
Ages 70-79: 7
Ages 80-89: 4
Age 90 and older: 3
Age not reported: 2
Cases by age group covid
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Deaths by age group covid
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COVID cases/deaths by gender
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COVID hospitalizations
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Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and entertainment stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: New Shasta County deaths bring COVID-19 toll to 506
