Coronavirus updates: California COVID-19 activity still on decline; poll shows concern
There’s continued good news in California’s battle with the coronavirus, with the statistics reflecting more than a month of steady progress in tamping down virus activity.
The state continues to test an average of about 100,000 residents daily for the highly contagious respiratory disease known as COVID-19, as it has for the past few months. But the percentage of those tests coming back positive has dropped to 3.4% over the past two weeks, down from 7.1% Aug. 1.
The state’s hospitalization figures for the disease also continue to plummet, with fewer than 2,700 patients in beds and 836 of them in intensive care units as of Friday’s update from the California Department of Public Health. Those two numbers have consistently declined since a late-July peak of about 7,200 hospitalized and 2,050 in ICUs, and are now at their lowest points since early April.
Following that peak was the deadliest month of the pandemic: in August, about 3,800 Californians died of COVID-19, up from a little over 3,100 confirmed fatalities in July.
Hoping to avoid another surge in the deadly virus while nursing the economic damage caused by six months of shutdown, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state in August rolled out a new, tiered risk assessment and reopening framework for California’s 58 counties at the end of August.
There’s a three-week minimum wait for counties to be promoted to a less-restrictive tier, a feature designed to keep the reopening process slower than what was attempted earlier in the pandemic, when many different types of businesses were allowed to reopen with modifications between mid-May and mid-June statewide. The Newsom administration then rolled back reopening in the first half of July due to surging COVID-19 numbers.
Counties are now classified in the color-coded system based on their recent test positivity percentages and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents. The tiers include rules for the reopening of businesses, churches, schools and other establishments or gathering places.
The majority of counties, including Sacramento, are in the most-restrictive purple tier, meaning most nonessential indoor businesses must stay closed.
Several are one stage better, in the red tier, either starting there or being promoted in the past two weeks during CDPH’s weekly reassessments, which are posted Tuesdays. In red-tier counties, things like indoor dining, movie theaters and places of worship can reopen with limits of 25% their normal maximum capacities.
Only 11 counties are in the two lower tiers, orange and yellow. All of them are in more rural, less densely populated parts of the state including the far north corners and parts of the Sierra Nevada foothills. Business restrictions and capacity limits are further reduced there.
Though the statewide test positivity was most recently reported at 3.5%, rates vary significantly in different parts of California and even among neighboring counties. CDPH says Sacramento County, for the period of Aug. 30 to Sept. 5 used as the basis for its most recent tier assignment, had a positive rate of 5.7%. Just east in El Dorado County, which has fared best in the region throughout the pandemic in COVID-19 numbers, the rate was 1.8%. Up north in Yuba County, it was over 10%.
Saturday will mark exactly six months since Newsom first issued the stay-at-home order in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Across California, more than 769,000 residents have tested positive during the pandemic, and at least 14,812 have died, state health officials said Friday, reporting 91 additional fatalities.
Santa Clara company’s N95 masks recalled by state
California is recalling N95 masks obtained through a contract with Advoque, a company based in Santa Clara, after federal regulators revoked a certification last week.
CDPH announced earlier this week that organizations in possession of Advoque N95 masks “immediately cease use and distribution of this product” and notify the state so health officials can send replacements.
The company said in a Wednesday letter to customers that the issue comes after testing at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, where some of its masks fell short of the agency’s standards for N95 designation.
Advoque’s chief business officer, Paul Shrater, wrote that the company is “not conducting a recall” but rather establishing “a product replacement program as a courtesy to our customers,” letting them exchange their masks for federally approved ones.
N95 masks are thought to be most effective in preventing COVID-19 spread.
Poll shows most Californians still concerned about COVID-19 outbreaks
A recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California showed 74% of total respondents favoring restrictions or wanting more aggressive limitations to manage the coronavirus pandemic.
The survey also found 61% of state residents are very or somewhat concerned about contracting the virus and requiring hospitalization, an increase by 3% from when 58% said they were concerned in a May survey.
And in the more recent poll, 42% of 1,704 Californians polled said they believe the worst is still ahead of us.
Support for COVID-19 restrictions varied widely among political parties. The poll found 61% of Republicans wanted fewer restrictions, compared to 9% of Democrats and 32% of independents.
Black and Latino Californians are more likely to be concerned than Asian and white residents about COVID-19, the PPIC survey found.
And Californians with annual household incomes under $40,000 are twice as likely to be very concerned about being hospitalized with the coronavirus as those with incomes of $80,000 or more.
Sacramento area by the numbers: 490 dead, over 30,000 cases
Sacramento, Yolo, Placer, El Dorado, Sutter and Yuba counties have combined for 490 COVID-19 deaths and over 30,000 infections since the pandemic started more than six months ago.
Sacramento County health officials have recorded 21,171 cases and 375 deaths over the course of the pandemic, with 301 new cases reported Thursday and 210 added Friday. At least 34 county residents have died in the first two weeks of September, the local COVID-19 dashboard shows, after a record 170 confirmed virus deaths in August.
Of the 375 total fatalities, 210 have come in the city of Sacramento, the county says.
Hospitalization of patients remains on the decline in Sacramento County, which had only 109 in hospital beds and 34 in ICUs as of Friday, according to state data, a decrease of nine ICU patients from Thursday. The numbers are down from peaks of about 280 hospitalized and 90 in the ICU as of late July.
Sacramento County remains in the purple tier.
Yolo County health officials have reported a total of 53 COVID-19 deaths and 2,732 infections, with 11 new cases reported Friday and another 11 cases on Thursday. The county’s most recent death was reported more than a week ago. There were five infected patients in Yolo County hospitals as of Friday, two of them in intensive care, according to state data. The county has two ICU beds available.
Yolo has seen outbreaks at several long-term care facilities, which account for 148 of the total cases and 26 of its deaths. The county, like Sacramento County, is coded purple.
Placer County has reported a total of 3,407 cases and 41 deaths, with one fatality reported Wednesday and another Thursday. The county reported 22 new cases Friday. There are 25 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 in the county, and the ICU count is at eight, the county says. The hospitalized total had plateaued at around 65 in early-to-mid August before declining sharply; the ICU total peaked at 16 on Aug. 25.
Placer County was promoted from the purple tier to the red tier last week.
El Dorado County has reported a total of 1,064 COVID-19 cases and four deaths due to the virus after adding six cases Friday and four cases Thursday. The county reported two of the fatalities this week. No patients were hospitalized with the disease and the county has 10 ICU beds available as of Friday, according to state data. El Dorado County has been coded red by state health officials.
Sutter County has reported a total of 1,642 COVID-19 cases and 10 total deaths as of Friday afternoon. The county reported 11 new cases Friday and 10 new cases Thursday. There were 14 infected people hospitalized in the county including five in intensive care Friday. In neighboring Yuba County, a total of 1,118 people have been infected with COVID-19 and eight have died. The county reported six new cases Friday and four new cases Thursday. Seven infected people in Yuba County were hospitalized as of Friday, with four of them in intensive care, the county says.
Both Sutter and Yuba counties, which share a bi-county health office, are coded purple.
Coronavirus: Get news and updates emailed to you from The Sacramento Bee
World infection total passes 30 million
Globally, over 30.3 million people have been infected with the coronavirus and more than 948,000 people have died as of Friday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The United States accounts for the largest share of infections and deaths of any country, with more than 6.7 million confirmed cases and over 198,000 deaths.
Brazil is the next leading nation in terms of deaths, at about 135,000. Brazil was surpassed in infections by India, which now has over 5 million cases, nearly 800,00 more than Brazil. Over 84,000 have died of COVID-19 in India, according to Johns Hopkins. Next in terms of death toll are Mexico at more than 72,000, the United Kingdom at almost 42,000, Italy at over 35,000, France and Peru each over 31,000 and Spain at just over 30,000 dead.
Although Russia is the only nation other than the U.S., India and Brazil that has confirmed more than 1 million infections, it has only reported about 19,000 deaths, putting the nation at No. 12 overall.
What is COVID-19? How is the coronavirus spread?
Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within 6 feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure.
Most people develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal. The disease is especially dangerous to the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
The Bee’s Sophia Bollag, Dale Kasler and Lara Korte contributed to this story. Listen to our daily briefing:
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Alexa | Google Assistant | More options
