Coronavirus updates: California numbers improved in February. What to expect in March

As it comes to a close, February 2021 will have been a month marked by great improvement in California’s trajectory within the coronavirus pandemic, even as the state continues to grapple with hundreds of new COVID-19 deaths each day.

The Golden State came into the month averaging close to 20,000 new lab-confirmed cases of the disease per day and with more than 7% of diagnostic tests returning positive.

By Friday’s update from the California Department of Public Health less than four weeks later, those figures have slimmed to about 6,000 cases a day and 2.9% positivity, as two-week averages. Test positivity has essentially returned to a similar level as before the winter surge, which saw it rocket as high as 14%.

The concurrent hospitalization totals for COVID-19 patients have dropped dramatically as well, from over 14,000 in beds including 3,800 in intensive care units statewide on Feb. 1 all the way down to about 5,600 hospitalized and 1,650 in ICUs as of Friday.

The two-week death rate, which hit its all-time peak at 542 a day on Feb. 1, declined below 350 in a Wednesday update from CDPH, but then shot back to 395 after Los Angeles County health officials found and reported a trove of 806 previously unreported deaths occurring from Dec. 3 to Feb. 3. The backlog skewed California to its highest daily death toll of the pandemic at 1,114.

California to date has recorded more than 3.46 million confirmed COVID-19 infections and at least 51,382 deaths from the disease.

The Los Angeles backlog notwithstanding, fatalities are expected to keep declining, lagging a few weeks behind drops in hospitalizations, which in turn lag behind drops in new infections by more than a week.

Improving transmission rates across most of California led the state earlier this week to promote five counties out of the most restrictive “purple” tier of business restrictions and into the looser red tier, including Yolo County in the Sacramento region. Advancing to the red tier loosens protocols for restaurant dining, gyms, movie theaters and more.

Seven more counties, including El Dorado and San Francisco, could potentially move to the red tier as early as Tuesday.

March figures to be a pivotal month in the global health crisis. Today, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is meeting to discuss emergency use authorization for a third COVID-19 vaccine, this one from Johnson & Johnson.

Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna shots approved in December, J&J’s vaccine requires just one dose and can be stored long term in refrigerator temperatures.

If approved as expected in the days following Friday’s FDA meeting, doses of J&J could ship as early as next week.

California had a rough start to its mass vaccination campaign, but CDPH on Friday reported the state has surpassed 8.2 million total doses injected. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 5.8 million adults in California have received at least one dose of Pfizer or Moderna, and close to 2.4 million have been fully vaccinated.

Elk Grove Unified returning to campus

Elk Grove Unified School District has reached an agreement that will see campuses reopen between mid-March and early April.

Preschool through third grade students could return as early as March 16. Other elementary, middle and high school students could return April 1 or April 2.

Those are the target dates for proceeding on a hybrid model, with students on campus two days a week rather than five, and with distance learning still an option for students.

Elk Grove Unified began vaccinating district employees in mid-February as part of a partnership with California Northstate University, but vaccinations weren’t formally a condition for returning.

Judge upholds California’s workplace regulations

A San Francisco Superior Court judge on Thursday upheld regulations passed in November by Cal-OSHA requiring employers to test workers routinely during COVID-19 outbreaks and pay them during quarantine periods, among other requirements.

“The balance of interim harms and the public interest in curbing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting worker and community health weigh heavily in favor of the continued implementation and enforcement of the (Emergency Temporary Standard) Regulations,” Judge Ethan Schulman said in his ruling. “Lives are at stake.”

Nearly 150,000 total cases in six-county Sacramento area

The six-county Sacramento region — Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, which combine for a population of more than 2.5 million — has reported more than 148,000 total positive cases and at least 2,121 virus deaths over the course of the pandemic.

Sacramento County has confirmed 93,160 cases and 1,472 resident deaths from COVID-19. The county added 172 new cases Thursday and 216 on Friday, and reported eight new fatalities each day.

By date of death occurrence, December and January were by far Sacramento County’s two deadliest months of the pandemic. Health officials have confirmed 384 deaths for December, 313 for January and 87 for Feb. 1 through Feb. 22.

Prior to December, the county’s deadliest month of the pandemic was August, at 181 virus deaths.

The countywide total for hospitalized virus patients dropped from 182 on Thursday to 177 by Friday, with the ICU total dipping from 52 to 50, state data show.

Placer County health officials have confirmed a total of 19,713 infections and 231 deaths. Placer on Thursday reported 11 new cases and no deaths, following 41 cases Wednesday. The county last reported a fatality Tuesday.

State data showed 56 virus patients in Placer hospitals as of Friday, up from 53 on Thursday but with the ICU total dropping from 21 to 18.

Yolo County has reported a total of 12,643 cases and 185 deaths. The county added 43 cases Thursday following 31 on Wednesday.

County officials recently noted that deaths are confirmed in groups, meaning there may be no deaths noted for several days and then many confirmed in a day or two. The county most recently reported four fatalities in a Tuesday update.

State data show Yolo with 10 virus patients hospitalized as of Friday, down from 12 on Thursday, with the ICU total dropping from six to five.

El Dorado County has reported 9,095 positive test results and 100 deaths. The county reported only nine cases Thursday but added two deaths to reach the century mark, following 17 cases and three fatalities added Wednesday.

El Dorado has reported the vast majority of its virus deaths in the past three months: 96 county residents have died of COVID-19 since Nov. 25, compared to four from last March through mid-November.

State data show El Dorado with five patients hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, including two in intensive care, both increases of one compared to Thursday.

In Sutter County, at least 8,845 people have contracted the virus and 97 have died. Officials reported 19 cases and one new death Thursday, following eight cases and no deaths Wednesday.

Yuba County, which shares a health office with Sutter, has reported 5,733 infections and 36 dead, adding 10 cases on Wednesday and 10 more Thursday.

The lone hospital serving the Yuba-Sutter bicounty region — Adventist-Rideout in Marysville — had 21 hospitalized virus patients as of Friday, dropping one from Thursday, but with the ICU total growing from four to six.

The Bee’s Sawsan Morrar and Jeong Park contributed to this story.