Coronavirus updates: California’s uptick still small for now; tips as schools reopen

California’s COVID-19 activity is trending slightly upward but remains comparatively low among the states, as a nationwide surge sees the U.S. shatter records for new infections.

The country confirmed more than 88,500 new coronavirus cases Thursday, the most of any day in the pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The figure broke the previous daily high set less than a week earlier, on Oct. 23, by nearly 5,000 cases.

Cases and hospitalizations are on a sharply rising trajectory, anchored by severe spikes in the Midwest, Great Plains and a few other regions. The death rate is also increasing once again, with nearly 1,000 fatalities reported Thursday bringing the all-time national death toll above 228,000.

California’s recent daily infection numbers, meanwhile, have been rising in the second half of October, but they remain well below peaks from earlier in the pandemic as the month comes to an end. After four weeks of plateau in which the state’s rolling two-week average for daily infections hovered between 3,100 and 3,400, the figure has ticked up in the past week to about 3,900 a day. On Thursday, the state reported 4,191 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.

The rolling average and recent daily totals remain less than half the summer’s peak average of about 9,500 new cases a day. Better yet, the recent figures come as the state is conducting tens of thousands more diagnostic tests per day than it was then. Throughout October, the test positivity rate has stayed between 2.5% and 3%, the lowest range for this metric during the health crisis.

However, there have been short-term but significant increases in COVID-19 activity observed in populous areas including the Sacramento region and Los Angeles County. Health officials have attributed recent increases to large numbers of gatherings, nursing facility outbreaks and even too many people getting together to watch or celebrate the World Series.

It should become clearer in the coming days or weeks tell whether the recent spike is a temporary bump or the start of another bad surge for California.

But with Halloween this weekend, Election Day on Tuesday and chillier weather coming as autumn progresses, health officials are pleading for the public to continue adhering to social distancing protocols, to wear masks and to avoid gatherings, especially indoors.

They’re also urging people to get their flu shots as soon as possible, to avoid the possibility of a “twindemic” — a simultaneous surge in both COVID-19 and influenza that could overwhelm hospitals.

California on Friday reported that 2,430 patients were in hospital beds with confirmed cases of COVID-19, the first time that figure has exceeded 2,400 since Sept. 24. Of those, 666 are in intensive care units.

The state added just over 4,000 new cases and 30 new deaths for all-time totals of 916,918 and 17,571, respectively.

Parents, students prepare for Sacramento campuses to open

It remains one of the most essential questions in the statewide reopening process: What measures should be taken to resume on-campus K-12 learning in a manner that is safe for both students and teachers?

It’s a complicated issue, especially with timelines for reopening varying not just from county to county, but district to district.

In the state’s reopening framework introduced at the start of September, CDPH established that counties would need to be in the “red” tier, the second-most restrictive of the four risk assessment levels, for at least two straight weeks before they could allow campuses to reopen without requiring a waiver.

Nearly 30 of the state’s 58 counties have moved from the strict purple tier to the red tier since Sept. 1.

In the capital region, Sacramento and Yolo counties made the move Sept. 28. They have stayed at that level since then, meaning districts have had the OK to open campuses since mid-October.

But the logistical challenges of establishing reopening plans, as COVID-19 activity trends remain fluid and vary even at the ZIP code level, have led Sacramento County school districts on differing paths.

Two districts, Folsom Cordova Unified and Natomas Unified, plan to bring students back in November. Others, like San Juan Unified, intend to do so in early January. And some, most notably Sacramento City Unified, do not yet have a finalized plan.

Some academic studies suggest schools are not super-spreading environments for COVID-19. California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said earlier this month that the state had not yet linked any large case clusters to schools’ reopening.

But children are not immune. In fact, Sacramento County health officials have reported 925 lab-confirmed cases in children under age 10, and more than 2,000 in residents between 10 and 19 years old, according to the county’s COVID-19 data dashboard.

Local health experts shared with The Bee their advice for what students and parents should take into consideration as schooling resumes in an on-campus setting to reduce the chance of infection.

One key reminder the doctors offered: Wear a face covering, and if it is a reusable one, be sure to wash it every day.

Latest Sacramento-area numbers: Nearly 650 dead in region

The six-county Sacramento region has now combined for 645 reported COVID-19 deaths and more than 38,000 confirmed infections over the course of the pandemic, with 500 dead in Sacramento County and 145 in five neighboring counties.

Sacramento County has recorded a total of 26,185 lab-positive cases during the pandemic. Health officials added 167 new cases Friday, after 136 on Thursday and 132 on Wednesday.

The county has now reported at least 36 deaths from Oct. 1 through Oct. 24, surpassing April’s total of 34 for fourth-most in a month. Continued death confirmations for September have pushed that month’s death toll to 116, according to the local health office. Nearly 180 county residents died in August, after 87 died in July.

There are 85 patients hospitalized with coronavirus in Sacramento County, according to state data updated Friday. The number of ICU patients, after decreasing to 12 on Wednesday, bumped back up to 14 on Thursday and Friday.

Sacramento is in the red tier.

Yolo County, which joined Sacramento in the red tier in late September, has reported 3,250 total infections and 60 deaths from COVID-19. Yolo reported one new death Wednesday after one Sunday and two last week. The county added 16 new cases Thursday.

Yolo has 10 patients in hospitals with COVID-19 as of Friday, up from seven on Tuesday. That includes five in ICUs, up from three earlier this week.

Placer County, which surpassed 4,000 all-time infections last week, reported five deaths last week and two more Thursday for an all-time total of 59 fatalities. The county has now reported 4,353 cases since the start of the pandemic. It added 63 new cases Friday, following 42 on Thursday and 41 on Wednesday. Those are three of the highest single-day totals since the end of summer.

Placer says on its hospitalization dashboard that it has 20 patients in hospital beds with COVID-19, all of them being treated specifically for the disease, including three in ICUs.

Placer is in the orange tier.

El Dorado County is one of a small number of counties with a single-digit death toll, with just four fatalities since the start of the pandemic. Health officials have reported a total of 1,388 infections, adding eight Friday following 12 on Thursday.

El Dorado had one patient hospitalized and in an ICU as of Thursday.

The county reports that its positivity rate for the seven days ending Oct. 23 was 2.0%. That figure has doubled in the past week, as it was 1.0% for the week of Oct. 10 through Oct. 16. A seven-day positive test rate below 2% is one of the criteria for the least-restrictive yellow tier.

El Dorado county remains in the orange tier.

Sutter County health officials have reported a total of 1,897 people positive for coronavirus and 12 dead, with data last updated Thursday. Five people were hospitalized with COVID-19, but none of them were in the ICU, according to county health officials.

Yuba County officials have reported a total of 1,346 infections and 10 deaths. Yuba has four patients hospitalized, but not in an ICU.

Sutter and Yuba are both in the red tier.

Coronavirus: Get news and updates emailed to you from The Sacramento Bee

World numbers: Global death toll approaches 1.2 million

New COVID-19 infections are surging not just in the United States, but in numerous parts of the world including Europe, South America and India.

Johns Hopkins data, after some adjustments, now report that Monday marked the biggest single-day increase in new cases during the pandemic, with nearly 538,000 reported. Thursday’s total came close to that, at over 536,500.

More than 45 million cases have now been reported during the pandemic, and the global death toll is above 1,183,000.

The United States has surpassed 228,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths, still nearly 20% of the world’s total. It is coming close to 9 million infections, also about one-fifth the worldwide tally.

Next in terms of death toll are Brazil at 159,000, India at 121,000 and Mexico at nearly 91,000. Four European nations are next: the United Kingdom at 46,000, Italy at more than 38,000, France at just over 36,000 and Spain at more than 35,500 dead. After that are Iran and Peru, each at more than 34,000; and Colombia and Argentina, each above 30,000. Russia has reported more than 27,000 COVID-19 deaths, and South Africa is above 19,000.

By infections, India follows the U.S. after recently surpassing 8 million confirmed cases. Brazil is closing in on 5.5 million, and Russia has reported nearly 1.6 million. France has exceeded 1.3 million. Argentina, Colombia and Spain have all reported more than 1 million cases. The United Kingdom is approaching 970,000.

Surging France and Germany, the latter of which recently reached 10,000 deaths and a half-million infections, each announced this week that they would re-impose nationwide lockdowns. France’s lockdown started Friday, and Germany’s will begin next week.

The Bee’s Tony Bizjak, Sawsan Morrar and Phillip Reese contributed to this story. Listen to our daily briefing:

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Alexa | Google Assistant | More options