COVID-19 surge hits Ventura County, may rise into January, health officer says

COVID-19 transmission and hospitalizations are rising across Ventura County for the third consecutive winter, pushed by highly contagious variants and holiday gatherings, the county health officer said Friday.

“I do believe we’re seeing a surge and I do think it’s a significant one,” Robert Levin said.

At least 71 COVID-19 patients were being treated in hospitals countywide as of Friday, a jump of nearly 80% since mid-November but not near the peak of 366 admissions hit during the omicron surge a year ago. California Department of Public Health data posted Thursday showed case rates and the percentage of people testing positive in laboratory PCR procedures have more than doubled in three weeks.

The rise has driven the county from “low” to “medium” in a weekly COVID risk assessment by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Neighboring Los Angeles County is ranked as “high.”

“I think we’re behind L.A. by a week or two but on a similar path,” Levin said.

The surge is propelled by omicron subvariants bq.1 and bq.1.1. The rise will likely grow because of Christmas gatherings and may continue into January but is expected to cause less severe hospitalizations and fewer fatalities than previous winter bursts, Levin said.

Elderly people are being hit especially hard. Nearly 80% of the hospitalized COVID patients in the county over the past two weeks were 65 and older, according to public health data. Officials said infections in long-term care facilities are also rising.

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Speculation has begun in Los Angeles County about a return of a mask mandate early next year. Levin said Ventura County officials aren’t considering a mandate and has questioned how many people would follow it. Instead, he is “highly recommending” people wear masks indoors in public places.

“People may be more receptive now that they’ve seen what’s happening,” he said.

He also urged people to obtain bivalent vaccine booster shots that target omicron variants. California Department of Public Health data shows 19% of the eligible county residents have received the boosters. Levin said he has been told about 40% of the people in some long-term care facilities have gotten it.

“It should be 95 to 100%,” he said, focusing on the need for seniors to lower their virus risks. “Some of it is preventable or at least blunt-able.”

He called on all people to wash their hands, test themselves when symptoms emerge and stay home when sick.

'Trifecta is here'

Flu is also being spread across the county along with other respiratory illnesses, packing hospitals with sick patients. Ambulance teams are waiting an average of 20 minutes to drop off patients at emergency rooms and sometimes as long as a “couple of hours,” said Steve Carroll, administrator of county emergency medical services.

Overall hospital census remains very high but isn’t growing at the same steep ascent as in the last few weeks.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s an improvement but it's a leveling off,” Carroll said.

Some hospitals have seen less respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV. The illness, which arrived early and in high volumes this season, causes cold-like symptoms in the vast majority of people but can bring severe symptoms in infants and elderly people.

Dr. Catarina Castaneda, an urgent care doctor at Las Islas Urgent Care in Oxnard, said she’s still seeing RSV, flu and COVID in high volumes.

“The trifecta is here,” she said in an email. “What we’re seeing is what the medical community was worried about the last two winters.”

The silver lining is COVID patients are not getting severely sick as often, Castaneda said, emphasizing the virus can still be deadly.

Some health care leaders say the surge of patients sick with several illnesses is much different than the tidal wave of COVID patients that emerged the last two winters.

“Our COVID numbers doubled from the previous week but we’re only at 13,” said Jennifer Swenson, president of Adventist Health Simi Valley hospital. “That’s nothing compared to what we saw last year.”

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Swenson said the emergency room has been hit hardest. The surge in illnesses, along with care needed for heart attacks, strokes and other conditions, has at times filled every bed throughout the hospital. Patients are held in the emergency room until space opens up.

“It feels different because it’s not COVID,” she said, referring to isolation rooms, protocols for wearing personal protective gear and other steps. “COVID patients require so much intensity.”

The current surge feels manageable, Swenson said. Staffing challenges have been met so far but the cumulative effect of the pandemic on workers is real.

“My team is tired,” Swenson said. “They feel like they’ve been through almost a three-year war zone.”

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Coronavirus surge hits Ventura County; influenza A spreads too