Public Health: San Joaquin County may have reached omicron plateau

Jan. 26—STOCKTON — The San Joaquin County Public Health Officer on Tuesday said that COVID-19 cases appear to be leveling off, but it is unclear if the county will see an end to the latest winter surge.

"We still seem to be in the thick of it," Dr. Maggie Park told the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors during its regular meeting.

"People keep asking me if we're coming down, and it's difficult to confirm that," she said. "We've definitely taken a dip, but we can't be certain if we've reached a peak in cases and if we are coming down."

Park said as the county continues to receive positive cases on a daily basis, with a seven-day data lag her staff will not know if the surge has pleateaued for at least another week.

Total confirmed COVID-19 cases have increased to 146,773 in the county, and its case rate is now at 237.7 per 100,000 residents, a very minuscule decline from 238.2 reported last Tuesday.

Over the weekend, 6,066 cases were confirmed, Park said, with some 3,000 reported on Saturday.

Park said 97% of confirmed cases in the county are now due to the omicron variant, which makes up 99.5% of cases nationwide.

The county's test positivity rate is 27.4%, which dropped slightly from 29.8% last week. Park said as many as 40,000 tests are being performed each week, with as many as 7,000 administered on a daily basis.

Some 67,140 iHealth rapid tests have been delivered to the county in recent weeks, Park added, with 20,160 being allocated to the seven incorporated cities, and 13,680 being given to school districts.

Another 14,400 were allocated to child care providers, while 9,720 were given to congregate living facilities and shelters, and 5,580 were delivered to community based organizations.

While it is unclear if cases are plateauing, San Joaquin County Health Care Services director Greg Diederich said hospitalizations appear to be leveling off for the first time since the latest surge began in December.

There were 309 people being treated for COVID-19 in the county's seven hospitals on Friday, he said, which dropped to 296 over the weekend and popped back up to 307 by Monday.

"It's not a big one, but we did level off a bit," he said. Hopefully this shows that we've peaked and we're not going to bounce back up again."

Deaths from COVID-19 were at 1,959, and Park said it is not likely the county will stop seeing numbers increase completely, even though there has not been a recorded death caused by the omicron variant yet.

According to county public health's COVID-19 reports, there have been four COVID-19 deaths over the past week.

There have been 12,358 cases and 214 deaths in Lodi, with 502 new cases reported over the weekend, according to county public health.

In the 95220 ZIP Code, which includes Acampo, there have been 1,058 cases and 16 deaths, with 46 new cases reported over the weekend. In the 95227 ZIP Code that includes Clements, there have been 107 cases and one death, with six new cases reported.

In the 95258 ZIP Code, which includes Woodbridge, there have been 730 cases and 10 deaths, with 32 new cases reported. And in the Lockeford area, which includes the 95237 ZIP Code and the eastern portion of the 95240 ZIP Code, there have been 12,935 cases and 34 deaths, with 65 new cases being reported over the weekend.

In Lodi, 44,853 residents are fully vaccinated and 9,018 are partially vaccinated. That's 73.9% and 14.9%, respectively, of the city's eligible population.

Some 29,201 residents in the unincorporated areas of the county are fully vaccinated, while 7,689 are partially vaccinated.

Supervisor Tom Patti, who represents District 3 on the board, said the "new normal" in which residents are living — wearing masks, socially distancing, getting tested regularly — was not acceptable,

He noted that large groups of residents, particularly parents upset that wearing masks to school are having detrimental effects on their children, are asking for normalcy.

"It concerns me that this 'new normal...' is as damaging and detrimental as it is to the well being of the communities," he said. "It's really frustrating, and I'm concerned by the direction of where we're going as a state, by the government control and oversight without parental participation or choice, and the ability of you, our public health doctor, to be able to weigh in on what we want regionally."

Patti asked if Park had any conversations with the California Department of Public Health over returning to "normal," and when the county might get to do it.

"We're all waiting to see how the next variant will behave," Park replied. "We're quite certain there will be another variant. Will it be more transmissible? Will it be more severe? There is a lot that isn't known. (A return to normalcy) conversation hasn't come to the forefront, because we're all trying to get through the omicron variant."