California continues to see a rise in coronavirus transmission, as two highly contagious offshoots of the omicron variant remain on the rise across the U.S.
The latest statewide daily case rate is 16.1 per 100,000 residents, the California Department of Public Health said in a Tuesday update.
The case rate has increased by 25% in the past week and is up 71% compared to two weeks earlier, according to state data.
State health officials on Tuesday reported the latest test positivity rate at 4.1%, up from 3.1% one week earlier and 2.7% two weeks earlier for California’s highest rate since Feb. 17.
The transmission metrics remain worst in the Bay Area. The five counties with the highest case rates were San Francisco at 36 per 100,000, Santa Cruz at 34, San Mateo at 31, Santa Clara at 30 and Alameda at 26, according to Tuesday’s state health update. Most Sacramento-area counties ranged from about eight per 100,000 to 12 per 100,000.
Test positivity was 9% in San Francisco, compared to 5.5% in Sacramento County, state data show. Positivity in Sacramento is rising fast though, more than tripling in the past month from 1.8% in early April.
The state health department reported 1,203 COVID-positive patients in hospital beds as of Tuesday’s update, a 27% increase from a low point of 950 two weeks earlier.
Hospitalized virus cases have soared following the case spike in San Francisco, from 26 to 61 in the past two weeks, for a 135% jump.
More school outbreaks reported in Sacramento area
Numerous schools in the Sacramento region are reporting COVID-19 outbreaks or case clusters for the first time since returning from winter break in January, around the peak of the original omicron wave.
At least eight local schools have recently reported a significant spike in virus cases within two weeks of holding large school dance events.
Six of those schools held dances April 22 or April 23, and last week reported the highest active case loads within their districts: C.K. McClatchy High, Rio Americano High, Folsom High, Vista del Lago High, Sheldon High and the Heron K-8 school in Natomas, which all held dances April 22 or April 23.
The other two, Mesa Verde High in Citrus Heights and Monterey Trail High in Elk Grove, held dances April 30. Mesa Verde had 35 active cases as of Tuesday morning, according to the San Juan Unified COVID-19 data tracker. Monterey Trail had 24 active cases Tuesday after reporting just seven through all of April, according to Elk Grove Unified data.
Another San Juan Unified school, Mary Deterding Elementary in Carmichael, reported 33 new COVID-19 cases Monday.
Officials at multiple local K-12 districts have said it is difficult to trace the exact source of transmission to school dances or other events, due to overlapping social contacts.
“We are seeing an uptick in cases in general and we have seen an uptick in cases and outbreaks being reported by schools in recent weeks,” Sacramento County health office spokeswoman Samantha Mott said in an emailed statement last week.
The increase at campuses isn’t limited to local K-12 schools.
UC Davis, in a Tuesday update to its campus COVID-19 dashboard, reported a recent test positivity rate of 1.4% for asymptomatic tests – its highest reading at any point during the pandemic except for a one-month stretch from late December to late January amid the omicron surge, which peaked at 4.6%.
Asymptomatic test positivity had dropped as low as 0.1% at the campus in early March.
Sacramento State reported 33 student virus cases and 11 employee cases last week, following 23 student and 14 employee cases the week ending April 30. Last week’s student total and the previous week’s employee total were the highest tallies for the university since February.
COVID cases surge at state prisons
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation recorded 324 new cases among prison inmates for the week of May 1, compared to 74 during the four previous weeks combined.
It’s the state prison system’s first significant surge in cases since winter’s omicron wave. Weekly case totals had dwindled as low as 10, reported two consecutive weeks in mid-April.
The corrections department as of Tuesday reported 348 active inmate virus cases. The California Medical Facility in Vacaville had 112, followed by Ironwood State Prison in Blythe at 96, San Quentin at 64, Valley State Prison in Chowchilla at 34 and the California Health Care Facility in Stockton at 15.
All other state prison facilities had fewer than five active inmate cases, according to the CDCR data dashboard.
Prisons throughout the pandemic have been hotspots for severe coronavirus outbreaks.
Latest on BA.2 subvariants of omicron
Two subvariants experts say are more contagious than the original BA.1 omicron variant – BA.2 and BA.2.12.1 – now combine for 99% of recent case samples nationwide, according to a Tuesday update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The more contagious of the two, BA.2.12.1, made up 43% of U.S. cases for the week ending last Saturday, up from 33% the previous week and 23% two weeks earlier.
For the CDC region that includes California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and island territories, BA.2.12.1 made up 24% of cases last week, up from 17% the previous week and 14% two weeks earlier.
Health officials estimate BA.2 is roughly 30% to 40% more contagious than the original omicron variant, BA.1; and that BA.2.12.1 is in turn another 25% more contagious than BA.2.
Sacramento-area numbers by county
Sacramento County’s latest case rate is 11.9 per 100,000 residents, state health officials said in Tuesday’s update, a 31% increase from one week earlier.
Hospitals in Sacramento County were treating 72 virus patients Monday, state data show, up from 52 one week earlier. The intensive care unit total increased to 10 from nine.
Placer County’s latest case rate is 9.8 per 100,000 residents, a 22% increase from one week earlier.
Hospitals in Placer County were treating 27 virus patients Monday, up from 24 one week earlier. The ICU total dropped to two from four.
Yolo County’s latest case rate is 16.2 per 100,000 residents, a 28% increase from one week earlier.
Hospitals in Yolo County were treating two virus patients Monday, up from one a week earlier. The ICU total increased to one from zero.
El Dorado County’s latest case rate is 9.1 per 100,000 residents, a 22% increase from one week earlier.
Hospitals in El Dorado County were treating four virus patients Monday, up from one a week earlier. The ICU total increased to one from zero.
Sutter County’s latest case rate is 5.9 per 100,000 residents and Yuba County’s is 8.1 per 100,000, state health officials reported Tuesday. Sutter’s case rate increased by 11% and Yuba’s by 56% in the past week.
The only hospital in Yuba County, which serves the Yuba-Sutter bi-county area, was treating two virus patients Monday, down from three a week earlier. The ICU total fell to zero from one.
The CDC classifies all six counties in the Sacramento area as being in the “low” level of COVID-19 activity.
This story was originally published May 10, 2022 10:56 AM.
Michael McGough anchors The Sacramento Bee’s breaking news reporting team, covering public safety and other local stories. A Sacramento native and lifelong capital resident, he interned at The Bee while attending Sacramento State, where he earned a degree in journalism.
