California county urges residents to wear masks again as COVID-19, RSV levels spike

WOODLAND – Health officials in one Northern California county are once again urging residents to mask up and get vaccinated.

The advisory, released Wednesday by Yolo County Public Health, comes amid data that shows high levels of the COVID-19 virus in wastewater. High levels of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are also being detected.

As CBS13 reported on Tuesday, COVID-19 cases have been climbing again in Northern California – with hospitalizations also increasing.

A new, possibly more contagious COVID variant – labeled JN.1 – is the likely driver behind the spike.

“I recommend that everybody in the community take steps to protect themselves from infection, including wearing a high-quality mask when indoors around others,” said Yolo County’s Public Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson in a statement on Wednesday.

Yolo was one of several Northern California counties identified by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention in last week’s data showing the highest level of COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state. Coupled with Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo, the region has 246 hospital admissions.

UC Davis researchers have been at the forefront of tracking COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic by testing the city’s wastewater treatment plant.