Could California have a masked-up Christmas? COVID numbers rising. | Kiowa County Press

(The Middle Sq.) – For the primary time in months, California’s 7-day COVID-19 take a look at positivity fee reached 10.8 % over the past week, indicating elevated unfold of the virus as state officers report an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

The final time California’s 7-day take a look at positivity fee reached double digits was on August 20, when the speed stood at 10 %, based on information from the California Division of Public Well being. This week’s take a look at positivity fee is greater than the identical time final yr, when the state’s 7-day positivity fee December 3, 2021, was 2.2 %.

As case charges rose in the course of the winter surge on the finish of December 2021 and begin of January 2022, the 7-day positivity fee spiked to 22.3 % within the second week of January, based on information from the Division of Public Well being.

Whereas the present positivity fee remains to be considerably decrease than the positivity fee in the course of the peak of final yr’s winter surge, well being officers are warning that the state is already seeing an uptick in hospitalizations. As of Friday, 3,793 have been hospitalized for COVID-19 in California, based on CDPH. Over the past winter surge in January, the variety of sufferers hospitalized with the virus in a single day peaked at almost 15,500 sufferers.

“COVID-19 instances are impacting California sooner than ordinary this yr and the state is starting to see a rise in hospitalizations,” the California Division of Public Well being informed The Middle Sq. in an e-mail, including that the division is urging Californians to “shield themselves and their households towards COVID and different winter viruses” by getting the flu shot and COVID boosters, testing for COVID-19 when sick, carrying a masks in indoor public areas and washing arms incessantly.

In mid-December 2021, state well being officers moved to reinstate an indoor masks mandate after the state noticed a 47 % enhance in COVID-19 instances. At this cut-off date, state officers haven’t introduced that the state may return to an indoor masks mandate, however based on the state’s COVID-19 response plan (the SMARTER plan), “there could also be circumstances that warrant short-term, focused and risk-based masking necessities.”

A number of California counties are presently within the Middle for Illness Management’s “medium” tier of neighborhood unfold, which is set by a mixture of case charges, COVID-19 hospitalizations and the share of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID sufferers. The counties recognized on the “medium” neighborhood degree as of Friday embody Los Angeles, Orange, Fresno, Monterey, Sacramento, and several other others within the Central Valley and Bay Space.

With Los Angeles shifting into the “medium” neighborhood degree this week, Los Angeles Public Well being Director Barbara Ferrer introduced throughout a press convention Thursday that the county may transfer to reinstate an indoor masks mandate if the area surpasses the brink for the “excessive” neighborhood degree. The present case fee in Los Angeles is 185 instances per 100,000, and the speed of COVID hospitalizations reached 12 per 100,000 this week, based on Ferrer.

Ferrer stated the county might be within the “excessive” neighborhood degree as quickly as subsequent week based mostly on present developments, however as famous by the Los Angeles Instances, it stays unsure if that threshold shall be met. If LA County does hit the hospitalization and case fee benchmarks to instate a masks order, officers may implement the rule a couple of weeks later, the Instances reported.

Over the summer time, LA County was poised to reinstate an indoor masks requirement after seeing an increase in instances, however ended up holding off on the masks order after seeing an enchancment in COVID-19 case charges and hospitalizations.

In the meantime, state well being officers are additionally watching a rise of RSV and flu exercise in California this winter, urging Californians to take prevention measures like masking in crowded indoor areas, getting the flu shot and staying away from people who’re sick.