5 California counties get looser COVID restrictions. Others could soon follow
California public health officials promoted five counties into looser, red-tier COVID-19 restrictions Tuesday, the most significant progress toward reopening within the state’s color-coded tier system in more than three months.
Yolo County in the Sacramento region and Humboldt County in the northwestern part of the state were promoted from the purple tier to red because they recorded two consecutive weeks of fewer than seven new cases per 100,000 residents and less than 8% of diagnostic tests returning positive, according to a weekly data update from the California Department of Public Health.
Marin, San Mateo and Shasta counties also improved from purple to red after notching back-to-back weeks with their overall test positivity rates as well as test positivity rates in socioeconomically disadvantaged census tracts each below 5%, a less frequent path to promotion CDPH added to the rules last fall.
The move into the red tier allows restaurants to reopen for indoor dining, and other business types, including gyms and movie theaters, to resume indoor operations, with modifications including capacity limits and mask requirements.
Only those five counties advanced, but seven others marked their first of the two consecutive weeks meeting metrics required to move into the red tier: El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Napa, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo and Santa Clara.
The promotions come as California observes broad improvement from towering infection rates measured at the height of the winter surge, around early January. Gov. Gavin Newsom hinted last week tier promotions may start coming in bunches in the next few weeks.
The COVID-19 case rates posted by CDPH in those updates are also the basis for K-12 school campus opening and youth sports guidelines. The state last week cleared youth sports to begin play as early as this coming Friday in counties with fewer than 14 daily cases per 100,000 residents.
Sacramento County came just short of that this week, at 15.3 per 100,000. Sacramento is a minimum of two weeks away from promoting to the red tier, CDPH data show.
Tuesday is a busy day within a busy week in California’s coronavirus response, as the state also works to vaccinate millions of residents in Phase 1B — residents ages 65 and older along with essential workers in the sectors of education, childcare, emergency services and food and agriculture — while catching up from supply delays caused by extreme winter storms last week across the U.S.
Sacramento County didn’t get any of its weekly allocation. Other local counties and health providers also had to adjust or hold off on planning vaccine clinics due to lacking supply and uncertainty about when it would arrive.
State data from CDPH indicate suppliers shipped virtually no doses to California last Thursday or Friday, then about 1 million over the weekend. Officials in Sacramento and Yolo counties said they were expecting to get last week’s delayed deliveries around Tuesday.
In another weekly Tuesday occurrence, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will release states’ allocation figures for next week.
Prior to the weather-related supply issues, California was set to receive about 1.1 million total doses last week and 1.25 million this week.
California’s improving numbers
The state’s infection, hospitalization and fatality rates have all continued to show substantial improvement for more than a month.
California in the past two weeks has averaged about 6,800 new cases per day, down from an early January peak of about 41,000 a day. Test positivity has fallen from 14% to 3.3%. That’s close to pre-surge levels, when the positivity rate plateaued between 2.5% and 3% for most of October.
The number of patients in hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 cases has dropped from about 22,000 in early January to below 6,400 as of Tuesday’s update from CDPH. The total in intensive care units has fallen from 4,900 to just over 1,800.
Deaths continue to come at a fast clip, but the rate is declining. California averaged 363 virus deaths a day in the two weeks leading up to Tuesday. That’s down from a peak two-week rate of 542 deaths a day recorded in early February, but still about nine times higher than the 40 per day reported for early November.
The state over the course of the pandemic has recorded 49,563 deaths among 3.45 million infections, according to CDPH. Based on the recent rates, California is likely to officially surpass 50,000 deaths later this week.
Sacramento State plans drive-through commencement
University leaders announced Monday that Sacramento State will be honoring 2020 and 2021 graduates this May in an “on-campus drive-through Commencement celebration we are calling ‘CARmencement.’”
Sacramento State President Robert Nelsen announced the news in a letter to students.
“By now, we had hoped that the pandemic would be over, or at least contained enough to host in-person Commencement ceremonies once again in 2021,” he wrote. “Sadly, we are not there yet.”
The May 21 commencement “will include a parade-type experience through campus where each graduate will be individually recognized,” Nelsen continued.
The university says it will refund $48.50 in graduation fees covering the ordinary commencement ceremony for students who finished their degrees between fall 2019 and summer 2021.
Death toll approaches 2,100 in four-county Sacramento area
The six-county Sacramento region — Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties — has reported more than 148,000 combined positive cases and at least 2,088 virus deaths over the course of the pandemic.
Sacramento County has confirmed 92,621 cases and at least 1,446 resident deaths from COVID-19. The county on Tuesday added 193 new cases and reported eight fatalities, following 631 cases and seven deaths reported for the three-day window of Saturday through Monday.
By date of death occurrence, December and January were by far Sacramento County’s two deadliest months of the pandemic. Health officials have confirmed 384 deaths for December, 311 for January and 66 for Feb. 1 through Feb. 18.
Prior to December, the county’s deadliest month of the pandemic was August, at 181 virus deaths.
County data show the more than 51,000 residents of the capital city have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 812 of them have died. That’s more than one case for every 10 residents, and about one death for every 615 residents inside city limits.
The countywide total for hospitalized virus patients decreased from 185 Monday to 180 Tuesday, and the ICU total fell from 53 to 50, state data show.
Placer County health officials have confirmed a total of 19,646 infections and 230 deaths. Placer on Monday reported 126 new cases and one fatality in an update covering the weekend, following 58 cases and no deaths reported Friday.
State data showed 64 virus patients in Placer hospitals as of Tuesday, same as Monday but with the ICU total moving from 22 to 21.
Yolo County has reported a total of 12,569 cases and 185 deaths. The county reported 34 new cases and four deaths Tuesday after adding 112 cases and no deaths in a Monday update covering the weekend.
Yolo last Wednesday reported nine virus deaths. County officials recently noted that deaths are confirmed in groups, meaning there may be no deaths noted for several days and then many confirmed in a day or two.
State data show Yolo with 10 virus patients hospitalized as of Tuesday, up one from Monday, with the ICU total holding at six.
El Dorado County has reported 9,059 positive test results and 95 deaths. The county reported 42 cases and two deaths in a Monday update including the weekend, following 33 cases and two new deaths reported last Friday.
El Dorado has reported the vast majority of its virus deaths in the past three months: 91 county residents have died of COVID-19 since Nov. 25, compared to four from last March through mid-November.
State data show El Dorado with nine patients hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and two in intensive care, both down one from Monday.
In Sutter County, at least 8,802 people have contracted the virus and 96 have died. Officials added 36 new cases and two fatalities on Monday in a reporting window that included the weekend.
Yuba County, which shares a health office with Sutter, has reported 5,711 infections and 36 dead, adding 30 cases and no deaths in Monday’s update.
The lone hospital serving the Yuba-Sutter bicounty region — Adventist-Rideout in Marysville — had 22 hospitalized virus patients as of Tuesday’s update, down from Monday’s 24, with the ICU holding at six.
This story was originally published February 23, 2021 at 7:04 AM with the headline "5 California counties get looser COVID restrictions. Others could soon follow."
