COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions continue to rise in Sacramento County, up from 16.2 a week ago and 5.9 a month ago, according to a weekly update Wednesday on the county’s dashboard. As of Tuesday, 106 COVID-19 hospitalizations were listed. That’s an increase from 74 in the previous week. Still, the spike is nowhere near what it was during the Omicron peak in January, when 657 people were hospitalized with the virus. “Cases of COVID-19 are increasing due to contagious subvariants of Delta and Omicron,” said Dr. Sacramento County Public Health Officer Olivia Kasirye in a statement. “Although there is also an increase in hospitalized cases, this is not to the same extent as the increase in positive cases. The availability of effective vaccines and therapeutics is helping to reduce the severity of disease and death.” The statement went on to say that masks “are still strongly recommended when going out in public, especially in crowded places and especially for people at increased risk of serious diseases”. | MORE SO | Pearl Jam cancels shows in Sacramento, Las Vegas after bassist tests positive for COVID-19. In another development, the California Department of Health and Human Services said a discrepancy between the state’s COVID-19 data and the county’s data for the test positivity rate has narrowed. KCRA 3 first raised the issue nearly a month ago because the county’s reported rate was much higher than the state’s. “CDPH remains in close communication with Sacramento County and other counties regarding COVID-19-related data,” CDPH said Thursday. “The data discrepancy with Sacramento County has decreased. Sacramento County’s overall positivity currently reported on their dashboard is 7.9%, which is similar to Sacramento County’s CDPH 7-day positivity of 7.4%. There are often minor differences between state and local data on differences in calculation methods and differences in the time frames of reported data. “Meanwhile, California state health officials said they are expanding locations across the state where people can both get tested for COVID-19 and receive free treatments for the virus. California plans to roll this out to 146 OptumServe “test-to-treat” sites over the next two weeks. The pages are intended to improve access for people without health insurance. People ages 12 and older and with high-risk medical conditions that make them vulnerable to severe COVID-19 can get a prescription for Paxlovid or molnupiravir if they test positive at one of the sites. Click here for a map of test-to-treat sites near you.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in Sacramento County, according to a weekly update Wednesday on the county’s dashboard.
The average seven-day COVID-19 case rate is 23.3 people per 100,000 as of May 14. This compares to a rate of 16.2 a week ago and 5.9 a month ago.
As of Tuesday, 106 COVID-19 hospitalizations were listed. That’s an increase from 74 in the previous week. Still, the spike is nowhere near what it was during the Omicron peak in January, when 657 people were hospitalized with the virus.
“Cases of COVID-19 are increasing due to contagious subvariants of Delta and Omicron,” said Dr. Sacramento County Public Health Officer Olivia Kasirye in a statement. “Although there is also an increase in hospitalized cases, this is not to the same extent as the increase in positive cases. The availability of effective vaccines and therapeutics helps reduce disease severity and death.”
The statement went on to say that masks “are still strongly recommended when going out in public, particularly in crowded places and particularly for people at increased risk of serious illness.”
| MORE SO | Pearl Jam cancels shows in Sacramento, Las Vegas after bassist tests positive for COVID-19
The county urged people to take advantage of COVID-19 vaccinations and said it will continue to follow state guidance for any future restrictions or mandates.
In another development, the California Department of Health and Human Services said a discrepancy between the state’s COVID-19 data and the county’s data for the test positivity rate has narrowed. KCRA 3 first raised the issue nearly a month ago because the county’s reported rate was much higher than the state’s.
“CDPH remains in close communication with Sacramento County and other counties regarding COVID-19-related data,” CDPH said Thursday. “The data discrepancy with Sacramento County has decreased. Sacramento County’s overall positivity currently reported on their dashboard is 7.9%, which is similar to Sacramento County’s CDPH 7-day positivity of 7.4%. There are often slight differences between state and local data due to differences in calculation methods and differences in the time periods of reported data.”
Meanwhile, California state health officials announced they are expanding locations across the state where people can both get tested for COVID-19 and receive free treatments for the virus.
California plans to launch 146 OptumServe “test-to-treat” sites over the next two weeks. The pages are intended to improve access for people without health insurance.
People ages 12 and older and with high-risk medical conditions that make them vulnerable to severe COVID-19 can get a prescription for Paxlovid or molnupiravir if they test positive at one of the sites.
Click here for a map of test-to-treat sites near you.
