With mask restrictions set to loosen this week and Gov. Gavin Newsom poised to unveil details of an “endemic plan,” California’s COVID-19 metrics are continuing rapid improvement from the height of the omicron wave last month.
The California Department of Public Health on Monday reported the latest daily case rate at 57 per 100,000, down 46% from 106 per 100,000 a week earlier.
But is nearly quadruple the pre-omicron level of about 15 per 100,000 in early December, but less than one-fifth of the peak of the omicron surge, which maxed out at 299 per 100,000 in early January.
Statewide test positivity fell to 6.2%, down from 9.1% the previous Monday and marking for the state’s lowest percentage since Dec. 21. Positivity peaked Jan. 10 at 22.7%.
Hospitalizations with COVID-19 have cut almost in half from omicron’s peak of about 15,500, reported Monday by CDPH at 8,189 patients. The state reported 1,629 are in intensive care units, down from about 2,600 in late January.
Hospital numbers are improving broadly across nearly all counties.
The steepest hospitalization declines continue to come in Southern California. Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties all have fewer than half as many virus patients hospitalized than their peaks from the recent surge, state data show.
To date, California has recorded more than 8.24 million lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, not including self-administered at-home tests. At least 82,026 Californians have died from coronavirus, according to CDPH.
What is happening with masks in California?
California’s indoor mask mandate for the fully vaccinated will be allowed to expire Wednesday.
Unvaccinated people are still required to wear masks in indoor public places, and masks remain mandatory in health care settings and several other places regardless of vaccination status.
Sacramento and Yolo counties will adjust their local health orders to align with the state, meaning the entire greater Sacramento area will be free of universal indoor mask orders for the first time since July.
Eleven Bay Area counties will do the same, including San Francisco.
Health officials in Los Angeles County and Santa Clara County have said they will keep local mask mandates in place until coronavirus numbers improve further.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers
Sacramento County has recorded 273,755 total lab-confirmed cases and 2,816 deaths from COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, according to local health officials.
The county on Monday reported the daily case rate at 41.9 per 100,000 residents, plummeting from an all-time high of 245 per 100,000 recorded Jan. 10.
According to CDPH, Sacramento County’s latest test positivity rate is 9.4%.
County hospitals were treating 412 patients with confirmed COVID-19 as of Sunday, down from 495 one week earlier. The ICU total dropped to 67 from 97.
Placer County has tallied 60,573 cases and 545 virus deaths, last updated Wednesday.
Local health officials last reported the daily case rate at 83 per 100,000 for the week ending Jan. 31.
Placer’s latest positivity rate was 9.9%, CDPH reported Monday.
Placer County hospitals had 134 COVID-positive patients Sunday, down from 183 one week earlier. The ICU tally decreased to 22 from 35.
Yolo County has confirmed 34,533 total infections and 282 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Friday.
Yolo’s latest case rate was 98 per 100,000, the local health office said Friday.
CDPH reported Yolo County’s positivity rate at 3%, the lowest among all of the state’s 58 counties.
Yolo County hospitals were treating 16 patients with COVID-19 on Sunday, up from 15 one week earlier. The ICU count declined to three from five.
El Dorado County has reported 25,847 cumulative cases and 192 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Friday.
El Dorado’s latest reported case rate, for the week ending Feb. 4, was 41 per 100,000.
The county had a positivity rate of 8.7%, CDPH reported Monday.
Hospitals in El Dorado County had 25 COVID-positive patients Sunday, down from 29 a week earlier. The ICU total dropped to three from five.
Sutter County has recorded 21,563 cases and 217 deaths, and Yuba County has recorded 16,935 cases with 98 deaths, according to a Thursday update from the bi-county health office.
CDPH reported Yuba County at 66 daily cases per 100,000 and Sutter County at 54 per 100,000 as of Monday. Positivity was 16% in Yuba and 12.5% in Sutter.
The lone hospital serving Yuba and Sutter counties, Adventist Health and Rideout in Marysville, as of Sunday had 36 patients with confirmed COVID-19, down from 63 a week earlier. The ICU total dipped to 11 from 13.