With the coronavirus vaccine rollout underway, metrics suggest California may be nearly through the winter COVID-19 surge that ravaged the state early in the year.
Daily infection reports continue to drop after seeing tens of thousands of new cases each day at the height of the surge in December and January.
On Tuesday, the California Department of Public Health reported 4,090 new cases of coronavirus across the state, the lowest daily report in several months.
The last time California saw such a low report was on Nov. 2, when 4,044 people were confirmed infected with the highly transmissible virus. At that point, infections were only just barely beginning to rise after a period of relative calm in the pandemic between the end of summer and the onset of winter.
But by December, daily infection reports frequently topped 50,000. The highest single-day tally was recorded on Dec. 15, when 53,711 new infections were reported by the CDPH. Friday's latest report added 6,668 infections for a total of 3.44 million infections statewide since the beginning of the pandemic.
Deaths and hospitalizations are declining in tandem with daily infections. A total of 7,148 Californians are currently hospitalized with confirmed cases of coronavirus, the lowest seen since Nov. 28. Of those, 2,089 are being treated in intensive care units. ICU capacity continues to recover after dipping precipitously low earlier this year. There were just over 1,000 ICU beds available across the state in mid-January, which has since risen to 1,610.
A total of 48,825 Californians have died of COVID-19. Using data from the last week, an average of 341 people are dying each day from the virus, which is down more than 14% from the previous week's average, according to the CDPH. The state's average daily infection reports are also down more than 37% since last week.
The average test positivity rate over the past week is down to 3.1% from an all-time high of 14% in early January.
The Los Angeles Times reported that part of the state's recent drop in coronavirus activity could be attributed to natural herd immunity gained through mass infection, especially in Southern California, which has been a hotbed for the virus. While just 12% of Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccination against the virus, about 35% have already contracted coronavirus — and possibly more in hard-hit areas of Southern California, the newspaper reported.
Sacramento area coronavirus data
As elsewhere across the state, infections have been tapering off in the Sacramento area.
The six-county Sacramento region — Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties — has reported close to 147,000 combined positive cases and more than 2,060 virus deaths over the course of the pandemic.
Sacramento County has confirmed 91,797 coronavirus cases and at least 1,431 resident deaths from COVID-19. The county on Thursday reported 404 new cases and 19 deaths, following 249 cases and 10 deaths added Thursday, and 214 cases and 20 deaths Wednesday.
At the height of the winter surge, Sacramento County officials recorded a record-high daily infection total of 1,256 on Dec. 14. Since then, daily reports have been steadily declining.
By date of death occurrence, December and January were Sacramento County's two deadliest months of the pandemic. Health officials have confirmed 384 deaths for December and at least 310 for January. They have also now confirmed 54 resident deaths for Feb. 1 through Valentine's Day.
Of the 19 deaths reported Friday, 11 occurred in February, one was from December and the remainder were from January.
Prior to December, the county's deadliest month of the pandemic was August, at 181 virus deaths.
The countywide total for hospitalized virus patients dropped from 204 on Thursday to 186 by Saturday, with ICU patients falling from 60 to 49, according to CDPH.
Placer County health officials have confirmed a total of 19,520 infections and 229 deaths. Placer on Thursday reported just five new cases, but increased the death toll by six. The county on Wednesday added 24 cases and no new fatalities. Friday's update added 58 more cases.
State data showed 59 virus patients in Placer hospitals as of Friday, down from 63 Thursday, and with the ICU total dropping from 19 to 18. It's the first time Placer has fallen below 60 hospitalized since Nov. 15. By Saturday, 57 people were hospitalized, with 20 in ICUs. The county's seven-day test positivity rate is 4.1%.
Yolo County has reported a total of 12,428 cases and 181 deaths. The county reported 52 cases and nine deaths Wednesday, followed by 37 infections and no fatalities in Thursday's update and 53 more cases on Friday.
Yolo 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 showed Yolo dropping from 11 virus patients in hospitals Thursday to 10 on Friday, while the ICU total holds at six. By Saturday, 11 people were again in the hospital, and six were still in ICUs. The county currently has three ICU beds available.
El Dorado County has reported 9,017 positive test results and 93 deaths. The county reported just two new cases Thursday following nine added Wednesday. On Friday, 33 more cases and two deaths were added. Prior to that, El Dorado reported 118 cases and one death for the four-day reporting window of Saturday through Tuesday.
El Dorado has reported a significant spike in virus deaths compared to the first several months of the health crisis: 89 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 six patients hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, up one from Thursday, but with the ICU total falling from three to one.
In Sutter County, at least 8,766 people have contracted the virus and 94 have died. Officials reported 22 new cases Thursday along with one death and on Friday added 21 infections.
Yuba County, which shares a health office with Sutter, has reported 5,681 infections and 36 dead, adding 12 cases in Thursday's update and 20 on Friday.
The lone hospital serving the Yuba-Sutter bicounty region — Adventist-Rideout in Marysville — had 26 hospitalized virus patients as of Friday's state data update, down from 29 the previous three days. The ICU total is at eight.
The Bee's Michael McGough contributed to this story.
