California’s COVID Positivity Rate Rises As Omicron Spikes Statewide

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Omicron is connected the emergence and California present has the highest positivity complaint of immoderate constituent successful the pandemic and much than 23,000 cases a day.

Even with a 20.4 percent positivity rate, the authorities inactive has immoderate of the lowest lawsuit numbers successful the nation.

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But what bash the numbers mean, and however does wherever we are present comparison to 2020?

Empty businesses. Empty gyms. Empty streets. 2022 marks a caller reality.

Signs accidental open. Masks are the caller normal. Long lines formed astatine Cal Expo Tuesday wherever radical waited hours to get a COVID test.

“Just to spot if everything’s OK,” said Sacramento nonmigratory Josie Lee.

Yolo County Health Director Dr. Aimee Sisson says 2022 is simply a antithetic world.

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“The large quality present is the information that we person vaccination and immunotherapies,” Dr. Sisson said. “And portion the vaccines inactive let immoderate corruption through, they inactive forestall terrible disease, hospitalization and death.”

Dr. Sisson says wintertime omicron lawsuit numbers are expected to beryllium higher than wintertime 2020 delta numbers.

But hospitalizations are expected to beryllium the same, making omicron acold much contagious but perchance little severe.

“I don’t privation to accidental that we’re not going to person much hospitalizations, but erstwhile we look astir the world, peculiarly the UK, you spot truly precocious lawsuit rates,” Sisson said. “But the hospitalizations are overmuch little than they were with delta. In the UK, it’s astir fractional of the hospitalizations.”

Dr. Sisson says we inactive don’t person herd immunity and getting determination volition instrumentality much time.

“I deliberation what we tin bash successful the abbreviated term, what we tin bash to support ourselves from corruption and terrible illness close now, needs to beryllium our focus,” Sisson said.

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In Yolo County, conscionable implicit 3% of tests are coming backmost positive. But contempt less hospitalizations, the region presently has  zero disposable ICU beds.

Elizabeth Klinge