How many COVID cases are there in the Bay Area and California

What are the latest developments?

The day after Mayor London Breed’s tearful plea to school and work leaders to reopen classrooms, the teachers’ union announced the conditions under which they would return to face-to-face classes. The proposal did not include specific dates for returning to classrooms and focused on the status of the level and the availability of vaccines for teachers and staff. This was just the last shuttle in a year-long saga that recently saw the city file a lawsuit against the school district in hopes of bringing students back to campus.

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How many people are hospitalized?

The number of people hospitalized in California due to COVID-19 fell by more than 16% last week, with fewer than 15,000 patients across the state, compared with almost 22,000 at the end of December. The number of ICU patients has dropped to less than 4,000 for the first time since December 24. The bay area reported a decline of almost 16% in total patients last week and a decline of more than 13% in ICU patients. The state, however, still reports 0% ICU availability.

Due to limited testing capacity, not all hospitalized patients with symptoms of COVID-19 were tested. Although not all suspected cases tested positive, the inclusion of these patients can give a more comprehensive picture of the demands of hospitals. Even with suspicious cases included, hospitals did not see an increase in patients related to the virus as feared.

Where are the Bay Area counties at reopening?

With San Francisco allowing outdoor dining and other activities, such as personal care services, to resume on January 28, all counties in the Bay Area have returned to the state’s color-coded tier system to guide the reopening. All counties in the Bay Area, like most of the state, are in the most restrictive purple layer. Check the reopening tracker to see what is allowed in each tier and each county. When the regional request for stay at home was suspended on January 25, the four-week projections for the availability of ICUs in all regions were above the 15% limit. As of Monday, four of the five regions remained below that threshold, with the Bay Area region having 8.2% availability according to the state’s website. Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley continue to report 0% availability.

What are the current trends in the bay area?

The total number of coronavirus cases reported in the bay area last week fell 26% compared to the previous week, marking a second consecutive week with a sharp decline. The daily average dropped from more than 4,400 three weeks ago to less than 2,300 last week. After huge increases in November and December, the total cases reported in the Bay Area in January were almost identical to December, with a reduction of less than 1%. Three of the nine counties, including Santa Clara, which recently exceeded 100,000 total cases, reported fewer cases in January than in December. Of the six counties that reported increases, only Marin reported a jump of more than 10%. The number of virus-related deaths reported in the bay area was 419, down from 466 reported in the previous week, but still high compared to previous months. There were 1,677 deaths reported in January, compared with 608 reported in December, with Marin, San Francisco and Santa Clara showing all deaths more than tripled in the past month.

What is the status of testing in California?

State laboratories processed just under 2 million results during the week ending January 31, with a positivity rate of 6.7%, which was lower than the 8.1% reported in the previous week and less than half of what was in early January. Nationally, the positivity index was just over 8%. The state used 8% as a target for reopening in its original plan and now uses the rate of positivity along with the rate of cases (adjusted based on test levels) to determine the status of the level. As more people get tested, the positive test rate provides a clearer picture of how many people have the virus, including those without symptoms. There are several different types of tests now available in California, with home versions slowly becoming available. Here’s a look at your options.

How does California compare to the rest of the nation?

The seven-day average for new cases in the U.S. continued its downward trend, dropping below 150,000 for the first time since 14 November. Although the total number of cases now exceeds 26 million, the number reported in January was almost 300,000 less than that reported in December. California reported a drop of more than 5% in January compared to December, with about 60,000 fewer cases. The daily average for the week ending January 31 was just under 20,000, the first time below that mark since the week ending November 29th. Deaths, however, remained high with more than 3,800 reported last week, an increase of almost 300 from the previous week. Global estimates are that 55% of the more than 103 million positive test patients have recovered. Recovery numbers are not available for the Bay Area or California.

The findings signal the early onset of the US outbreak

An autopsy report showing that the first COVID-19-related death occurred on February 6 in Santa Clara County and not on February 26 in Washington supports research indicating that the outbreak began in the United States long before we knew it and before health authorities to start tracking data.

There were 300 cases reported in the bay area when on-site shelter requests were put in place on 16 March. But studies and disease models suggest that more than 10,000 people in the bay area were probably infected by then. This survey, along with the previous death identified in Santa Clara County, indicates how late the United States was in recognizing the virus outbreak.

The data used here examines the spread of the virus and the potential for containment since authorities knew the virus had arrived in the United States. While this data is limited and flawed in its ability to provide a complete history of the virus, it is all that health officials have and emphasizes the importance of scaling up tests to provide a clearer picture of the current situation.