California coronavirus updates: San Francisco eases masks rule, however Los Angeles isn’t prepared
Find an updated count of COVID-19 cases in California and by county on our tracker here.
Latest Updates
San Francisco eases mask rule, but Los Angeles isn’t ready
This is how often you can reuse your N95 or KN95 masks
Moderna will also begin testing omicron-formulated booster shot
COVID-19 hits one of the last uninfected places on earth
Sol Blume music festival returning to Sacramento after two-year pandemic hiatus
COVID-19 By The Numbers
Friday, January 28
10:12 a.m.: San Francisco eases mask rule, but Los Angeles isn’t ready
COVID-19 case numbers are decreasing in Los Angeles County, but a top health official says it’s too soon to consider relaxing mask and vaccination requirements in LA — as San Francisco plans to do next week.
According to the Associated Press, LA County reported just over 26,000 new coronavirus cases, down over the past two weeks from 46,000, the highest daily numbers since the start of the pandemic.
Health director Barbara Ferrer says LA County has likely passed the peak of omicron transmission. San Francisco health officials say that the city’s rapidly dropping case rates will allow the lifting of some indoor mask mandates starting Feb. 1.
10:10 a.m.: This is how often you can reuse your N95 or KN95 masks
Experts say how often you can safely wear an N95 or KN95 mask will vary depending on how it’s used.
According to the Associated Press, using a mask to run to the grocery store, for example, is very different from wearing it all day at work.
Richard Flagan, who studies masks and aerosols at the California Institute of Technology, says the amount of time a mask is worn is more important than how frequently it’s worn.
But in general, he recommends limiting the use of an N95 mask to about two or three days. N95s can’t be washed and should be thrown away once you can no longer use them.
9:45 a.m.: Moderna will also begin testing omicron-formulated booster shot
Moderna has begun testing an omicron-specific version of its COVID-19 vaccine in healthy adults, according to the Associated Press.
Earlier this week, competitor Pfizer began similar research with its reformulated shots. It’s not clear that global health authorities will decide the vaccines need to be changed.
The current shots still offer strong protection against death and severe disease, and a booster also improves the chances of avoiding even a milder infection.
The newest study will give an omicron-matched booster to about 600 people who’ve already received either two or three Moderna shots.
9:37 a.m.: COVID-19 hits one of the last uninfected places on earth
Kiribati and several other small Pacific nations were among the last on the planet to have avoided any virus outbreaks, thanks to their remote locations and strict border controls.
However, as reported by the Associated Press, the island nation’s defenses appeared to be no match against the highly contagious omicron variant.
After tight lockdowns, Kiribati finally began reopening this month, agreeing to allow the U.S.-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to charter a plane to bring home 54 citizens.
Many had left before the border closure to serve missions abroad for what’s widely known as the Mormon church.
Officials tested each returning passenger three times in nearby Fiji, required they be vaccinated, and put them in quarantine with additional testing when they arrived home. It wasn’t enough.
Thursday, January 27
1:14 p.m.: Sol Blume music festival returning to Sacramento after two-year pandemic hiatus
After missing out the past two years due to the pandemic, Sacramento’s Sol Blume festival of new age R&B, soul and hip-hop artists plans to return this spring.
The festival is expanding to two days, April 30 and May 1, and will grow into larger digs at Discover Park, after previously going down for one-day-only at Cesar Chavez Plaza in 2019.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to continue to bring a carefully curated & unique R&B experience to Sacramento. We took two years off due to the pandemic, which gave us more time to evolve,” Festival Founder Fornati Kumeh wrote in a statement.
Festival headliners this year include Jorja Smith and PartyNextDoor on Saturday, and Jhene Aikoand Summer Walker on Sunday. Aiko headlined the inaugural Sol Blume in 2018. Walker was scheduled to perform at the festival in 2019, but pulled out in the weeks leading up to the show.
Tickets for the two-day festival go on sale Monday, Jan.31, at 10 a.m., and prices range from $200 for weekend passes to $400 for VIP tickets.
9:12 a.m.: COVID-19 booster shot rates are slumping in the US
The COVID-19 booster drive in the U.S. is losing steam, worrying health experts who have pleaded with Americans to get an extra shot to shore up their protection against the highly contagious variant.
The Associated Press reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say just 40% of fully vaccinated Americans have received a booster dose.
The average number of booster shots dispensed per day in the U.S. has plummeted from a peak of 1 million in early December to about 490,000 as of last week.
9:01 a.m.: Health experts monitoring a ‘stealth’ version of the omicron variant
Scientists and health officials are keeping their eyes on a descendent of the omicron variant that has been found in at least 40 counties, called BA.2.
According to the Associated Press, it’s widely considered the stealthier version of the original omicron variant because particular genetic traits make it somewhat harder to detect.
Some scientists worry it could also be more transmissible, but they say there’s a lot they still don’t know, including whether it evades vaccines better or causes more severe disease.
To protect against it, doctors urge vaccination and the usual coronavirus precautions.
8:50 a.m.: Most Americans believe the pandemic is over when COVID-19 becomes a ‘mild illness’
Will the pandemic ever really be “over”? And if so, what would that mean?
According to the Associated Press, a new AP-NORC poll shows that few Americans, just 15%, said they’d consider the pandemic over only when COVID-19 is largely eliminated.
By contrast, 83% said they’ll feel like the pandemic is over when it’s essentially a mild illness, like the seasonal flu.
The poll also shows that strict precautions like avoiding socializing and travel are making a comeback for many Americans because of the omicron variant.
Wednesday, January 26
10:53 a.m.: Gov. Gavin Newsom, top lawmakers want to give workers more COVID-19 sick time
Gov. Gavin Newsom, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins want to give workers more paid sick time as the state grapples with the omicron surge.
Earlier in the pandemic, employers were required to provide up to two weeks of paid sick leave if a worker contracted COVID-19 or needed to care for a family member who was ill. That supplemental sick leave expired in September 2021 and labor unions have been pushing to revive it, especially during this latest surge.
Newsom and the Legislature’s Democratic leaders announced they’ve agreed on a new policy: It will once again require employers with 26 or more workers to provide up to two weeks of paid sick time.
The agreement would also retroactively cover sick days from the beginning of this year through September 2021. Employers can request proof of a positive test. The legislature still needs to approve the new policy before it takes effect, which will likely happen in the coming weeks.
10:48 a.m.: Chico State begins spring semester with mostly in-person classes
Chico State started its spring semester this week and held the majority of its classes in-person, one of a handful of the 23 CSU campuses which began their spring semesters with in-person learning.
Students must be vaccinated or obtain a medical or religious exemption to attend in-person classes, and are required to wear masks indoors. The campus was bustling between classes this week, and many students said they preferred in-person learning to online classes.
“I know a lot of professors in their syllabus are putting in more precautions,” said senior Meliese Menchaca. “Even one of them was like, ‘If you don’t wear your mask, or you’re not wearing it correctly, I will cancel the class and we will move online.’ So I think everyone wants to be here. They don’t want to be online.”
Some students feel the university’s COVID-19 policies are enough to keep them safe. Chico State announced last year it would require students and staff to receive a booster by the end of February. However, not everyone is satisfied. Senior Seana Watkins said her classes were in small rooms with no windows or ventilation, and not enough space between students.
“I think even if we waited a couple of weeks to get through the surge that’s about to happen and hit Chico,” Watkins said. “I think that would have probably been the safest. Even though I do work better in person. Public safety and health is more important, I think.”
10:27 a.m.: Free N95 masks will be available at some pharmacies and grocery stores
Free N95 masks are starting to arrive at pharmacies and grocery stores around the country nearly a week after the Biden administration announced it would deploy 400 million of the high-quality face coverings to the public, NPR reports.
Pending availability, every person is allowed up to three masks, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Masks are available at Walgreens while supplies last, and will be available at CVS Pharmacy stores in the coming weeks.
The White House launched this effort after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that cloth masks are no longer as effective in preventing the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant. The coveted nonsurgical N95 masks are coming from the Strategic National Stockpile, which has more than 750 million of them on hand.Tuesday, January 25
Tuesday, January 25
10:22 a.m.: New bill would eliminate ‘belief’ exemption for COVID-19 school vaccination
All California K-12 students would have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 for in-person instruction under a bill introduced Monday.
The requirement would go into effect Jan. 1 if passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Sacramento state Senator Richard Pan, a pediatrician, authored the bill.
“Students in California are currently required to be vaccinated for many serious diseases to prevent their spread in schools,” Pan said. “And given the tragically high number of people — and those do include children and teens — who suffer from death and disability from COVID-19, we must make sure our students are vaccinated against COVID as well.”
The legislation would also bar personal belief exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Pan also authored the 2015 bill which eliminated personal belief exemptions for all other childhood vaccines required to attend school. That bill drew fierce opposition.
Pan’s proposal follows legislation introduced last week that would allow California children 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent.
9:25 a.m.: California lawmakers to consider allowing teens to get vaccines without parental consent
California lawmakers will consider a proposal allowing adolescents to get vaccines without their parents’ consent.
The legislation would apply to minors ages 12 to 17, which could allow them to get any vaccine approved by the FDA and recommended by the CDC.
Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco authored the bill. At a press conference, he said some minors are being prevented from getting the COVID-19 vaccine by their guardians.
“Teens do get sick. There are teens in the hospital, teens on ventilators, and tragically, teens who die,” he said.
Supporters said the legislation builds on state laws that already allow adolescents to seek STI vaccines and reproductive health services without parental consent. But Wiener’s office expects the proposal will spark spirited debate in the state Legislature.
9:10 a.m.: Pfizer to begin testing omicron-matched booster shots in adults
Pfizer and BioNTech have begun studying a COVID-19 vaccine tweaked to match the omicron variant in healthy adults, according to the Associated Press.
COVID-19 vaccine makers have been updating their shots in case global health authorities decide a change is needed. The recently announced study will include more than 1,400 volunteers ages 18 to 55.
Most are already vaccinated and will get boosters of the omicron-based vaccine or the original version. Some unvaccinated volunteers will get three omicron-based doses.
The original vaccines still offer good protection against severe illness and death, while a booster improves the chances of avoiding even a milder infection.
Monday, January 24
9:51 a.m.: Los Angeles schools will prohibit students from wearing cloth masks, require ‘well-fitted’ ones
The Los Angeles Unified School District said it’ll prohibit students from wearing cloth masks as the highly transmissible omicron variant continues to spread.
As reported by the Associated Press, the district said that students must wear “well-fitted, non-cloth masks with a nose wire” at all times starting today.
Higher grade masks will be made available to students upon request. The shift away from cloth masks was prompted by guidance from county health authorities. LAUSD will allow exemptions to mask rules for some students with disabilities.
The LA County Department of Public Health said that the seven-day testing positivity rate remained “very high” at 16%.
9:34 a.m.: Booster shots are needed against the omicron variant, CDC study shows
Three new U.S. studies offer more evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the omicron variant, at least among people who have gotten booster shots.
According to the Associated Press, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the studies on Friday. The results echo previous research — including studies in Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
They found available vaccines are less effective against omicron than they were against earlier versions of the coronavirus.
One of the papers found that two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines offered no significant protection against omicron. Several studies have concluded that a booster shot can significantly improve protection.
9:28 a.m.: Omicron surge leaves food banks understaffed
Food banks are experiencing a critical shortage of volunteers as the omicron variant frightens people away from group activities, according to the Associated Press.
Individual volunteers are shying away from their usual shifts, and companies and schools that regularly supply large groups of volunteers are canceling their participation over virus concerns.
The end result in many cases has been a severe increase in spending by food banks at a time when they’re already dealing with higher food costs due to inflation and supply chain issues.
The extent of the problem was highlighted this past week during the national holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day when many food banks have traditionally organized mass volunteer drives as part of a day of service.
Friday, January 21
8:55 a.m.: Sacramento County sees omicron surge level off but still has record-breaking hospitalization rates
While Sacramento County is starting to see the omicron surge taper off, hospitalization rates are still at record-breaking levels.
As of Wednesday, there were 615 COVID-19 patients in county hospitals — more than at any other time during the pandemic. The number of daily cases has been higher this week than during last winter’s surge before vaccines were available.
The cause of the surge isn’t just due to the omicron variant, explained Sacramento County Public Health Epidemiology Program Manager Jamie White.
“We are still seeing delta in addition to omicron, so delta has not gone away,” White said. “There is no guarantee that if somebody gets [a] COVID infection today that it’s going to be the omicron variant, so people should be very cautious about that.”
While omicron has become the more dominant variant, studies have shown delta leads to a higher risk of hospitalization, ICU stays and death.
Dr. Erica Pan, the state’s epidemiologist, said that while health officials think they’re seeing the peak in cases, they’re also seeing the highest level of virus transmission so far during the pandemic and that hospitals are at capacity.
“Some of our hospitals are 20-25% over what we could call a baseline at our lowest points of COVID for total patients. And as you’ve been hearing, a lot of staffing shortages,” she said.
Pan said it’s very difficult to predict the future course of the virus. She adds that one key variation is unvaccinated people, as they could be vulnerable to new variants.
8:40 a.m.: California lawmaker proposes allowing kids 12 and older get vaccinated without parental consent
California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent under a state senator’s proposal, as reported by the Associated Press.
This would be the youngest age a teen could receive vaccinations without an adult guardian’s consent. Alabama allows such decisions at age 14, Oregon at 15, Rhode Island and South Carolina at 16. Only Washington, D.C. has a lower limit, at age 11.
California Sen. Scott Wiener proposed the change late Thursday night, arguing that the state already allows those 12 and up to consent to certain vaccines and treatments.
Wiener’s legislation is permissive, not a mandate, but any vaccination legislation has been hugely controversial in California and elsewhere.
8:11 a.m.: San Francisco subpoenas unauthorized COVID-19 testing operators
San Francisco’s city attorney has issued subpoenas seeking records from a COVID-19 test operator and laboratory suspected of trying to scam people out of money or valuable personal information.
According to the Associated Press, City Attorney David Chiu announced the legal action yesterday after the companies in question — Community Wellness America and Crestview Clinical Laboratory — missed a Monday deadline to provide valid licenses.
They’re under investigation for offering free COVID-19 tests at several pop-up tents earlier this month. Investigators believe the test operator was collecting sensitive personal information and had a profit motive.
Last year, state officials began investigating Community Wellness America after receiving tips about unauthorized testing sites in Marin, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties.
Thursday, January 20
3:05 p.m.: Sacramento County asks residents to leave emergency services for life-threatening symptoms
The number of new COVID-19 cases in Sacramento County may be at a plateau, but the number of new cases each day is still high and hospitals in the county are overwhelmed, public health officials say.
As of Jan. 19, 615 confirmed COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in Sacramento County, the most ever since the start of the pandemic. While many patients coming to emergency rooms with symptoms may require care, officials say nearly 25% of patients are coming in with mild symptoms seeking a COVID-19 test.
County health officials say that is not a productive use of the ER or a reason to call 911, and ask people not to seek emergency services unless you are experiencing life-threatening symptoms
“If you’re experiencing mild symptoms, while it is uncomfortable, and potentially a disruption to your daily life, most symptoms such as cough, fatigue, headache, sore throat or a low-grade fever, can be treated with over-the-counter medications and will likely resolve in just a few days,” said county spokesperson Janna Haynes.
The county is asking residents to reserve the emergency room for people with life-threatening COVID-19 symptoms like difficulty breathing, very high fever or pressure or pain in your chest, or for people with other severe injuries or issues not related to COVID-19.
9:25 a.m.: Chico State offers some return to in-person learning
Next week, many colleges and universities will return from a winter break marked by record numbers of COVID-19 cases.
Seventeen of the California State University campuses will begin their spring semesters remotely, but Chico State is not among them.
Though 93% of students and faculty are vaccinated, the virus transmission rate in Butte County remains very high.
Chico State President Gayle Hutchinson said the decision to start the in-person semester was made in conjunction with county health officials.
“Spring 2022 will mirror that of Fall 2021, which is about 60% of our classes in person,” Hutchinson said. “And a number of services and activities will be available on campus, but we’re not really fully 100%.”
Hutchinson told CapRadio Insight host Vicki Gonzalez that she believes the success of the fall semester can be attributed to the school’s high vaccination rate. She also added that there’s a mask requirement in all buildings and officials are encouraging testing, which is available on campus.
“Students really wish to be in person. They struggle with social isolation, and social isolation can contribute to anyone who is having mental health challenges and even depression, so having opportunities then to engage safely on campus is so very, very important,” she said.
Chico State plans to hire more mental health professionals to help students cope with their struggles as the pandemic drags on.
9:18 a.m.: Ambulances wait hours with patients before being admitted to California hospitals
Emergency health workers in California say they’re waiting hours to transfer patients from ambulances to hospital emergency rooms due to chronic delays worsened by the nearly two-year coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Associated Press, during a state legislative hearing, first responders said taking more than 20 minutes to receive a patient at a hospital emergency room isn’t good for patient outcomes. Responders also noted that keeping patients in ambulances for too long impedes their ability to head out on new emergency calls.
Doctors say delays in lab work and insurance authorizations contribute to the hospital bottleneck.
They also say too many non-urgent patients are seeking emergency room care. California is grappling with a rise in hospitalizations following a spike in coronavirus infections that began late last month.
9:03 a.m.: Here’s what it means when COVID-19 goes from pandemic to endemic
Some European countries such as Spain, Portugal and the countries that comprise the U.K. are making tentative plans for when they might start treating COVID-19 as an “endemic” disease since these countries have some of the highest vaccination rates in the continent.
However, according to the Associated Press, the World Health Organization and other officials have warned that the world is nowhere close to declaring the pandemic over.
Diseases are endemic when they occur regularly in certain areas according to established patterns, while a pandemic refers to a global outbreak that causes unpredictable waves of illness.
The idea is to move from crisis mode to control mode, approaching the virus in much the same way countries deal with the flu or measles.
COVID-19 vaccines, medicines and other measures widely available in wealthier countries with low rates of vaccine hesitancy will likely help them curb their outbreaks before the virus is brought under control globally.
Wednesday, January 19
10:25 a.m.: UC Davis Medical Center sets new record for COVID-19 patients admitted
With the highly contagious omicron variant surging in California, UC Davis Medical Center is reporting a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Providers are caring for more COVID-19 patients now than at any other time during the pandemic, with 126 hospitalized patients with active COVID-19 cases at the medical center. The number surpasses last winter’s peak of 125 patients.
Most patients have severe symptoms, while a few have mild or asymptomatic cases detected through routine screening. Still, providers say those patients still strain hospital resources since they must be isolated to avoid infecting staff and other patients.
Some mild cases still need treatment because the virus can complicate other conditions that ultimately bring people to the hospital.
According to state and local health dashboards, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and emergency department visits set all-time-record high numbers for all of Sacramento County last week. Adults aren’t the only patients being admitted either, according to hospital staff.
“A growing number of children are being admitted to the hospital, and we can expect this to continue to increase for both acute COVID infection, but also due to Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children, which may follow acute COVID infection by two to four weeks,” said Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.
On Jan. 1, there were two pediatric patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at UC Davis. A recent study by the health center identified certain predictors of severe outcomes in children.
The medical center also recently announced that it’ll be one of the few hospitals in the region to partner with the California Department of Public Health to provide extra staffing to care for the increasing number of patients.
10:14 a.m.: US begins offering 1 billion at-home COVID-19 tests
For the first time, people across the U.S. can log on to a government website and order free at-home COVID-19 tests, as reported by the Associated Press.
However, the experts say this latest push by the White House may do little to ease the omicron surge, and Washington will have to do a lot more to fix the country’s long-troubled testing system.
The website, covidtests.gov, allows people to order four at-home tests per household and have them delivered by mail, but the tests won’t arrive for seven to 12 days, after omicron is expected to peak in many parts of the country.
9:49 a.m.: Biden administration to distribute over 400 million N95 masks
The Biden administration will begin making 400 million N95 masks available for free to U.S. residents starting next week, according to the Associated Press.
This step comes after federal officials emphasized the masks’ better protection against the omicron variant compared to cloth face coverings.
The White House said the masks will come from the government’s Strategic National Stockpile, which has more than 750 million of the highly protective masks on hand.
Masks will be available for pickup at pharmacies and community health centers across the country and will begin shipping this week for distribution starting late next week.
Tuesday, January 18
4:32 p.m.: You can now order free COVID-19 tests from the U.S. Postal Service
You can now order your four free at-home COVID-19 tests from https://special.usps.com/testkits. You can only place one order per residential household, and the kits will ship for free beginning in late January.
The site’s rollout comes a day before the Biden administration had previously announced it would be available. The president also said the administration would set up a number for those without computer or internet access to order at-home tests, but that number is currently unavailable on the COVID-19 test landing site, https://covidtests.gov.
However, there have been multiple reports from people on Twitter saying they are unable to order tests since the U.S. Postal Service is recognizing their apartment building as a singular residential address, rendering residents of other units in a building unable to order if another unit has already done so. Some people have also posted potential work-arounds, such as using the U.S. Postal Service ZIP Code look-up to enter the precise address.
U.S. Postal Service spokesperson David Partenheimer confirmed “very limited cases” of people experiencing difficulties with ordering their four COVID-19 tests if they are inputting an address not registered as a multi-unit building.
“This is occurring in a small percentage of orders,” he said via email.
He said that those who need additional assistance during the ordering process can file a service request on the USPS website or or call the U.S. Postal Service help desk at 1-800-ASK-USPS.
Additionally, the COVID-19 test landing site has been updated with a banner acknowledging the site is up and running a day earlier than planned.
“Please check back tomorrow if you run into any unexpected issues,” it reads.
The banner text also affirms that the administration has tests available “for every residential address in the U.S.”
10:16 a.m.: US faces waves of omicron-related deaths in the coming weeks
The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, yet COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing, as reported by the Associated Press.
Modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the omicron wave subsides this spring. The seven-day rolling average for daily new COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has been trending upward since mid-November.
COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents started rising slightly two weeks ago, although still at a rate of 10 times less than last year, before most residents were vaccinated.
The unprecedented level of infection means vulnerable people will become severely sick. However, the notion that a milder disease on average could still take thousands of lives is difficult for health experts to convey.
9:53 a.m.: Omicron likely won’t be the last variant, experts say
Scientists warn that omicron’s whirlwind spread across the globe practically ensures it won’t be the last worrisome coronavirus variant.
According to the Associated Press, every infection provides a chance for the virus to mutate. Research shows that omicron is at least twice as contagious as delta and at least four times as infectious as the original version of the virus.
What that boils down to is now there’s more people in whom the virus can further evolve.
Experts don’t know how subsequent variants might shape the pandemic, and they say there’s no guarantee the sequels of omicron will cause milder illness or that existing vaccines will work against them.
All they can hope for is to urge broader vaccination rates now while today’s shots are still effective.
9:35 a.m.: The pandemic’s impact on shipping is affecting small business owners
Sharply higher costs of goods are yet another challenge thrown at business owners by the global pandemic, according to the Associated Press.
The unpredictability of shipping, labor and the coronavirus itself have created an environment where owners are often left guessing about when products might arrive and how much they’ll cost.
In response, businesses are raising prices, cutting staff hours, dropping some goods and services, nixing free shipping and more in a delicate balancing act.
However, with low visibility into how long the higher inflation will last, some owners are increasingly worried about keeping their doors open in the long run.
Monday, January 17
12:23 p.m.: Sacramento County sets new high for COVID-19 hospitalizations
Sacramento County set a new high for confirmed hospitalized COVID-19 patients over the long weekend — 533 on Jan. 15 and 547 on Jan. 16. The previous high was 518 reported on Dec. 22, 2020, during a deadly winter surge
The number of confirmed COVID-19 patients in the county’s ICUs has also been rising, but at a slower pace than general hospitalizations have. The county reported 96 patients with COVID-19 in its ICUs on Jan. 16, which is far off from the county’s previous high of 130 last January.
While some have expressed less concern about the omicron variant as it seems to provoke milder illness for many people, UChicagoMedicine infectious disease physician Dr. Emily Landon told NPR that there are still a lot of risks. Landon says that the truth of the matter is that omicron is “probably somewhere in between what you think of as a common cold or flu and the COVID that we had before.”
While the New York Times reported last week that California hospitals were finding that the omicron variant causes fewer hospitalizations and shorter stays than previous variants, hospitals are still feeling the strain. A third of hospitals are reporting critical staffing shortages, and California’s health department is considering issuing an order postponing many elective surgeries, according to CalMatters.
Sacramento County public health officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye advises people to get vaccinated against the virus, and to refrain from going to the hospital unless it’s a true emergency.
9:40 a.m.: Omicron variant continuing to affect small Sacramento businesses
The omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to rip through the Sacramento area, affecting small businesses and the people that run them.
Shane Twilla owns Identify Boutique, a small clothing and gift shop. He said the last two years of the pandemic have been rough for business, and when omicron hit, “it was like a gut punch.”
Twilla said he and his fiance and business partner are just trying to be positive, adapt and stay afloat as the virus flares.
“We’re just working harder than we’ve ever worked, to not lose any ground, without really gaining any ground,” he said. “And it’s exhausting.”
Exhaustion is felt elsewhere too. Hundreds of members of a California grocery and food workers union were out sick this month. More than 20% of Sacramento City Unified school staff were absent in early January.
UC Davis Public Health Sciences Dean Brad Pollock said the exhaustion is “producing a strain on many aspects of society.”
“When you have a bug that is much more infectious, you’re going to see what we call spikier curve, epidemic curves,” Pollock said. “So they go up very fast, and likewise they’ll peak and they’ll go down very fast.”
Sacramento County’s public health officer said people should avoid emergency rooms for COVID-19 tests so hospitals can focus on true emergencies.
9:13 a.m.: COVID-19 infections rising in nursing homes again
COVID-19 infections are soaring again at U.S. nursing homes because of the omicron wave, and deaths are climbing too.
According to the Associated Press, that’s leading to new restrictions on family visits and a renewed push to get more residents and staff members vaccinated and boosted.
Nursing homes were the lethal epicenter of the pandemic early on before the advent of the vaccines allowed many of them to reopen and welcome visitors again.
Now the highly contagious variant has dealt them a setback. Nursing homes reported about 32,000 COVID-19 cases among residents in the week ending Jan. 9, a nearly sevenfold increase from about a month ago.
A total of 645 COVID-19 related deaths were reported during the same week, a 47% increase from a month earlier.
9:09 a.m.: China to not sell tickets for this year’s winter Olympics
Tickets will not be sold for the upcoming winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing due to the “grave and complicated situation of the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to NPR.
Instead, organizers announced that they would invite groups of spectators to attend the games in person.
“The organisers expect that these spectators will strictly abide by the COVID-19 countermeasures, before, during and after each event as pre-conditions for the safe and sound delivery of the Games,” the Beijing 2022 organizing committee said in a statement.
The International Olympic Committee previously said they would sell tickets only to spectators living in mainland China who met certain COVID-19 safety requirements.
During the summer Olympics in Tokyo last year, fans weren’t allowed in the stands.
The winter games won’t require athletes to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but those who remain unvaccinated will have to quarantine for 21 days when arriving in Beijing.
The IOC also implemented other policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the competition, such as a “closed-loop” system that limits participants to certain Olympics-related areas and other permitted locations that isolate them from China’s general public.
Friday, January 14
9:17 a.m.: US Supreme Court says ‘no’ to Biden’s vaccine mandate
The Supreme Court has stopped a major push by the Biden administration to boost the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination rate: a requirement that employees at large businesses get a vaccine or test regularly and wear a mask on the job.
According to the Associated Press, the court is allowing the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate for most health care workers in the U.S.
The court’s orders coming out on Thursday during a big spike in coronavirus cases was a mixed bag for the administration. The court’s conservative majority concluded the administration overstepped its authority by seeking to impose the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine-or-test rule on U.S. businesses with at least 100 employees.
9:07 a.m.: Retail sales dropped after holiday spending and omicron surge
Americans, beset by product shortages, rising prices and the arrival of omicron, sharply cut their spending in December after a burst of early spending in the fall that helped bolster the holiday season, according to the Associated Press.
Retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 1.9% in December compared with the previous month when sales increased 0.3%, the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday.
Sales rose 1.8% in October compared to September. Still, retail sales rose 16.9% compared with the year-ago period.
The World Health Organization identified omicron in late November, and the December report from the Commerce Department is the first to capture its effects on consumer behavior.
8:49 a.m.: Unemployment is once again on the rise, possibly due to omicron cases skyrocketing
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since mid-November.
According to the Associated Press, jobless claims climbed by 23,000 last week to 230,000, which is still slow by historic standards.
The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week blips, was up nearly 6,300 to almost 211,000. The weekly applications — a proxy for layoffs — have now risen four of the last five weeks, possibly a sign that the omicron variant is having an impact on the job market, which has bounced strongly from last year’s coronavirus recession.
Thursday, January 13
10:28 a.m.: Biden to double free at-home COVID-19 testing supply, also will add in N95 masks
President Joe Biden announced Thursday plans for the government to double free rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests for Americans to a total of 1 billion, according to the Associated Press.
Speaking at the White House, Biden said the administration will also make the most protective N95 masks available for no charge.
He spoke at an event aimed at highlighting the federal government’s efforts to “surge” COVID-19 testing and send personnel to help overwhelmed medical facilities.
The effort comes amid the upswing in coronavirus cases and staff shortages due to the omicron variant. Starting next week, 1,000 military medical personnel will begin arriving at COVID-19 hot-spots to help mitigate staffing crunches at hospitals.
10:07 a.m.: COVID-19 pills stymied by long production times and shortages
Two brand-new COVID-19 pills that were supposed to be an important weapon against the pandemic in the U.S. are in short supply and have played little role in the fight against the omicron wave of infections.
According to the Associated Press, the problem is that production is not yet at full strength and that the pill considered to be far superior — Pfizer’s formulation — takes six to eight months to manufacture.
The supply is expected to improve dramatically in the coming months, but doctors are clamoring for the pills now, as omicron causes an explosion of cases.
Adding to the pressure is that two antibody drugs that were once the go-to treatments for COVID-19 don’t work as well against the omicron variant.
9:55 a.m.: California democrats move forward with single-payer health plan
California Democrats have taken their first step towards creating a universal health care system.
According to the Associated Press, a legislative committee in the state Assembly advanced a bill on Tuesday that would replace California’s current private insurance market with a plan paid for by the government.
However, the proposal is still a long way from becoming law. It faces strong opposition from the state’s powerful business interest.
If approved and does become law, voters will have to approve an income tax that’ll be applied to companies earning more than $2 million, businesses with more than 50 employees, and workers that make over $150,000 a year.
Carmen Comsti, the lead regulatory policy specialist with the nurses association, said the tax would generate somewhere between $160 and $170 billion annually.
“We are talking about ensuring that everybody gets comprehensive benefits without copays or deductibles,” Comsti said.
Bill author Ash Kalra, a San Jose assemblymember, said the primary reasons single-payer has failed in the past have been due to cost, opposition from health insurance giants and monied business interests.
The proposal has a long way to go, but Democrats still hailed the vote for jumpstarting one of their long-stalled policy goals.
Wednesday, January 12
10:02 a.m.: Newsom gives school districts more flexibility with substitute teachers
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on Tuesday, giving school districts more flexibility to hire substitutes, extend the contracts of those already on the job and bring back retired teachers.
The order comes as districts face a critical staffing shortage largely caused by a surge of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
As he sometimes does when discussing issues dealing with kids and school, Newsom brought up his own children as he talked about the need to make sure students continue with in-person learning.
“I’m very, very sensitive to this and the learning opportunities that are lost because kids are not safely in school, the challenges and vagaries of going online,” Newsom said. “My son, and we had fits and starts, he’s in and out of school, said ‘please daddy, no more Zoom school.’ And you hear that echoed all throughout the state of California.”
9:34 a.m.: Omicron variant affects local high school sports
The omicron variant of COVID-19 is once again upending many communal activities, including school sports.
The California Interscholastic Federation guidelines require weekly testing, with a positive test resulting in isolation for at least five days and a negative test required before returning to play.
The CIF’s Sacramento-San Joaquin section encompasses some quarter of a million students. Will DeBoard, the assistant commissioner, said there’s been some unique challenges.
“Sac-Joaquin section, we’re kind of an interesting situation because we have 16 different counties where we deal with high schools,” DeBoard said. “Merced County may say something completely different than what Yolo County is saying. So we have to navigate, not only from a state side of things, but also each county.”
DeBoard also said some counties and schools are allowing players a little more leeway, but with virus cases increasing, teams need to be more flexible and ready to make last minute changes.
9:29 a.m.: Only 17% of children aged 5 to 11 in the US are vaccinated
Suspicions, misinformation and other factors have combined to produce what authorities say are alarmingly low COVID-19 vaccination rates in U.S. children ages 5 to 11.
According to the Associated Press, as of Tuesday, just over 17% of children in this age group were fully vaccinated more than two months after shots for them became available.
There was a pre-holiday surge after the shots were introduced last fall, but the numbers have crept up slowly since then. Omicron’s out-of-control spread appears to have had little effect in encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated.
9:14 a.m.: Inflation in the US at highest point since 1982
Prices paid by U.S. consumers jumped 7% in December from a year earlier, and it’s now the highest inflation rate since 1982, according to the Associated Press.
This is just the latest evidence that rising costs for food, fuel, rent and other necessities are heightening the financial pressures on America’s households.
Inflation has spiked during the recovery from the pandmeic recession as Americans have ramped up spending on goods such as cars, furniture and appliances. Those increased purchases have clogged ports and warehouses, exacerbating supply shortages of semiconductors and other computer parts.
Tuesday, January 11
10 a.m.: SCUSD schools are short on substitute teachers due to coronavirus infections
Surging COVID-19 cases are having an impact on attendance and instruction at Sacramento City Unified District schools.
According to an email sent to parents last Friday, 21% of district staff called in sick that day.
The district said there were only enough substitute teachers to cover half of the absences. In order to cover teacher vacancies, the district is turning to principals, credentialed central office and site staff. Even parents have been asked to help supervise classrooms.
Between staff and students, the district recorded nearly 1,600 COVID cases last week. The surge comes amid a nationwide explosion of cases brought on by the highly transmissible omicron variant.
9:41 a.m.: Sacramento restaurants brace themselves for continuing omicron surge
Restaurants are once again bracing themselves as case counts of the omicron variant are continuing to rise in Sacramento.
At Binchoyaki in Southside Park, the people lined up under the restaurant’s overhang aren’t always waiting for food — instead, the restaurant’s owners have set up their outdoor patio as a COVID-19 testing site.
Owner Tokiko Sawada said they’ve been offering free testing to anyone who needs it since August. They’ve noticed that the lines seem to have gotten longer in the past few days.
“We’ve been doing, on average, almost a hundred [tests] a week, but the last two weeks, it’s been really over a hundred easily,” Sawada said.
She explained that the restaurant is taking the surge seriously. They haven’t had any positive cases amongst the staff, but they’ve been closed for two weeks and will reconsider indoor dining when they return.
“It’s like one thing after another, it’s rough. You can’t really forecast anything ahead, you can’t expect anything, any changes you decide to make, you have to change it again because the waves change constantly,” she said.
A number of other restaurants have stopped offering indoor dining or closed entirely for the next few weeks due to the omicron surge and the shortage of workers. Sawada said they hope to be reopening for outdoor service soon.
9:35 a.m.: Rural California hospitals affected by omicron surge
The omicron variant of COVID-19 is causing cases and hospitalizations to rise dramatically in California, and rural areas aren’t immune.
Dr. Marcia Nelson is the Chief Medical Officer at Enloe Medical Center in Chico. She said that the more transmissible and contagious omicron variant is leading to a surge in cases and hospitalizations.
“To put that into context, we have 29 to 30 patients this week in the hospital with COVID,” Nelson said. “And about two weeks ago, that was 16, in the middle teens, so we’re seeing a consistent increase.”
She said the surge is expected to peak in California towards the end of January. With Butte County likely being a week or two behind that curve, Nelson said the hospital is currently expecting to see an increase in cases through early February.
She asked that the public help keep caseload numbers down by taking the pandemic seriously.
“And just be acting as if this is real because it is real,” she said. “We’re living this every single day. We’re having staff members, physicians, who are having breakthrough cases, fortunately mild, but this omicron variant is different than anything we’ve dealt with before.”
Nelson said of the COVID-19 patients hospitalized at Enloe, 89% were not fully vaccinated against the virus.
Adventist Health and Rideout in Marysville are also seeing an overwhelming number of hospitalizations. Yuba and Sutter County health officials said the surge is driven by COVID-19 cases and non-COVID-related medical conditions.
Officials are asking residents not to go to the emergency room for COVID-19 testing as hospital staff are overwhelmed.
Monday, January 10
9:58 a.m.: Go to work sick or miss a paycheck? Many American workers are grappling with this question.
Millions of workers whose jobs don’t provide paid sick days are having to choose between their health and their paycheck as the omicron variant of COVID-19 rages across the country.
While many companies instituted more robust sick leave policies at the beginning of the pandemic, some of those have since been scaled back with the rollout of vaccines, despite omicron managing to evade shots.
According to the Associated Press, the current labor shortage is adding to the pressure of workers having to decide whether to show up to their jobs sick or forgo a paycheck.