Last December 15th, just like the original Omikron wave obtained serious momentDan California Appointment Indoor masks statewide. Thomas Aragon State Public Health Officer He said The move was “to add another layer of mitigation because the Omicron variant, a variant of concern as described by the World Health Organization, is increasing in prevalence in California, the United States and the world and spreads much more easily than the original SARS-CoV. -2 and the Delta variant.” At the time, the state’s 7-day median positive test rate was 2.6%.
Today, the country suffers from another type of so -called anxiety Bachelor 5subspecies believed to have extension growth advantage At least four times the original Omicron from December. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows that at the end of last week, BA.5 and its sub-sister BA.4 accounted for about 68% of new cases in a region that mainly consists of California, Arizona, and Nevada. . BA.5 accounts for most of these cases and looks set to launch all other variants in the coming weeks.
California’s current 7-day positive test rate is 16.7%. That gives the current summer spike the dubious honor of having the second-highest test-positive rate the state has seen during the pandemic. This is the second after the crest of the omicron wave last winter. It is still increasing.
As BA.5’s increased growth rate is due in large part to its ability to circumvent the protection offered by previous infection and – to a lesser extent – the protection provided by vaccination, countries cannot rely on vaccination in the same way they can rely on. on it with the original Omicron tablet.
What’s more, the three metrics health officials are most concerned about – hospital beds and intensive care units occupied by infected people. Corona virus disease And the daily average number of Covid deaths – already much higher Where they were before Christmas.
Director of Public Health in Los Angeles, the state’s most populous county, he said yesterday He expects his county to move to the CDC’s “high” Covid rating next week as a result of the rising numbers. If Los Angeles remains in that category for 14 days, the county will reintroduce the public mask mandate.
Statewide, 35 of California’s 58 counties have been identified by the CDC. Some of them talk about reinvention. Neither is the state.
One of the bright spots in Zone Mode appears dim on closer inspection.
Cases reported over the past month, although steadily increasing, have barely spiked at the rate they did in December. The problem is that reported test results have dropped dramatically since December as more Californians use household appliances, and results are not recorded in official reports.
That’s why Ashish Jha, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said Let me know Lester Holt di NBC night news Last night, “there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re missing the majority of injuries at the moment.”
Even with reporting of limited testing, the number recorded in California today – 13,000 new cases – is already 44% higher than the nearly 9,000 cases reported on December 15 last year. That, along with the Golden State’s positive test for sky high and a much more contagious variant, doesn’t bode well.
–
