The Sacramento Bee via MSN
Coronavirus infections have continued a steady climb in California since early April, and while the curve of new cases remains less steep than winter’s omicron variant surge, the rising spread of two contagious subvariants is still prompting concern about a fresh wave of virus cases. The California Department of Public Health on Friday reported the statewide daily case rate for COVID-19 at 14 per 100,000 residents, a 27% increase in the past week and up 71% in the past two weeks. Test positivity has spiked from 2.8% to 3.9% in the past week for California’s highest reading since Feb. 18, when the state remained on the downslope of the omicron surge. California’s case rate dipped as low as 5.2 per 100,000, and positivity as low as 1.2%, in mid-March. Hospitals statewide were treating 1,112 patients with confirmed COVID-19 Thursday, after bottoming out at 950 on April 25, for a 17% jump in the past 10 days. Virus patients in intensive care units during the same window spiked 50%, from 112 to 168, CDPH reported Friday. Some of the state’s highest transmission rates are now being recorded in the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco now has the highest daily case rate at 32 per 100,000, a 66% increase compared to two weeks earlier.
