Omicron blamed for up to 70% of cases in parts of California | California News

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By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The highly contagious variant of omicron is evident in 50-70% of new coronavirus cases in parts of the most populous state as the holidays approach while California is on the point of registering 5 million confirmed cases of COVID -19, health officials said on Friday.

Omicron has quickly become the most common form of the coronavirus in the United States, accounting for 73% of all cases, federal officials said in the latest national estimate on Monday. The United States recorded its first confirmed omicron infection just three weeks ago in a San Francisco resident who recently visited South Africa.

It is now “detected in increasing proportions in sewage in several parts of California,” the California Department of Public Health said.

At least three of the state’s health systems have reported that about 50% to 70% of their coronavirus cases are compatible with omicron, the department said without naming the systems.

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He warned that full genomic sequencing of virus samples is on hold and takes several days, but said the first California results followed the nationwide estimate.

“Overall, clinical and sewage data indicate that cases of omicron are present in most areas of the state,” officials said.

As of Friday, the state had 4,990,016 confirmed cases and more than 75,000 deaths so far. The reporting of cases is expected to be delayed due to the holidays.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday California was better positioned to handle the outbreak than it was a year ago, when severe cases strained hospitals and morgues, and is up to now less affected than many other states.

Much of the omicron coronavirus variant remains unknown, including whether it causes more or less severe illness. But the British public health agency said Thursday that the first data suggests that people with the omicron variant are between 50% and 70% less likely to need hospitalization than those with the delta strain.

Local authorities were also sounding the alarm on the rapid spread of the new variant.

Cases in San Francisco are increasing three times faster than during the delta-fueled summer outbreak, the San Francisco Department of Public Health said Thursday. Although the variant can usually result in less severe illness than delta, officials have warned that “transmission is so much higher that San Francisco will likely experience high rates of hospitalizations in the weeks to come.”

Los Angeles County, the country’s most populous, reported more than 6,500 new cases on Wednesday. That figure is double the number of cases on Tuesday, and on Friday there were 9,988 new cases. Health officials feared it could climb to more than 20,000 cases a day by the end of the year.

Barbara Ferrer, county public health director, said the doubled number of cases from Tuesday to Wednesday represents “one of the biggest increases we’ve ever seen during the pandemic.”

“These numbers clearly show that we are heading for a very difficult time during the holidays,” she said. “If our number of cases continues to increase at a rapid rate over this week and into the next, we may be looking at numbers of cases that we have never seen before. “

Orange County reported more than 650 positive tests on Thursday, up from around 400 on a given day last week, and Dr Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county’s deputy health worker, attributed most of the increase to omicron.

A workplace holiday party with about 50 people in Davis, west of Sacramento, has led to an outbreak of at least 16 cases, at least 10 of which have been identified as having omicron, said people. Yolo County officials. All 16 were fully immunized and eight had received their booster.

Public health officials also said at least 28 people vaccinated tested positive after a holiday party in Marin County, north of San Francisco, and they believe it is the omicron variant. .

Scientists say omicron spreads even more easily than other strains of coronavirus, including delta. Early studies suggest that those vaccinated will need a booster to have the best chance of preventing an omicron infection, but even without the extra dose, the vaccination should still offer strong protection against serious illness and death.

Newsom kept that hope alive by urging people to get vaccinated or get vaccinated.

“We are all exhausted by this,” he admitted. “But we have something that we have never had in the past, and that is the power of these life-saving vaccines and the power to be empowered to get through this arguably fifth wave of this pandemic.”

Associated Press writers Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles and Amy Taxin in Orange County contributed to this story.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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