A WEEK after California lifted its stay-at-home order, the state is experiencing a steady decline in case numbers and hospitalizations.
On Tuesday, February 2, 12,064 COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total cases since the pandemic started to 3,270,770. Meanwhile, 422 fatalities were reported, for a total of 41,330 deaths.
In terms of hospitalizations, 14,221 individuals remain hospitalized and 3,797 in intensive care.
With hospitalizations and confirmed cases falling, health officials are hopeful that the state is overcoming the latest surge.
“We haven’t seen a number like this in quite some time,” said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.
The seven-day positivity rate is 6.4% and the 14-day positivity rate is 7.2%. Earlier in January, the rate was over 12%.
In the past 14 days, COVID-19 hospitalizations have decreased 28.8% and COVID-19-related ICU admissions went down by 18.9%.
However, Ghaly cautioned that transmission continues to remain high, especially amid the reported variants.
“The chance for another surge in California is real. It’s still circulating in our communities,” said Ghaly. “Our case rates are down but not low.”
With the Regional Stay at Home Order rescinded statewide as of January 25, all counties are now under the rules and framework of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and color-coded tiers that indicate which activities and businesses are open based on local case rates and test positivity.
As of Tuesday, 54 counties of the 58 counties are in the purple tier, the most restrictive tier. Meanwhile, Mariposa County is in the red tier or substantial risk, and the counties of Alpine, Sierra and Trinity are in the orange or moderate.
Providers have reported administering a total of 3,649,440 vaccine doses statewide, though a breakdown of race/ethnicity data is not yet available. (AJPress)
