No end in sight for delta COVID surge. Will Stanislaus County leaders take action?
Stanislaus County leaders gave no indication Tuesday they would take action to slow a fast-spreading delta variant, which is sickening hundreds of residents with COVID-19 and filling beds in local hospitals.
While other jurisdictions are requiring proof of vaccination to enter bars or restaurants or enforcing rules for masking, the county hasn’t taken specific action to slow the spread of the delta variant. Last month, the county issued guidance that fully vaccinated people “may want the extra protection of wearing a mask indoors”.
Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, chief county health officer, told county supervisors Tuesday evening the current case rate of 32 per 100,000 population is similar to the coronavirus surge a year ago. The county’s positive test rate of 12.1 percent is more than three times the level in May.
So far, the county hasn’t seen the death toll of previous surges, which were a staggering 40 per week a year ago and peaked at 60-plus per week in January.
The public health officer said Oakdale is one of the hot spots in the county. Hospitalizations throughout the county climbed to 221 on Tuesday with no signs of flattening out.
California added 9,700 new cases Tuesday, at a rate six times higher for unvaccinated people, and reported 7,400 hospitalizations, eclipsing the highest number in summer 2020.
Supervisor Buck Condit asked staff about reports that Modesto hospitals were stressed by the influx of COVID patients, who often need breathing assistance.
“They still have beds; they still have capacity,” Vaishampayan said. “It changes every day. We try to keep in close touch with them to make sure they have capacity.”
Local hospital admissions for COVID-19 are still well below the 300-plus admissions of previous crises, but some were hoping to avoid putting that much stress on health care staff.
A top medical director over Doctors Medical Center said last week the statewide reopening in June was not a success and mitigations are needed to curtail the upsurge.
County Supervisor Terry Withrow said Wednesday the county won’t do any more or less than what the state orders in terms of infectious disease mitigations.
“We encourage everyone to get the vaccine, but people have the right if they don’t want to,” Withrow said, noting a high percentage of hospital admissions are unvaccinated people. “We are not going to force anyone to get the vaccine. We are going to respect their choices.”
Withrow said the county won’t impose restrictions on businesses again unless that is mandated by the state.
The county’s online dashboard does not post information about available beds in intensive care units since it was revamped. The county is sharing less COVID information on the Stanemergency Facebook page, which currently has advice for enduring the hot weather.
Cities like Sacramento have considered vaccine verification for getting into bars, restaurants and concerts or using a gym. But no such proposals have surfaced among local jurisdictions.
COVID infections tracked at schools
Stanislaus County and school districts are monitoring for coronavirus cases in schools that opened this month for in-class instruction.
Vaishampayan said 184 students and school staff are in isolation after testing positive, while 51 students and staff are in quarantine because they were exposed to infected individuals. There are 38 active quarantines at 23 different schools.
The number of vaccinated residents is up 1 percent across the board, with 47.6 percent of eligible people now fully vaccinated and 13.5 percent partly vaccinated.
This week, the California Department of Public Health issued an order for medical centers to accept patient transfers from smaller hospitals lacking ICU capacity. The state health order goes into effect Wednesday.
State health officials said they were taking action in advance to ensure California’s health system is prepared for a worsening surge of delta variant infections.
The state has surpassed 7,200 hospitalizations for COVID-19, which was the high mark during the summer 2020 crisis. It is one third of the COVID hospitalizations statewide in January, which skyrocketed to nearly 22,000.
“While the state works to further increase the number of eligible Californians vaccinated, we must take steps to protect the unvaccinated who are more at risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19,” a CDPH news release said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom also issued an executive order to waive licensing requirements for out-of-state medical personnel if they are needed to assist with care for COVID patients.
The CDPH news release said the increasing number of people being hospitalized for COVID-19 are “overwhelmingly unvaccinated.”
The state urged businesses and communities to promote vaccination and verification of vaccine status.
This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 8:50 AM.
