Update: Several factors led to spike in COVID cases, Stanislaus health officer says
Now that holiday gatherings are over, Stanislaus County is seeing a large increase in coronavirus cases.
A state data dashboard reported 1,426 new cases for the county. The California Department of Public Health dashboard said it was updated Tuesday morning with data from Monday. COVID-19 case data reported on Mondays usually represent a total for multiple days compiled over the weekend.
According to the state, the county’s 7-day average case rate was 23.4 per 100,000 population, the highest since November. The county public health online dashboard had technical problems and had not been updated with the most recent data, a county staff member said Tuesday morning. The sudden increase pushed the county’s case total to 85,793.
Kamlesh Kaur, a county public health educator, said the county recorded 1,440 new cases Monday, which was the three-day total from Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The state dashboard shows that 20 percent of COVID tests over the last week were positive. About 160 COVID-positive patients were hospitalized in Stanislaus County, after COVID-19 admissions were below 100 in December, according to state numbers.
The upsurge is a combination of people catching the omicron variant or the delta strain that dominated last year. Stanislaus County confirmed its first omicron case last week.
Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, the county’s public health officer, said she believes different factors resulted in the new surge. The omicron strain was starting to spread locally, and holiday gatherings and celebrations provided the opportunity for the virus to spread from person to person, she said.
Vaishampayan estimated that 30 percent of new cases are the omicron variant. “We still have a lot of delta” but omicron is spreading rapidly, she said.
According to county public health, the biggest increase in recent cases has affected adults ages 18 to 34. The county recommended that people who haven’t been vaccinated should make an appointment for the shots and those eligible for a booster shot should get one.
A booster shot is recommended to improve immunity at least six months after completing the Pfizer or Moderna vaccination or two months after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Appointments for vaccinations or boosters can be made at myturn.ca.gov.
The state uses clinical data and wastewater surveillance to track the omicron strain. That evidence shows omicron is likely spreading in most regions of California, a state news release said Monday.
“Data from several sources, including genetic sequencing from COVID-19 patients, wastewater surveillance and reports from health care partners, indicate that the proportion of cases due to the omicron variant is increasing rapidly,” the state said.
The California Department of Public Health said the omicron variant has mutations that make it more infectious and helps it evade components of the immune system. Many of the early omicron cases in the United States were vaccinated college students who did not come down with serious illness.
“We do not know at this time if this new variant causes more severe COVID-19 illness than other variants or how it might impact response to treatment,” the state news release said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says coronavirus vaccines are expected to prevent severe illness and hospitalization in people infected with the omicron strain.
Vaishampayan said there is no way of knowing yet if omicron is causing serious illness in county residents who are infected. It takes time to get genomic sequencing results back from state labs.
She said it’s not clear if the illness from omicron infection is less severe than other strains, as was suggested in early reports. It may seem less severe if the virus infects people that have some level of immunity from full vaccination, partial vaccination or a previous COVID infection, she said.
Vaishampayan said the coronavirus vaccines are protective against hospitalization and death, and that should be emphasized. “It’s unrealistic to think anything will be perfectly protective against infection,” she said.
According to CDC tracking from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, the omicron variant accounted for more than 90 percent of new cases in the United States and in a western region including California. The breakdown was about 60 percent delta and 40 percent omicron in mid-December.
The county advised anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 or is exposed to an infected person to follow isolation and quarantine instructions for the general public, which have been modified by the CDC and state Department of Public Health.
They should stay home and isolate for at least five days, instead of the previous 10-day requirement. If symptoms have gone away after five days, it is OK to leave home in the next five days as long as the person wears a well-fitting mask.
People who have symptoms after five days should stay home until the symptoms have resolved, or are resolving and a test taken on day 5 comes back negative. If they are free of symptoms after seven days, then wear a mask around others for three days to complete the 10-day isolation.
The person should remain isolated until fever goes away. If symptoms other than fever are not resolving, remain in isolation until symptoms are gone or until after day 10.
The isolation guidance applies to those who test positive for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status. These recommendations don’t apply to healthcare workers.
The state also has changed its quarantine guidelines consistent with the CDC. Quarantine applies to people who are exposed to another person infected with COVID-19 but may not have tested positive yet or developed symptoms. The new quarantine protocols depend on the person’s vaccination level.
Those exposed to someone who is COVID-positive may simply wear a mask around others for 10 days if they received a booster shot or completed the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccination in the last six months. It is two months for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Also, those people should get tested on the fifth day. Those who develop symptoms should be tested and follow the isolation protocols.
The quarantine rules for unvaccinated people, and eligible folks who declined a booster shot, are:
▪ Stay home for five days after exposure, get a COVID test on the fifth day, and wear a mask around others for five additional days if the test is negative.
▪ Those testing positive should follow the isolation recommendations.
▪ Those who are not able to get a test can end the quarantine after the 10th day if they have no symptoms.
The signs of COVID-19 infection are a fever, chills, fatigue, body aches, headache and shortness of breath.
Information about COVID-19 vaccinations and testing is available at www.schsa.org.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 1:25 PM.
