Rates of COVID-19, RSV and influenza are rising in Yolo and Sacramento counties and local public health officers are encouraging precautions for the fourth holiday season in a row.
Municipal wastewater data, collected by WastewaterSCAN, shows that SARS-CoV-2 and RSV levels in Yolo County are at their highest since last winter’s surge. Sacramento hasn’t seen COVID rates this high since January 2022, during the spread of the Omicron variant.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data tracker shows the region, including Placer and El Dorado counties, is one of a few in California currently in the “medium” range for COVID hospitalizations, with the latest data showing 246 hospitalizations across the four counties over the course of a week in early December.
"I recommend that everybody in the community take steps to protect themselves from infection, including wearing a high-quality mask when indoors around others,” said Yolo County’s Public Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson in a press release issued Wednesday. “In addition, if you have not yet gotten the updated COVID-19 vaccine, annual flu vaccine, and RSV vaccine, I strongly encourage you to do so—it is not too late."
Sacramento County’s public health department also continues to strongly recommend vaccination for COVID and influenza, and recommend that people at higher risk wear masks.
“Based on wastewater data and current case rates, we have not deemed it necessary to implement any additional safety precautions,” said Department of Health Services spokesperson Samantha Mott.
According to the latest data, about 17% of eligible Yolo County residents have received the latest COVID-19 vaccination, and 13.1% of eligible Sacramentans have. The numbers were higher than the statewide average of about 11.5%.
In October, some Sacramento residents complained of long waits and unconventional hours of COVID and flu vaccine clinics in the first vaccination rollout since the end of the local and federal states of emergency. If you want to get the shot and have had trouble finding the time, here’s a guide on how to get it if you work during the day.
According to the California Department of Public Health, since Oct. 1 of this year, 1,079 people in California have died from COVID-19, and 81 people have died from influenza.
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