It's still far from clear what kind of COVID-19 increase California will see, and the state so far has been doing better than other parts of the country. But officials say they want to be ready.
California is preparing for a winter COVID-19 surge — if not from the newly identified Omicron variant, then from the Delta variant, which still poses a severe threat and has already caused surges in other states.
Still, the San Joaquin Valley’s most populous county, Fresno, has a COVID-19 hospitalization rate more than triple that of Los Angeles County, and Fresno officials are expecting the winter surge will again be bad.“An anticipated winter surge ... may strike in the next few weeks,” said Dr. Rais Vohra, the interim health officer for Fresno County. But unlike with last year, there are no plans for alternative care sites or cots at the convention center.
Nursing homes have become an area of focus in Los Angeles County. The county Department of Public of Health on Monday ordered that all skilled nursing facility residents, workers and contractors who might encounter residents must test for the coronavirus once a week, regardless of vaccination status, between Dec. 15 and Jan. 31.
“Rises like these after holidays are not unexpected,” Dr. Cameron Kaiser, a San Diego County deputy public health officer, said in a statement. For celebrations that are planned for December, “you may want to tone that down to small gatherings that are more safe,” Chinsio-Kwong said. “Hopefully, most guests are vaccinated and even then, really restrict how many people are going to gather ... or have the gathering outside.”Concerns remain about how transmissible Omicron may be.
“We should be cautious — as cautious as we can be while we’re getting more information about Omicron. But I also want to note: Delta [is still] highly infectious,” Ferrer said.
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