COVID Rates Skyrocket Amid BA.4, BA.5

By Emily Hoeven

California’s seven-day COVID-19 test positivity rate hit 15% on Monday, according to the state Department of Public Health — a rate approaching the record-high 22.5% logged in January during the height of the omicron surge. Although CalMatters’ tracker shows that hospitalizations have remained fairly stable and low — as have death rates — experts are raising concerns about the ultra-contagious omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which have become the dominant COVID strains nationwide and are infecting people who are fully vaccinated and boosted and those who previously tested positive.

• Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of UC San Francisco’s Department of Medicine, tweeted: Although vaccinations and boosters are still “hugely valuable” in protecting against hospitalization and death, “one of the biggest implications of BA.5: a prior infection — including an Omicron infection as recent as last month — no longer provides robust protection from reinfection.”
• Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County’s public health officer: “People are just wanting the pandemic to be over and acting accordingly. What I want to say as a motivator: You’re not protected from long COVID. And I don’t know about you, but if I can do my best to prevent something that will give me brain fog, that’s why I wear my KN95″ face mask.

In other coronavirus news:

• The California Department of Public Health recently unveiled updated COVID guidance for K-12 schools. One key takeaway: There is no statewide school mask mandate for the 2022-23 school year, but districts can implement tougher restrictions if they so choose.
• Meanwhile, a superior court judge on Tuesday struck down Los Angeles Unified School District’s student vaccine mandate, saying only the state — not school districts — can require kids to get the shots to attend in-person classes. But the move has no immediate effect, as the district delayed implementation of its mandate until July 2023 to align with the state’s own postponed timeline.

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