In California, a common wave is washing, and the number of newly confirmed cases and hospitalizations in the state continues to increase as some officials urge the public to take bigger precautions.
Recent growth has prompted some county-level health officials to recommend that residents consider wearing masks in indoor public environments again, at least until transmission drops.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California currently has high levels of sewage-induced inflammatory coronavirus. Golden State is seeing growth from Los Angeles County to the San Francisco Bay area to areas around the state capital.
The CDC estimates that in 30 states, including California, coronavirus infections either “grow” or “probably grow.” 21 states have “very high” or “high” virus levels in wastewater. In all parts of the United States, the West has the highest levels of coronavirus in wastewater, followed by the South.
“California is experiencing common waves of summer,” said Dr. Aimee Sisson, a health official in Yolo County, west of Sacramento.
The rate at which coronavirus lab tests are recovering positive continues to climb. In the week ending August 23, 12.07% of tests across the state recovered positive, compared with a 6.03% rate for the week ending July 26.
There is a similar rate in Los Angeles County, where the positive test rate is 13.44%, up from 8.11% four weeks ago; in Orange County, it is 18.1%, up from 9.4%, and in San Francisco, it is 8.7%, up from 7.1%.
Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional director of regional infectious diseases in Southern California, said she received many calls related to outpatient cases of Covid-19 during the Labor Day weekend.
“We’re sure to see growth in Covid patients,” Hudson said. “Thankfully, hospitalization cases are rare and far apart. However, wastewater in Los Angeles is still rising, so we’re not yet at the top of the current wave.”
Overall, Covid activity was not seen in the range of a year ago this summer, as the state has experienced its worst summer wave since 2022.
“We will have to understand the direction of the next week to two to give us a better idea of where we end up,” Hudson said. She said that on holiday weekends, students returning to school and traveling and socializing students may further drive the spread of the virus.
Overall levels of co-hospitalization remain “low” but are increasing.
In the week ending on August 23, Kuved was admitted to hospital for 3.62 times per 100,000 residents; the rate from 1.9 four weeks ago was as high as 1.9. The recent pace is also higher than the peak of winter, with hospital admissions per 100,000 residents at 2.61.
In Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Clara County, the emergency department also experiences a similar disease in the internet. In Los Angeles County, 2.8% of emergency room visits are targeting a fever plus a cough or sore throat, up from 2.2% four weeks ago. In Orange County, 2.6% of emergency medical visits are for similar illness, up from 1.5%.
“The current percentage of Covid-19 positives is higher than any time last winter,” said Christopher Zimmerman of the Orange County Health Care Department’s infectious disease control unit and County Health Officer Regina Chisio-kwong.
As of August 23, Orange County’s total hospital stay was 1.9%, due to the collective — higher than any moment in winter, but less than half of the peak of 4% last summer.
However, it is unclear “how high or severe the common waves may be this summer,” said Zimmerman and Chinsio-kwong, who noted that the rise this year was later than it started in 2024.
In Los Angeles County, hospitalizations for Covid-19 are currently higher than peaks last winter, but are still lower than peaks in the last two summers, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Sacramento and West Sacramento have high levels of coronavirus in wastewater, which is one of the most populous cities in Yulo County, said Sesen. Sisson recommends that everyone over 2 years of age wear masks in West Sacramento “welcome masks around others in indoor public places” because of the high levels of coronavirus in sewage.
For other areas in Yolo County, including UC Davis and Woodland, the virus levels in wastewater are considered “moderate”, Sisson said she advises her to wear masks indoors “if they are 65 or older, have a weakened immune system, have a potential medical condition that puts them in greater companionship, or put people around these categories in these categories, which are at a higher risk, or are at a time for those categories.
“Wearing a high-quality mask like N95, KN95 or KF94, it provides strong protection very well,” Sisson said.
Sacramento County Department of Health Services spokesman Casey Camacho said coronavirus cases are increasing in Sacramento County and coronavirus wastewater levels are high.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health also encourages people to “consider wearing the right mask in crowded indoor spaces, including staying at home if they feel uncomfortable when traveling.” Coronavirus levels in San Francisco wastewater and Kuved’s hospitalization this summer “but remained below the peak last summer.”
In Santa Clara County, the most populous county in Northern California, with co-related hospitalization, coronavirus levels are “high” in the sewers in San Jose and Palo Alto. Now, virus levels in wastewater are similar to those in the summer of 2023, but have not yet reached the peak of last summer. Public health officials said co-hospitalization rates are also lower than in recent summer.
The 2025-26 version of the COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be available in a few days at some pharmacy retailers in the country, such as Walgreens and CVS. But some people are frustrated by the new rules issued by the Trump administration, which actually requires young, healthy people under the age of 65 who do not say they have an underlying health condition to consult a health care provider in order to receive a COVID vaccination in the fall.
“Vaccination remains one of the most effective ways to prevent serious illness and death from Covid-19,” Sisson said.
The request was criticized by former surgeon Jerome Adams, the first Trump administration to serve. In a social media post, Adams said people were asked to consult with health care providers before getting a Covid vaccine to raise “real barriers to access.”
Even if you have insurance and can see a doctor (which is not small in the United States), many doctors will be silent, prescribing drugs with “close labels” because (in many cases, the recent rhetoric scholar of HHS leaders) are at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy, who has a history of devaluing vaccines, said he wants more research on 19 shots. Other health experts also said that seeking other tests for the Covid vaccine is unnecessary given the extensive testing before the first distribution and the records since then.
“The most important thing? Both are statistically (according to HHS’ own data) and pragmatically untrue, that 100% of people who choose Covid vaccines can get one.’ Continue to repeat this reflects a lack of knowledge, empathy or honesty,” Adams wrote.
