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SJC positivity rate at 21.8%; hospital cases lag behind
Covid testing Ceres
Medical personnel have been setting up COVID testing in the Ceres Community Center parking lot since last month. - photo by Jeff Benziger

One out of every 5 people taking COVID-19 tests in San Joaquin County are now testing positive.

The 21.8 percent positivity rate represents a 12.1 percent increase from Dec. 30. It is the highest positivity rate for tests since the start of the pandemic in Mach 2020.

On the flipside patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 ate still significantly lower than three previous peaks that ranged from 225 to 320 COVID patients in the county’s seven hospitals.

There are currently 119 patients hospitalized with COVID. That’s up 12 from earlier in the week for an 11.2 percent increase.

The county data would appear to suggest vaccinations are reducing the severity of illness when people contract COVID and do develop symptoms.

The first two cases of the omicron variant in San Joaquin County were detected last week. The Centers for Disease Control indicates that overall those that become ill when they catch the omicron variant are tending to be less sick.

In the past seven days, seven more people in Manteca have died due to COVID complications. That brings the Manteca toll to 176 since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

There has been an additional death in Lathrop to bring the number to 32. The Ripon death toll stayed unchanged at 29.

There have been 1,909 overall deaths in San Joaquin County. Of those 65.7 percent or 1,254 have been those 65 years and older. In other age groups 466 have died who are between the ages of 50 and 64, 188 between the ages of 18 and 49, and one person in the 17 and under age bracket.

Just over 20 percent had no or known underlying comorbidity.

In excess of 35 percent had diabetes, nearly 30 percent cardiovascular disease, 15 percent were obese, 6 percent had asthma, and roughly 14 percent had chronic lung disease.

There are currently 128 confirmed cases of COVID in Manteca, 50 in Lathrop and 22 in Ripon.

Manteca now has 72.5 percent of its target age groups fully vaccinated and another 9.8 percent with one shot. The percentages for Lathrop are 86.7 percent and 12.4 percent. Ripon’s number are 65 percent and 8.1 percent.

 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwaytt@mantecabulletin.com