Hitting a daily average case rate of about 104 per 100, 000 population, San Francisco now ranks third in terms of transmission rate in California, San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The latest available numbers said the country logged an average of 896 daily cases in its seven-day average on Dec. 30. The figure exceeds twice the 388 cases, which became the previous peak on a seven-day average logged in January last year.
Intensive care beds are running low in Napa as the virus spreads again.
Los Angeles tops in terms of transmission rate with 118 cases per 100, 00 residents; while Mono County follows with 109 per 100, 000.
The Bay Area recorded a seven-day average at 63 cases, lower than that recorded across California with 75.
Apart from the seven-day average, the increase in numbers was also recorded in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the region since mid-September over the weekend.
According to a data analysis by The Chronicle, 746 hospital patients in the Bay Area have tested positive with the virus as of Sunday. Patients admitted in intensive care units hit 149, or a 50 percent increase since Christmas.
The hospitalization rates are already causing strain to the health care system. Leah Greenbaum, Napa county emergency services coordinator, said that no ICU beds are currently available in the county.
“The current surge is driving more patients to the health care system and it is also impacting staff,” she said. “When staff become infected with COVID-19 they cannot come into work and care for patients, which can cause significant strain on the health care system.”
Since mid-November, the hospitalization rate in the region has recorded a notable spike, especially with the continued threat of the delta variant and the spread of the new omicron variant.
The numbers are expected to continue climbing, Bay Area health officials said, as in-person school and work resumes following the winter break.
“The combination of the omicron variant being highly transmissible and holiday gatherings are contributing to the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Solano County, in California, and across the nation,” Solano County public health administrator Jayleen Richards said.
