Post-Thanksgiving COVID Spike in California Seniors

Today’s San Diego Union-Tribune reports that there is a “troubling spike in coronavirus-positive hospital admissions among seniors in California, rising to levels not seen since the summer Omicron surge.

Hospitalizations have roughly tripled for Californians of most age groups since the autumn low. But the jump in seniors in need of hospital care has been particularly dramatic. Still, there is optimism that any winter surge will not be as bad as those of the last two years.

Rising hospitalization rates are a reason health officials are urging people, especially seniors, to get the updated COVID-19 booster shot and, if they test positive and are eligible, to access therapeutic drugs that probably will reduce the severity of any illness.

Only 35 percent of California’s vaccinated seniors age 65 and up have received the updated booster since it became available in olds, about 21 percent have received the updated booster. The rate is 12 percent for younger adults, 9 percent for adolescents and 8 percent for 5- to 11-year-olds. The updated booster rate for all vaccinated Californians age 5 and up is 18 percent. …

Here’s a catcher: “The coronavirus outlook has deteriorated rather suddenly since Thanksgiving around swaths of California.”

On Nov. 17, all but one of California’s 58 counties — Imperial — was in the low COVID-19 community level as defined by the CPC, which measures hospitalization rates. On Thanksgiving, three more counties — Fresno, Madera and Del Norte — joined Imperial in the medium category.

On Thursday, 23 counties entered the medium level: Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Clara, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Sonoma, Monterey, Placer, Merced, Marin, Yolo, Butte, El Dorado, Kings, Nevada, Mendocino, Tehama, San Benito, Tuolumne, Siskiyou, Glenn, Mariposa and Sierra.

About 22 million people, 55 percent of Californians, live in counties now at the medium level.

Here in San Diego County, we’re still in the CDC’s low level, but coronavirus-related hospitalizations are on the rise.

According to the California Department of Public Health, there were 306 confirmed and suspected coronavirus hospitalizations in San Diego County on Wednesday, one more than was the case on the same day one year ago. Intensive care bed use, however, shows the true difference. Last year, according to state records, the region’s hospitals collectively had 84 intensive care beds holding COVID-19 patients compared with just 26 on Wednesday.

Overall, the region’s weekly respiratory virus report showed continued increases in both flu and coronavirus activity. There were nearly 2,700 total confirmed influenza cases detected last week, up slightly from the nearly 2,400 detected two weeks ago. The percentage of patients in emergency rooms with flulike symptoms increased from 10 percent to 11 percent.

Officials and health experts are warning that immunity against COVID-19 weakens over time. The booster is especially important for older people, who are at higher risk for severe illness and death. “The people who are dying today are principally people who are unvaccinated or haven’t gotten an up-to-date vaccine,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Thursday in an online forum with the Public Policy Institute of California.

COVID-19 deaths in the state have remained stable at 100 to 200 a week. However, there is concern that increases in cases and hospg talizations could lead S? more fatalities.

Of all age groups, 70-plus is the only one that is seeing its hospitalization rate in California exceed that of the summer Omicron peak, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New coronavirus-positive hospitalizations have doubled in just 2% weeks to 8.86 for every 100,000 Californians age 70 and up. The summer peak, in July, was 8.36; the autumn low, just before Halloween, was 3.09.

The latest report from San Diego County Health, from Dec. 1, states:

While signs of any potential Thanksgiving surge of COVID-19 and the flu won’t show up until next week’s data is released, cases for both illnesses are continuing to trend up. COVID-19 cases will surpass 10,000 for the month of November, far exceeding the 7,482 cases recorded in October.

Flu cases are also continuing to increase, reaching 2,694 last week, up from 2,375 the previous week. For the season to date, San Diego County has recorded 12,946 cases of the flu compared to 424 at this time last year.

San Diegans are urged to get their flu and COVID vaccines before the peak holiday period. It takes two weeks until the body reaches full immunity.