Another factor: California threw off its Covid restrictions on June 15. Nearly all the recent case rate growth — it was 2.2 per 100,000 — has happened since then.
At present, 63% of Californians 12 years of age and older are fully vaccinated. Children under the age of 12 are not currently eligible for any authorized vaccines, so accounting for that roughly 13% of the population brings the percentage of the state’s residents who are fully vaccinated down to approximately 55%.
But the number of daily new cases in the state is currently about triple what it was last October 26, meaning the rise in infections is starting from a higher floor, even as the number of daily tests administered is nearly the same. The other trusted measure of virus spread, test positivity rate, is up eightfold since June 3, from .08% to 6.4%.
Hospitalizations — a lagging indicator — have increased more than sixfold since then to over 7,000 reported on Wednesday. The last time they were that high was February 20. The difference now is they’re on the rise instead of falling.The final lagging indicator — deaths — have thankfully not picked up yet, likely due to vaccinations. They hit a recent high of 23 on July 31. On February 24, they were at 165.
Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)