CDC recommends mask mandates for nearly a quarter of California counties as Covid’s summer surge grows

In the current guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention13 of the 58 districts of California have passed the “high” level of Covid in 13 days and are required to apply masks indoors. They include some of the most populous towns in the state, such as Santa Clara and Sacramento, as well as smaller ones, such as Del Norte and San Benito.

The decision on the return of mandatory repatriation coverage rests not with the CDC, but with the local health authorities. The CDC statement is only a strong recommendation. At least one of the new “high-ranking” countries, Alameda, announced today that it will return to home masks.

Del Norte, Marini, Mendocino, Monterey, Solano, El Dorado, Plecer, Yolo and Sonoma complete the list of cutting edge communities.

The Sacramento City Unified School District has said it will revert to universal masks if the country moves to a higher social level than it has been, but no official steps have been taken. While not in one of 13 high-risk countries, the San Diego South Bay Union School District and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo have just restored mandatory indoor face coverings.

The Los Angeles-based High Representative for Public Health said today that her country will also travel in the “high” category, likely by the end of June, if the rate of growth in hospitalizations continues. If that happens, she says Los Angeles will also require indoor masks.

The CDC uses the 100,000-bed capacity in a new hospital in Kovid and the number of new cases per 100,000 to determine the status of the community. The level of the Covid community is higher: new recipients per 100,000 inhabitants or a metric of fixed beds. This can be higher or lower, depending on the current level of new cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days. See the diagram below.

Most of the communities in California that hit the “high” threshold today have a fairly large hospital capacity, but having one new patient for every 100,000 residents is pushing them away from the “average.” Sacramento and Placer top the list with 12.1 per 100,000. The villages of Sonoma and Marin will arrive on 11.8. Solano County sees 11.5 new beneficiaries per 100,000. Santa Clara and Monterey are at 10.1.

A rate of 100 or more new infections in every 100,000 is considered a high level of transmission. Each of the 13 high-level communities now has at least twice as many cases.

Sacramento, for example, is at 284,100,000. Marine is 400. Santa Clara is 421. These rates are based on recorded test results. Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said that with so many Americans now using the tests at home, the actual number of cases is likely to be three times that recorded.

And with new hospitalizations for infections taking 2-3 weeks, it’s good that the impact on California’s health system is more severe as the summer begins.