The reopening of schools in Sacramento County has driven up the rates of COVID-19 cases among children and death rates are rising among Black or African American people and younger people in the county, health officials said.
Officials said in a weekly media briefing on Thursday that the county is still averaging about 500 to 600 COVID-19 cases per day, though deaths have increased to about five new deaths each day. The COVID-19 case rate stands at 38.4 per 100,000 people and hospitals are still near capacity.
Patients are being sent to other hospitals in the region, but not out of the county, Sacramento County Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye said. There are 425 people at area hospitals, close to the winter peak of 512, she said.
Kids now account for 1 in 5 of the total COVID-19 cases being reported, though officials said they don’t believe most of the spread is coming from within schools themselves.
“As schools open we are seeing an increase in cases among children,” Kasirye said. “Most of them are mild and do not require hospitalization.” She said that without social distancing at schools and most kids not yet eligible to be vaccinated, more cases are to be expected. “Fortunately, most of them are mild but of course we continue to be concerned about some children that might end up with severe disease,” she said. “That’s the reason we ask all the schools to implement the masking mandate, especially indoors.”
The county has a team that is working with schools to make sure that children are quarantined if necessary and schools have the testing resources that they need, she said.
Another county official, Nick Mori, said that trends have shown, for the most part, cases among children are happening due to community spread. “Many examples of cases that are being seen in school are examples of children who are acquiring COVID-19 either at home or somewhere outside of the school setting,” he said. “It’s then being detected. They’re being quarantined appropriately and we’re not seeing that spread to other people on campus.”
He recommended that parents with safety concerns look up what their child’s school is doing to follow COVID-19 safety guidance and talk to administrators about any issues.
Jamie White, epidemiology program manager for the county, said that over the last 30 days, data has shown more younger people dying than in the past.
The median age of those who died over the past month was 64, compared to 76 overall for the pandemic. Seventy-five percent of total deaths have been people aged 65 or older. But lately, that’s dropped closer to 50%, White said.
At the same time, the rates of Black or African American people in the county dying of COVID-19 is now much higher than it used to be.
Overall during the pandemic, the group represented 11.7% of deaths. But the rate is 24.1% for the past 30 days — about twice what would be expected given the population of Sacramento County overall, White said.
Kasirye said multiple factors could explain that rise but lower vaccination rates are a “major one.”
Health officials said they continue to work with community agencies and churches and partner with ethnic media to drive up vaccine confidence and rates in the Black community.
By subscribing, you consent to receive emails from BlackDoctor.com. You may unsubscribe at any time. Privacy Policy & Terms of Service.
