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California rolls out plan for long-term coexistence with Covid, against future surges and new variants


A COVID-19 test site is set up on a sidewalk in downtown Los Angeles, California, November 16, 2021.

Mike Blake | Reuters

On Thursday, California released a plan to manage Covid as a permanent aspect of life, predicting future outbreaks and new variations that may require public health measures like masks depending on the extent to which the virus disrupts economic and social activity.

California Health Secretary Dr Mark Ghaly said the state’s response will depend on the dominant Covid variant circulating at any given time, the extent of disease this variant causes and the number of people it requires to be imported. caused by this strain.

Ghaly did not provide specific reasons for adopting public health measures. A more lethal variant might require California to focus on infection numbers, he said, while a less virulent strain might require focusing on hospital admissions.

Ghaly said California is likely to experience seasonal Covid spikes in the fall and winter, and the state will be closely watching whether those spikes are caused by interesting new variations or familiar ones. cause. The health minister said the state would impose measures such as face masks if the specific strain of Covid was causing severe disruption to hospitals and businesses.

“There may need to be a moment when we all wear masks to get through certain situations, so we don’t overwhelm the healthcare delivery system or give anesthesia,” Ghaly said. list its business.

The response plan aims to use wastewater monitoring to detect virus transmission early, so the state can quickly sort out new variants as they emerge and identify within 45 days. if vaccines, tests, and treatments are effective against this strain of virus. The state will quickly deploy more tests and ramp up health care workers to areas affected by the increase in transmission, according to the plan.

California plans to have the capacity to do at least 500,000 Covid tests and 200,000 vaccines daily, as well as increase 3,000 health care workers within two to three weeks. The state will stockpile 75 million high-quality masks, thousands of ventilators and purchase 30 million more over-the-counter Covid tests, according to Ghaly.

California will also focus on keeping people up to date on their vaccines, especially children who are newly eligible as well as the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, Ghaly said.

California allowed the global indoor mask regulation to expire on Tuesday as the omicron wave subsided in the state. Vaccinated people are no longer required to wear masks indoors, although state health officials strongly encourage them to do so. On the other hand, unvaccinated people are still required to wear masks when entering public indoor places such as shops, restaurants and theatres.

California’s mask regulations for schools remain in effect. State health officials will assess what the pandemic will look like in California by the end of the month and provide a timeframe for when the school mask mandate turns to recommendations, Ghaly said earlier this week.

California is reporting a seven-day average of about 13,800 new Covid cases per day, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, down 61 percent over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Average cases in the state peaked at more than 123,000 per day on January 16.

Nearly 8,500 patients are currently being treated in California hospitals with Covid, according to seven-day average data from the Department of Health and Human Services as of Thursday. This is down 22% over the past week and about half of the peak omicron levels seen at the end of January. The peak of the state pandemic with more than 23,600 Covid patients hospitalized was set on January 14, 2021.

– by CNBC Nate Rattner contributed to this report.



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