Update, 5:30 p.m. Sunday: Santa Clara County officials are warning that the upcoming holiday season is expected to coincide with a spike in COVID-19, nearly as severe as the omicron surge last year. The county moved into the high-risk designation over the weekend, prompting the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend people wear high-quality masks in public spaces. Dr. Sara Cody, the county’s health officer, says levels of the virus in San José’s sewer system — which draws from three quarters of the county’s population — are already at about 84% of the omicron peak.
“We not only have COVID as we’ve had the last two winters, but we have flu and RSV and other viruses circulating as well,” said Cody. “So it’s like a winter of viral soup. There’s a ton of virus circulating and if you want to be healthy for the holidays, you need to take action and you need to do it now.”
RSV refers to respiratory syncytial virus, a respiratory infection common in childhood, that can potentially cause pneumonia and other serious lung ailments. Cody said the flu and RSV seasons also began early this year, though RSV is beginning to plateau.
Original story, 5:30 p.m. Friday: More stringent masking rules have been reinstated for certain high-risk settings in Alameda, Contra Costa and Napa counties to protect against the spread of COVID-19, health officials said Friday.
Universal masking is now required for staff and residents in homeless shelters, emergency shelters and cooling and heating centers. It’s also now required in county correctional and detention centers.
Per state guidance, masking in these settings becomes required after the level of community spread of COVID-19, as defined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shifts from low to medium. Alameda and Contra Costa county officials said community spread moved from low to medium on Thursday, and that they will require high-risk settings to abide by the state’s guidance. Napa County officials on Friday said they also now are at medium, and will likewise require masking per state guidance.
Masking continues to be required in health care and long-term care facilities.