California Coronavirus Update: California Begins Closing COVID-19 Test Sites

1:03 PM: Scientists say it’s possible to have COVID-19 and flu at the same time

If you know someone in your family or social circle is currently sick, they probably have either COVID, the flu, a cold, or RSV. As waves of disease hit many homes, some wonder: Could we have caught more than one of these germs at the same time?

The answer is yes. NPR reportedthere is plenty of evidence of people testing positive for something like COVID and the flu, or the flu and RSV, at the same time.

With so many viruses surging this year, the risk of multiple infections is particularly high.

It is unclear how often this is done, because most of these tests are done on hospitalized patients. However, some studies have found co-infection in up to 20% of these patients.

11:15 am: WHO urges China to release more information on current COVID-19 surge

The World Health Organization has appealed to China to continue to release information about its recent wave of COVID-19 infections.

As reported by the Associated Press, this comes after weeks of complaints that China was not telling the world what was going on, as the government announced nearly 60,000 virus-related deaths since early December. This was after the announcement of

The announcement marked the first official figures since the ruling Community Party abruptly withdrew virus restrictions despite a surge in infections that flooded hospitals.

A WHO statement said the information “allows for a better understanding” of the epidemic, and called on China to continue to share detailed information of this kind.

11:28 am: Nearly 16 million people signed the Affordable Care Act this year

The Affordable Care Act health insurance market just set a record: nearly 16 million people insured. NPR reported.

That’s about 1 million more than the people who enrolled in ACA health insurance last year. California is accepting registrations at healthcare.gov through January 31st.

What drives the uptrend? A big reason is that the plans are now cheaper than before. The federal government is pouring billions into subsidies to keep costs down for consumers.

According to health officials, 4 in 5 subscribers are on plans that cost $10 or less per month, and 5 million people without insurance are on the $0 premium plan.

12:04 PM: New COVID variant infections overtake RSV, flu cases

As the new year begins and the dead of winter approaches, US infectious disease experts who are watching the viral “triple disease” stew that has plagued the US say there is good news and bad news.

NPR reports: The worst of the RSV surge appears to be over. Cases have been steadily declining since the end of November, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Influenza also appears to have finally subsided in most regions after a sharp spike earlier this fall.

But the bad news is that COVID-19 is plaguing medical professionals once again. In some parts of the United States, he has tripled or quadrupled the rate of coronavirus detection in wastewater.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have increased by 70% and 300-400 people die from COVID every day.

To make matters worse, this is all happening because another new, even more contagious variant, XBB.1.5, has taken over. According to new CDC estimates, XBB1.5 now accounts for nearly one-third of new infections and is the predominant variant in the Northeast.

12:44 PM: Sacramento restaurants can apply for city grants to build outdoor dining patios

Early in the COVID pandemic, the city of Sacramento allowed temporary dining on sidewalks and parking lots, but now the city is encouraging restaurants to build permanent patios with its outdoor dining grant program. doing.

The city council unanimously approved the new program Tuesday night. The restaurant owner said he could apply for up to $20,000 from the city by June. However, the outdoor dining area has to be built by June 2024.

Funding for the grant comes from the COVID Relief Fund of the Rescue Plans Act of America. The council ultimately approved a total of $1.7 million for the outdoor dining grant program.

Learn more about the city’s outdoor dining program. Apply for a patio grant on the city’s website.

6:02 pm: Sacramento drivers spend less time in traffic jams than pre-pandemic

This is in line with most other cities in the United States, where hours of traffic jams have nearly halved since 2019. 2022 Global Traffic Scorecard By mobility analytics firm INRIX. The average U.S. driver will spend 51 hours in traffic in 2022, an increase of 15 hours from 2021.

INRIX Transportation Analyst Bob Pishue said: told NPR Rising gas prices helped slow the rise to pre-pandemic commuting levels, he said.

“2022 was set to be the year of recovery, the year of a return to new post-pandemic norms of behavior, but rising oil prices, supply chain disruptions and inflation have put a stop to that,” Pischue said. Stated.

In Sacramento, average congestion hours increased by 44% from 2021, but decreased by the same amount from 2019. His 36 hours of traffic ranked him 25th in the United States.

Chicago topped the US list with 156 hours lost, while Los Angeles and San Francisco came in sixth and seventh with about 90 hours.

12:11 PM: Travelers, families reunite as China eases reopening restrictions

The first international travelers are arriving in China without the mandatory quarantine imposed at the start of the pandemic three years ago.

The easing of border restrictions comes even as the virus continues to spread in China amid critics of a lack of transparency from Beijing, according to the Associated Press.

More foreign governments are imposing testing requirements on travelers from China. Most recently Germany, Sweden and Portugal.

Thousands of travelers from semi-autonomous Hong Kong crossed to mainland China on Sunday, some of whom have been separated from their families since the pandemic.

Like other passengers from overseas, they still have to show negative test results taken within 48 hours, a measure protested by China when imposed by other countries.

10:23 am: Sacramento City Schools Will Not Require Masks From Students After Winter Break

Students in the City of Sacramento Unified School District will not be required to wear masks when they return from winter break on Monday, after Sacramento County averted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s highest COVID-19 risk level.

On December 22nd, the CDC set Sacramento County to the “high” community level. This is a measure of her COVID-19 risk considering the number of cases in the area and the capacity of local hospitals. SCUSD policy requires students and staff to wear masks indoors if the county’s risk level is high.

District officials did not require students to wear masks on Dec. 23, the last day of school before winter break, but said they would if the county remained at the highest risk level when students returned. I was.

Last week, the CDC moved Sacramento County to the “medium” level and kept it on Thursday.The CDC releases new rankings every Thursday.

No county in California remains at the highest risk level for COVID-19 after Los Angeles and Imperial moved to “medium” this week. At the moderate level, health officials recommend that anyone with a weakened immune system or at high risk of getting sick wear a mask or respirator in indoor public spaces.

12:13 PM: Hospitals run out of beds as COVID-19 spreads again across China

The COVID-19 outbreak has expanded public health facilities in China.

Suiyang Hospital, east of Beijing, ran out of beds by mid-morning on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

The beleaguered nurses and doctors rushed to gather information and triage the most urgent cases. Last month, China abandoned its toughest pandemic restrictions after nearly three years of lockdowns, travel bans and school closures.

These actions dealt a heavy blow to the economy and sparked street protests not seen since late 1982. The EU has “strongly demanded” member states to test passengers from China for COVID-19. “Encourage” and responded with a warning of “Countermeasures” when such policies were imposed.