coronavirus

‘We're Really Encouraged by This': Bay Area COVID-19 Curve Flattening

Statewide, the governor says the positivity rate is down to around 3.1% on average, and he says testing will be ramping up.

NBC Universal, Inc.

There is some positive news on the COVID fight -- the curve in the Bay Area is really flattening. Case numbers are down to where they were before the summer surge.

In the South Bay, only 2% of people being tested for COVID-19 are coming back positive and just 109 people are hospitalized for it. The lowest numbers since June before the second wave. 

“We’ve seen all of this come down and we’re really encouraged by this,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, UCSF infectious disease specialist. 

She believes fewer people are going to the hospital because more of the COVID cases are in young people who don’t have as severe symptoms, and testing is going up.

“I think we’ve done a better job at controlling infections in skilled nursing facilities, and the vulnerable getting infected. There’s a lot of testing there. I think that we are doing a great job masking,” Gandhi said.

The state now focuses on test positivity rate, and case numbers per 100,000 people to judge how a county is doing, not as much on hospitalizations.

Dr. Gandhi says it’s because we never filled our hospitals, but those are still good indicators.

“I think it’s fair to say watching community transmission go down has absolutely, completely been reflected in hospitalizations and severe illness. So in a way, it’s a herald I think makes sense,” she said.

Santa Clara is in the red tier of the state’s reopening blueprint, and has been for 13 days, which means schools can reopen for in-person classes with protocols Wednesday. Though many are staying online. 

Statewide, the governor says the positivity rate is down to around 3.1% on average, and he says testing will be ramping up.

“We will have more clarity and more assurance in our capacity to move more swiftly to not only reopen different sectors of our economy more fully, but also reopen our schools in a more sustainable way,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

Contact Us