This is an increase of 2.3% compared to the previous week, the department said on its website.
In the same Aug. 9 update, the state health department reported that COVID-19 was the cause of 1.8% of total deaths in California over the previous seven days.
On July 30, 1.9% of recent deaths in the state were tied to the novel coronavirus, the agency said.
In the Sacramento area, the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant in Elk Grove, which serves a population of nearly 1.5 million residents, reported a medium concentration of COVID-19 as of Thursday morning, according to WastewaterSCAN.
The data source was created to assess infectious diseases from wastewater treatment plants across the nation. It tests COVID, as well as RSV and influenza.
Cases of a new COVID-19 strain, known as KP.3.1.1, have nearly doubled in recent weeks, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Good Brigade/GettyImages
Is there a new coronavirus variant?
Cases of a new COVID-19 strain, known as KP.3.1.1 , have nearly doubled in recent weeks, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Aug. 3, the variant was linked to about 27.8% of all COVID-19 cases.
Eric Topol, a molecular medicine professor at Scripps Research, wrote in a post on X that the new variant poses “more of a challenge to our immune response than KP.3 and prior variants” — especially for those without latest vaccinations.
Variations in symptoms between the FLiRT variants and the original COVID-19 strain have not yet been identified. Imgorthand/Getty Images
While the new strains of COVID-19 are “indeed more transmissible than the original (ancestral) strain of SARS-CoV-2,” variations in symptoms between the FLiRT variants and the original COVID-19 strain have not yet been identified , the medical association reported in July.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, KP.3.1.1 cases have nearly doubled. Getty Images
Is coronavirus still a problem as school starts?
The latest increase in coronavirus cases stems from the FLiRT subvariants, according to UC Davis Health.
“I think a lot of families have moved on from COVID but COVID is still with us and has been making that known this summer with the latest surge,” Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, said in a Q&A with the hospital.
Blumberg recommends that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Additionally, Blumberg advises that parents test their children if they aren’t feeling well and to mask up when traveling or in crowded areas.
In June, the CDC announced the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be available this fall 2024. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Will COVID vaccines protect me?
“The newest vaccine works really well ” to protect yourself from FLiRT variants, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor and doctor specializing in infectious disease at the University of California, San Francisco, told The Sacramento Bee in May.
Vaccines are consistently updated to the latest strain of COVID-19 to help people avoid severe disease and hospitalization, Chin-Hong said.
You can lower your chances of getting sick by staying up to date on vaccines, staying home when feeling unwell and treating any symptoms
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