California law requires employers to report COVID-19 outbreaks to local health departments. Local health departments then report those data to CDPH.
Non-healthcare employers are required to report to their local health department when they identify three or more cases of COVID-19 in a workplace within 14 days. Local health departments determine whether the cases constitute an outbreak, using CDPH outbreak definitions, and report confirmed outbreaks to CDPH.
Latest Outbreak Data
Update as of November 28
From January 1, 2021 to November 28, 2022, a total of 37,457 confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks beginning in 2021-22 and 489,992 outbreak-related cases were reported to CDPH. Due to reporting delays, it is possible that additional outbreaks occurred during this time and have not yet been reported to CDPH.
Of these outbreaks, 2,425 (associated with 45,412 cases) began within the past 90 days. Among these outbreaks, the most common outbreak settings were:
Elementary and secondary schools (38.9%)
Residential care facilities (20.6%)
Skilled nursing facilities (14.0%)
Child day care services (3.4%)
Colleges, universities, and professional schools, including junior colleges (2.7%)
Outbreak data does not equate to transmission risk within a particular industry. Rates of outbreak identification and reporting may differ across settings, due to differences in testing and case tracking protocols. Also, the number of outbreaks in different settings will depend on the number of different workplaces in each setting. More outbreaks would be expected in settings with many workplaces compared to settings with few workplaces.
For more information on reported outbreaks, visit the CHHS Open Data Portal. Data will be updated on the first Friday of each month.
More information for employers and local health departments about outbreak reporting: