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State Officials Announce Latest COVID-19 Facts

Date: April 15, 2021
Number: NR21-126
Contact: CDPHpress@cdph.ca.gov


SACRAMENTO ā€“ Today, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released the most recent statistics on COVID-19 and updates on the stateā€™s pandemic response. 

Also, CDPH announced the release of two guidance documents on April 14. Please see below for the links and some highlights of each guidance document.

  • Private venues and events - Distinguished from Gatherings with defined guest lists and assigned seating, capacity limitations include provisions for being able to verify testing or vaccination status.
  • Indoor seated live events and performances - Outlines conditions for indoor seated live events and entertainment with audiences to support a safe clean environment for workers and attendees.

Today, CDPH is sharing guidance documents focusing on gatherings based on an individual's vaccination status, social situation, and county tier.

  • Guidance for Gatherings ā€“ Applies to private gatherings ā€“ social situations that bring together people from different households at the same time in a single space. Notably, attendance for gatherings is based on county tier status for the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, unless local health departments have more restrictive measures.
  • Guidance for the Fully Vaccinated ā€“ Provides guidelines for people two weeks after full vaccination. This includes:
    • Spending time with other fully vaccinated people, including indoors, without wearing masks or physical distancing.
    • Spending time with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing.
    • Refraining from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic (outside the workplace setting). 

Statewide COVID-19 Data as of Today

  • California has 3,608,898 confirmed cases to date. Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.
  • There were 2,016 newly recorded confirmed cases Wednesday.
  • The 7-day positivity rate is 1.7%.
  • There have been 56,997,332 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 159,794 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.
  • There have been 59,508 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

  • As of April 15, providers have reported administering a total of 24,163,906 vaccine doses statewide. The CDC reports that 30,450,640 doses have been delivered to entities within the state. Numbers do not represent true day-to-day change as reporting may be delayed. For more vaccination data, visit the COVID-19 Vaccine Data Dashboard.


New: K-12 Schools Outlook for the 2021-22 Academic Year

Today, CDPH posted an Outlook for the 2021-22 Academic Year to help K-12 schools prepare for fully reopening in-person instruction. The outlook provides an overview of steps taken in the last year, including lessons learned during the early months of the pandemic, and highlights the key steps, including testing and vaccines, that will help schools plan and prepare for in-person instruction this fall. 

Increased Transparency and Updated School Reopening Maps

The school reopening maps on the Safe Schools Hub have been updated with self-reported data from school districts, charter schools, and private schools throughout the state. Schools are required to submit this data on the second and fourth Monday of each month. This is the first update with data pursuant to AB 86 and includes:

  • School-Level Data. Reopening status can be searched for and viewed not only on a district-wide basis, but also a school-by-school basis.

  • Enrollment Data. The maps display data not only on the instructional modes offered, but also on the number of students enrolled in different instructional modes: full time in-person, hybrid, and distance learning.

Note: The self-reported data may include some gaps in data and errors. The maps will be routinely updated to reflect new data, and the state will continue to improve data quality and visualizations.

Vaccine Eligibility Update

As of April 1, individuals aged 50+ are eligible to make an appointment, and individuals 16+ will be eligible to make an appointment to be vaccinated starting on April 15. To sign up for a notification when you're eligible for a vaccine, please visit myturn.ca.gov. For more information on the vaccine effort, visit Vaccinate All 58.

Tracking Variants

Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been identified globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. These genetic mutations are expected, and some emerge and then disappear, while others persist or become common. Most variants do not have a meaningful impact. Public health becomes concerned about a variant when it affects COVID-19 transmission, severity, testing, treatment or vaccine effectiveness. Get more information on the variants CDPH is currently monitoring.

Blueprint for a Safer Economy

All counties are under the rules and framework of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and color-coded tiers that indicate which activities and businesses are open based on local case rates and test positivity. As always, local public health departments may implement policies that are more restrictive than the state. 

After a request for a review of its data, Merced County was moved today from the Purple (widespread) Tier to Red (substantial) Tier. No counties in California remain in the Purple Tier, a significant milestone in the stateā€™s use of its Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

Blueprint Summary (as of April 13)

  • 0 counties in the Purple (widespread) Tier

  • 22 counties in the Red (substantial) Tier

  • 33 counties in Orange (moderate) Tier

  • 3 counties in the Yellow (minimal) Tier

Blueprint tiers are updated weekly on Tuesdays. Find the status of activities in specific counties.

ADDITIONAL DATA & UPDATES

Tracking COVID-19 in California

State Dashboard ā€“ Daily COVID-19 data

County Map ā€“ Local data, including tier status and ICU capacity

Data and Tools ā€“ Models and dashboards for researchers, scientists and the public

Blueprint for a Safer Economy ā€“ Data for establishing tier status

COVID-19 Race & Ethnicity Data ā€“ Weekly updated Race & Ethnicity data

Cases and Deaths by Age Group ā€“ Weekly updated Deaths by Age Group data

Health Equity Dashboard ā€“ See how COVID-19 highlights existing inequities in health

Safe Schools for All

Governor Gavin Newsom launched the Safe Schools for All Hub as a one-stop shop for information about safe in-person instruction. The state has updated its schools reopening maps to include outbreak data by school district. View the data for public schools by selecting a specific district on the School Districts Reopening Map. The map includes reported outbreaks since January 1, 2021.

Travel Advisory Updated

California updated its travel advisory on April 1, removing the previous recommendation that Californians not travel more than 120 miles from ones' place of residence. Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, and Californians should continue to avoid non-essential travel outside of the state. Non-essential travelers from other states or countries are strongly discouraged from entering California and should follow CDC travel guidance related to testing and self-quarantine.

Health Care Workers

As of April 14, local health departments have reported 105,196 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 450 deaths statewide.

Testing Turnaround Time

The testing turnaround time dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. During the week of March 28 to April 3, the average time patients waited for test results was just under one day. During this same time period, 84% of patients received test results in one day and 98% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of  April 12, there have been 470 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) reported statewide. MIS-C is a rare inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 that can damage multiple organ systems. MIS-C can require hospitalization and be life threatening.

Your Actions Save Lives

Protect yourself, family, friends and your community by following these prevention measures:

  • If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches), call your health care provider.

  • If you believe you have been exposed, get tested. Free, confidential testing is available statewide.

  • Get vaccinated when it's your turn.

  • Limit interactions to people who live in your household and follow state and local public health guidance.

  • Wear a mask and get the most out of masking - an effective mask has both good fit and good filtration.

  • Avoid non-essential travel and stay close to home; self-quarantine for 10 days after arrival if you leave the state.

  • Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick and stay home from work, school and other people if you feel ill.

  • Add your phone to the fight by signing up for COVID-19 exposure notifications from CA Notify.

  • Answer the call or text if a contact tracer from the CA COVID Team or your local health department tries to connect.


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