Overwhelming majority of new cases among unvaccinated
Yuba County, CA – California Department of Public Health has updated its guidance for facial coverings, recommending mask use for indoor public settings regardless of vaccination status. Yuba and Sutter counties continue to recommend residents follow guidance from the State level.
Local, state, and federal Public Health Officials also continue to urge vaccination, as it is safe and effective in preventing serious complications from COVID-19 and the current Delta variant.
“This further underscores our concerns that if a community member is not vaccinated, they are at very high risk for infection, development of severe disease, and hospitalization due to COVID-19.”
Bi- County Public Health Officer Dr. Phuong Luu
“I ask you: be a leader in this community. Stand up, stand up for vaccination, do what we can to protect our community, our neighbors, our friends and our loved ones from this pandemic,” Adventist Health and Rideout President Rick Rawson said. “We’ve made a lot of progress, we still have more to go, and I’m really asking for your support, because it takes all of us.”
Yuba and Sutter counties are seeing a tripling of daily case counts and test positivity compared to earlier this month, with the overwhelming majority of new cases among unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents. Among those 12 years and older who are fully vaccinated, only 0.1% develop breakthrough infections, and only 0.02% are hospitalized.
“This further underscores our concerns that if a community member is not vaccinated, they are at very high risk for infection, development of severe disease, and hospitalization due to COVID-19,” Bi- County Public Health Officer Dr. Phuong Luu said. “Your best protection against the Delta variant and COVID-19 overall is to get vaccinated fully as soon as possible.”
The majority of recent cases are in small clusters due to resumed social activities. These activities, especially conducted indoors among unvaccinated individuals, provide the potential for very high COVID-19 transmission-due to the fact that the current dominant strain (the Delta) is 200% more transmissible than the initial wild-type strain.
Low Vaccination Rates
“With only 38% of Yuba County residents 12 years and older fully vaccinated, we are extremely concerned our community will continue to see more cases, more hospitalizations and unfortunately, more deaths related to COVID-19,” Yuba County Deputy Director of HHS and Director of Public Health Meghan Marshall said. “We are asking everyone in our community to take those vital steps of staying home when not feeling well, wearing a mask, washing your hands, and limiting gatherings to the outdoors and to smaller numbers, as those precautions can go a long way to ensuring you and your family can enjoy many more summers to come.”
Residents can find vetted vaccination information, including how to find a nearby clinic, on both county websites: yuba.org/vaccines and suttercounty.org/vaccine.