Posted
By Thadeus Greenson@ThadeusGreenson
on Tue, May 18, 2021 at 2:57 PM
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 18 new COVID-19 cases today, making 81 so far this week, as well as two new hospitalizations, while California announced Humboldt remains in its orange COVID-19 risk tier.
The new cases were confirmed after laboratories processed 204 samples with a test-positivity rate of 8.8 percent and come after the county confirmed 138 cases last week as a part of a recent surge.
Officials are pointing to the local presence of the B.1.1.7 variant as a reason for the recent spike in cases, with Public Health reporting last week that genomic sequencing has identified more than 40 local cases of the variant, which is associated with a 50 percent increase in transmission and more severe illness.