Rural northern California is seeing a troubling rise in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, an alarming trend that comes as residents and businesses continue to protest against safety measures and vaccinations – with one Mendocino cafe threatening to charge customers $5 for wearing a mask. While the region makes up a small proportion of the state’s population, the growth in its caseload has been considerable, and comes at a time when the state.
Those areas where fewer people are vaccinated are most likely to see a coronavirus rebound, officials say.
“We are seeing high case rates in our northern rural counties, where vaccination rates are lower,” tweeted State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan.
Among the counties of concern in the rural northern part of the state are Tehama and Siskiyou, the only two in California identified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as having a “high” virus transmission rate.
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Only 27% of Tehama County residents have gotten a vaccine shot, according to data compiled by The Times, and the county has had California’s worst case rates over the past seven days, reporting about 20 new cases per day per 100,000 residents. That’s up from 8 new cases per 100,000 residents one month ago.
On Sunday, the U.S. recorded 6,725 new coronavirus cases, which is the lowest single-day total since March 21, and the first time cases have fallen below 10,000 in more than a year.