Marin County reports spike in severe COVID-19 cases

Marin County recorded seven COVID-19 deaths in July, the highest monthly total this year and the most since the seven deaths in April 2023, according to the public health office.

“We’re definitely experiencing a surge in transmission as well as in cases of severe illness,” said Dr. Matthew Willis, the county public health officer.

Marin has recorded 19 COVID-related deaths this year, said Lee Ann Prebil, the county’s epidemiology program manager. More than 370 COVID-related deaths have occurred in Marin since the pandemic began more than four years ago.

Also, the number of Marin hospital patients with COVID-19 doubled between June 23 and July 23, Willis said. On July 13, the county had 23 such patients, the highest number of any single day this year, he said.

“Right now, we’re about 17 on average in the hospitals on any given day,” Willis said. The average age of the patients is 80, he said.

Dr. David Miller, an infectious disease specialist at Kaiser Permanente’s San Rafael Medical Center, said the coronavirus cases his staff is seeing are often patients who have other medical issues such as cardiac or gastrointestinal troubles.

“They get COVID and the wheels come off,” Miller said.

California experienced a rise in reported COVID-19 cases last month. The test positivity rate through July 22 was 13.8%, a 2-point increase from the prior week, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Marin public health officials predicted a rise in COVID-19 infections early this summer. Dr. Lisa Santora, the deputy public health officer, said in early July that the heat wave could have been a factor.

“The upside is that more time could be spent outside, but with the heat wave we expect more people to spend time inside in enclosed spaces with air conditioning, and without doors or windows open,” she said.

Willis said new COVID-19 variants are emerging. In June, KP.2 was the dominant variant, and in the following month, the LB.1 variant was detected in the majority of samples, he said.

“Normally, when a variant becomes dominant it will be several months before there is an emergence of another,” Willis said. “In this case, it happened in relatively rapid succession. That would suggest that more variants are gaining the ability to evade the immune system, which is why they are able to spread more rapidly.”

The county monitors COVID-19 activity by testing samples from six wastewater sites. The county currently has a “medium” coronavirus level based on wastewater testing results and the number of Marin hospital patients who tested positive for the virus. In the past 21 days, the COVID-19 wastewater trend has leveled off.

“Estimates from wastewater data have plateaued, but they’re at levels that are much akin to the winter surge and they’re not yet clearly declining,” Miller said.

He encouraged seniors and people with compromised immune systems to wear masks in public and in indoor settings. He added that people who have cold- or flu-like symptoms should get tested for COVID-19.

“It’s important to remember that the less virus we can pass on, the more that can be an exponential difference in how many people are hospitalized,” Miller said.

In March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed guidelines for people who fall ill with the virus. The center said they should isolate themselves until their fevers resolve and their symptoms improve, and then wear a mask at work until they test negative.