COVID infections still high across county

In a memo issued on Jan. 17, Rogers said the risk of COVID infection remains, but that “some impacts are lessening.”

Subvarients of Omicron, BQ.1, BQ1.1 and XBB are becoming dominant across the country. The Health

Department says the variants are highly transmissible and can evade antibodies from previous infection

and vaccine. However, health officials say the vaccines and boosters are still the best way to prevent hospitalization and severe disease.

The memo reports that wastewater surveillance data shows high levels of COVID in the area, but that influenza and other respiratory viruses appear to be “leveling out or beginning to decline.”

As of Jan. 11, 31 percent of county residents had received the updated bivalent booster, which provides the greatest protection against the most severe impacts of COVID.

Even as health officials warned of high transmission rates, they were planning to scale back some county testing sites, including those on the coast. The county is decommissioning five satellite testing locations, including those in Pacifica and Half Moon Bay, by Feb. 5.