Bay Area health leaders are urging people to take precautions in the midst of the latest COVID-19 surge.
Two months ago, San Francisco was seeing an average of 79 reported new cases each day. Now, the average is 400. The positive news is that the surge may have just about run its course.
“I suspect this will peak in one or two weeks and it will not be nearly as spectacular as the surge in December and January or even the delta surge last fall,” said Dr. George Rutherford of UCSF.
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In San Rafael, one victim of that winter surge says she’s not concerned about the current one.
“I was vaccinated and boosted and still got it and it was a bad cold for a couple weeks and it sucked but I survived,” said Stephanie Summer.
Rutherford says the surge is the result of waning natural immunity and the current vaccines not detecting the newer variants all that well. Still, he says there’s enough immunity and an increasing supply of antiviral drugs to keep hospitalizations down.
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“We just got to stand our ground, be safe as we can,” said San Rafael resident Juan Ascensio. “Wash our hands, cover our faces when we have to and keep our eyes open, you know?”
Health leaders predict another surge in the fall when people once again start gathering more indoors. When it arrives, people should be ready to roll up their sleeves again.
“There will be probably new vaccines by then and another round of re-vaccinations in the fall,” Rutherford said. “Expect to keep getting vaccinated against this for several years, at least once a year.”
