California continues to boast the lowest coronavirus case rate in the U.S., with the latest data from the CDC showing that the state’s transmission level has decreased yet again.
Two weeks ago, California was the lone state where COVID-19 infection rates were considered “substantial,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s four-tiered system measuring community transmission.
As of Monday, the nation’s most-populous state is now the only one that falls under the “moderate” transmission category, which is the second-lowest level, behind only the “low” tier.
California achieved the lower category thanks to a seven-day case rate that dropped dramatically in two weeks, from 95.3 per 100,000 to its current 41.3 per 100,000.
The state’s seven-day testing positivity rate, meanwhile, dropped to 2.6%, a nearly half-percent drop from Sept. 20, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Nearly every other state remains at the highest level of community transmission, save for Connecticut, where the transmission level is “substantial,” CDC figures show.
North Dakota has the highest case rate of any state in the nation at 566 per 100,000, with a testing positivity rate of 10 to 14.9%.
Nationwide, the seven-day case rate in the U.S. fell to an average of 183 cases per 100,000, while the positivity rate declined from 8.2% to 6.62%.
In California, health officials report that the infections are still occurring predominately among people who are not fully vaccinated against the virus.
For the week of Sept. 19, the average daily case rate in unvaccinated residents 16 years or older was eight times higher than vaccinated Californians in the same age group — 57.41 per 100,000, versus 7.12 per 100,000, according to a CDPH news release.
To date, 84.4% of eligible residents have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, with a total of 49.8 million doses administered statewide, the release stated.
California continues to implement new coronavirus health measures in an effort to mitigate the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant and keep it from fueling another surge in the Golden State.
The latest move was announced last Friday, as Gov. Newsom unveiled a plan that will require all eligible students in California be vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend in-person classes, once the shot gains full federal approval. The student vaccine mandate is the first of its kind in the U.S.
And last month, the state began enforcing a proof of vaccine or negative coronavirus test requirement at large indoor gatherings. Under the first-in-the-nation mandate, individuals must show proof that they are fully inoculated or tested negative for the virus within the past 72 hours in order to get into a “mega” event at an inside venue with at least 1,000 attendees.
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