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California is seeing an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases [1]

['Jason Weisberger']

Date: 2025-08-26

Just in time for back-to-school, a new COVID strain named "Stratus" is rapidly infecting folks across California.

The rate at which COVID lab tests came back positive in L.A. County is 12.6% for the week that ended Aug. 16, up from 7.6% a month earlier. In Orange County, it's 14.4%, up from 8.1%. "We are seeing outpatient cases increase," said Dr. Elizabeth E. Hudson, the regional physician chief of infectious diseases for Kaiser Permanente Southern California. "With back-to-school season in full swing … we are expecting to see an uptick in COVID in children over the next few weeks and this is already being seen in some parts of the country." In a blog post, Dr. Matt Willis, former public health officer for Marin County, wrote that "California's in the middle of a COVID-19 wave, and statewide rates are among the highest in the nation." LA Times

Doctors report that Stratus is an Omicron subvariant, so prior infections may provide some residual defense, but warn that reinfection is absolutely possible. This as the Trump Administration is making vaccination more complicated:

Pharmacists' authority to vaccinate individuals varies across state lines. In some places, it's dependent upon a federal advisory process that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has upended. At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration has signaled that it will only approve updated Covid vaccines for individuals 65 and older and for younger people considered to be at high risk for severe disease. People, regardless of where they live, may need to prove that they need the shot. The agency is expected to sign off on the new vaccine formulas and labels any day now. The action will halt administration of the current vaccines, which are approved for most adults and children, regardless of underlying conditions. Politico

Previously:

• New study suggests Long COVID is now most common childhood chronic health problem

• SNL's 50th celebration sees COVID-19 spread among cast and guests

• Phish concert spreads COVID across the entire country

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