Overview

• CDC models show infections growing in roughly 30 states, with California reporting high coronavirus levels in wastewater from Los Angeles and the Bay Area to Sacramento and the San José–Palo Alto sewershed.
• Yolo County Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson advises everyone age 2 and up in West Sacramento to wear masks indoors, with masking recommended for higher‑risk people in areas registering medium wastewater signals.
• State test positivity reached 12.07% for the week ending Aug. 23, up from 6.03% four weeks earlier, and emergency‑department visits for Covid‑like illness are increasing in Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Clara counties.
• California’s Covid hospital admissions rose to 3.62 per 100,000 residents for the week ending Aug. 23 from 1.9 four weeks earlier, while clinicians report an outpatient surge with relatively few inpatient cases.
• The updated 2025–26 Covid vaccine is expected at major pharmacies within days, but new federal rules require many adults under 65 without reported underlying conditions to consult a healthcare provider before vaccination.