COVID-19 Status Update for 05/17/2022

Marin County COVID-19 Status Update for May 17, 2022 includes: Third Round of In-Home Test Kits Now Available; Parents wanted for COVID-19 Focus Group; Ensuring Long-Term Care Facilities Access COVID-19 Treatments; Are Your Symptoms COVID-19 or Hepatitis C?; Vaccination Opportunities in Marin; Bay Area COVID-19 Mortality Rates Lowest in Nation; and updated local COVID-19 data.

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The Marin County COVID-19 Status Update is published two times per week and as needed to share important news and resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic and to keep the local economy running. We remain here for you.

Third Round of In-Home Test Kits Now Available

Every home in the U.S. is now eligible for a third round of free COVID-19 at-home test kits. Earlier this year, the U.S. government began a campaign to make at-home COVID-19 tests more accessible to the public. They mailed four sets of rapid antigen tests, free of charge, to any household who ordered them. This third round offers 8 free testing kits, doubling the number of kits offered in the previous two rounds, and bringing the total number of free testing kits offered to each household to 16 since the beginning of the program. Approximately 350 million tests have been distributed so far.

How do I order my free at-home tests?

Place your order for eight free COVID-19 tests by visiting COVIDtests.gov. You’ll receive them in mail. If you need help placing an order for your at-⁠home tests, please call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489) for assistance in over 150 languages, 5:00 a.m. to 9:00p.m. PDT, 7 days a week).

Access to tests helps keep our family, neighborhood, and community strong against COVID-19. Every residential address in the U.S. is eligible for this promotion, so take advantage of it today - and don’t forget to report you results using our online self-test reporting form.

Parents Wanted for COVID-19 Focus Group

Marin Health and Human Services needs you! We want to learn more from parents of children 12 years and younger about their thoughts on COVID-19 vaccines for their children. Your voice can make a difference and help us as a community, best protect our children. What would you need to know in order to make an informed decision for your child? What are your concerns? We want to hear them!

We are hosting several virtual Focus Group discussions to give parents an opportunity to let us know what you are thinking. If you would like to participate, please use the link below to answer a few questions and sign up. If selected, participants in the focus groups will receive a $50 Target gift certificate.

Apply online. The deadline to sign up is this Friday, May 20.

Ensuring Long-Term Care Facilities Access COVID-19 Treatments

Most deaths from COVID-19 in Marin County have been in residents of long-term care facilities. The current surge in viral transmission across the region and rising cases in facilities could lead to increased mortality in these vulnerable facilities. Today, Marin County Public Health issued a Public Health Advisory to long-term care facilities addressing availability and access to COVID-19 treatment options.

Adults age 60 and older with underlying medical conditions and residents of long-term care facilities (LTCF) have had the highest risk of poor outcomes. Marin County Public Health estimates that at least half of long-term care facility residents who are infected with COVID-19 would be candidates for Paxlovid, a medication that can reduce risk of hospitalization and death by 90 percent. Timely access to therapeutics in long-term care facilities is critical to achieving the goal of zero preventable COVID deaths in Marin.

Learn more about COVID-19 treatment options by visiting our website.

Are your Symptoms COVID-19 or Hepatitis C?

Thursday is National Hepatitis Testing Day, and May is Hepatitis Awareness Month. During this time of year, we highlight the importance of getting tested for the various forms of hepatitis. One of the five forms, hepatitis C, is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommends that all adults aged 18 or older get tested for hepatitis C at least once in their lifetime. If left unchecked, it can lead to long term (chronic) infection, liver disease, liver cancer, or death. Because symptoms for hepatitis C don’t always occur, it’s possible to be unknowingly living with the disease.

A way to stay ahead is to know the symptoms and be able to distinguish them from other sicknesses such as COVID-19. Both hepatitis C and COVID-19 result in many of the same symptoms. However, there are some differences. It's important to pay attention to each symptom and understand which are most common. Here's an overview:

Symptom or sign	COVID-19	Hepatitis C (during chronic phase)
Cough	Usually (dry)	Never
Fever	Usually	Usually
Muscle aches	Usually	Never
Dark urine	Never	Usually
Abdominal pain	Sometimes**	Sometimes
Fatigue	Usually	Usually
Loss of appetite	Sometimes**	Sometimes
Sneezing	Rarely	Never
Sore throat	Usually	Never
Bruising or bleeding easily	Never	Sometimes
Yellow skin or eyes (jaundice)	Never	Usually
Runny or stuffy nose	Usually	Never
Joint Pain	Sometimes	Sometimes
Pink eye (conjunctivitis)	Sometimes	Never
Nausea or vomiting	Sometimes	Usually
Diarrhea	Sometimes	Never
New loss of taste or smell	Usually (early — often without a runny or stuffy nose)	Never

**These two symptoms were accidentally marked as "Never" during the publication of the Status Update. We
have since corrected the table with the correct information. Abdominal pain and loss of appetite sometimes
are symptoms of COVID-19.

Some symptoms for both COVID-19 and HCV overlap so, when in doubt, it’s important to get tested. Take a COVID-19 test to rule out the possibility of COVID infection. Free hepatitis C testing locations are also available in Marin County.

Vaccination Opportunities in Marin

Bolstering our immunity against COVID-19 is of utmost importance, especially with the continued presence of coronavirus, including the Omicron variant, in our community. Fortunately, we have access to vaccines which are a FREE and effective resource for keeping us protected.

Walk-ups are welcome at most vaccination providers across the county. Visit the Vaccine Finder webpage to view available clinics and schedule an appointment. Remember, vaccine recipients between the ages of 5 to 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to receive a vaccination.

If you are unable to find a COVID-19 vaccination clinic open at a time that works with your schedule, more options are available by visiting California Department of Public Health’s MyTurn COVID and flu vaccination scheduling website.

If you know someone who is still in need of a primary vaccination dose or booster shot, please share this information with them! While Marin County remains one of the most highly vaccinated within the state and the nation, many eligible residents have yet to receive their booster shot. Staying up to date on our vaccines is just as important as receiving an initial series. We are grateful to everyone in our community who has done their part by getting fully vaccinated and boosted when eligible.

Bay Area COVID-19 Mortality Rates Lowest in Nation

Over the weekend, a new analysis revealed the powerful roll public health policies played in keeping the Bay Area’s COVID-19 death rate much lower than the state and national equivalent. A comparison was made of counties with a population of 500,000 or more and five of the region's largest counties were among the top 10 in the nation with the lowest death rate. With a population of only 260,000, Marin was excluded from the analysis. However, its calculated death rate would have placed Marin in the top 10 as well. In the analysis, the Bay Area as a whole was only outranked by two states: Hawaii and Vermont.

Overall, the Bay Area’s high adoption rate of COVID-19 vaccination, coupled with strict adherence to public health policies such as masking, physical distancing and others, help curb deaths at a greater rate than elsewhere in the U.S. The analysis even postulated that had the U.S. adopted some of the Bay Area’s initiatives, the country’s COVID-19 death rate could have been cut in half.

Read more about the analysis at MercuryNews.com.

COVID-19 Data Update:

Below is just a snapshot of local COVID-19 data. Find a more in-depth analysis of COVID-19 trends on the Marin Data & Surveillance webpage, our Data FAQ, or Marin County's Open Data Portal.

Data sets updated weekly (published on Fridays) include:

COVID-19 vaccination rates
COVID-19 cases & deaths among facility staff and residents
Weekly/Cumulative count of COVID-19 deaths among Marin residents
State COVID-19 Data

Status updates are now published Tuesdays and Fridays. “Change from Last Status Update” (far right column, below) may account for 2-4 days, depending on the date of the previous publication (view past status updates).

COVID-19 Case Data	Today’s Report	Change from Last Status Update
Total Confirmed Cumulative Cases	33,090	+ 383
“Active Cases” (Confirmed in Past 10 Days)	703	+ 67
Current COVID-19 Hospitalizations	12	+ 1
Current COVID-19 ICU Patient Census	0	- 1