MILPITAS, Calif., June 29, 2022 – The COVID test positivity rate remained above 2% for the eighth consecutive week, according to analysis of approximately 100,000 patients from IGeneX, a COVID-19 testing lab based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. That is up from a prior weekly average of .60%.
These new figures come as California health officials continue to wrestle with the pandemic’s latest wave, which began a couple of months ago after the worst of the Omicron wave subsided. It is too soon to say whether this is an issue that goes beyond the Bay Area, but it seems to dash hopes that California is out of the COVID woods just yet.
“To see the positivity rate remain consistently high is concerning,” says Dr. Jyotsna Shah, PhD., President of IGeneX, Inc. “And it’s not just from one segment of patients. Positives are coming from young kids, hospitals, patients at elderly care facilities, and local employers.
IGeneX has been providing COVID-19 testing for major hospitals, schools, employers, airline travelers, and professional sports teams across Northern California since April 2020. The company has tested hundreds of thousands of patients and is still testing thousands per week. IGeneX uses RT-PCR tests for all COVID tests. RT-PCR tests are much more accurate than rapid antigen tests and ensure that patients receive the most accurate results.
Luckily, there is reason to be optimistic. “Fortunately, the percent positive rate is still lower than it was during the peak of Delta or Omicron, when there were weeks averaging above 5%,” says Dr. Shah. “Further, the subvariants of Omicron that we are observing do not appear to cause severe illness and death in as many individuals.”
Though conditions now are nowhere near as distressing as earlier in the pandemic, officials and experts say some protective measures are warranted during periods of elevated coronavirus spread and the uncertainty around both long COVID and the impact of new variants. These measures include continuing to mask up, washing your hands, social distancing, and prioritizing vaccinations and boosters.
For more information on COVID-19 testing from IGeneX, please visit https://www.igenex.com.
