Marin COVID Cases Plunge

MARIN COUNTY, CA — COVID-19 cases have plummeted in Marin, following a pattern that largely resembles most highly vaccinated communities where reported cases plunged shortly after rapid omicron-fueled surges.

Marin’s seven-day rolling average fell to 170.7 on Jan. 29, a drop of more than 60 percent in less than three weeks since topping out at 427.3 Jan. 9, according to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Hospitalizations are starting to fall too. Since reaching its omicron peak Jan. 27 with 28 hospitalizations, Marin reported 19 on Jan. 31.

Cases have fallen statewide, but Marin has experienced a more pronounced plunge.

According to the state’s coronavirus dashboard, California’s seven-day rolling average has dropped more than 50 percent from Jan. 9, when the state reported 294.5 confirmed cases per 100,000, to 142.1 on Jan. 26.

California’s drop in new cases been uneven, with pockets of unvaccinated communities still experiencing high case rates and hospitalizations, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

But Marin officials are concerned about a COVID-19 surge in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood identified by a UC Berkley laboratory that tests wastewater last month, The Marin Independent Journal reports.

The Canal neighborhood is predominantly Latino.

“I don’t know what to make of that particular finding,” Marin Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said Monday, according to the report.

“I’m always a little hesitant to hang my hat on one number. At the same time, we’re super sensitive to the reality that this is a particularly vulnerable community and don’t want to dismiss it.”