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San Francisco health officials report sharp rise in COVID cases, urge renewed testing and outreach
Summary
DPH officials told the Health Commission that COVID-19 cases and the effective reproduction number have climbed rapidly in July, hospitalizations are rising more slowly, and vaccination uptake has slowed; officials urged targeted testing, masking recommendations across Bay Area counties and community outreach to under‑vaccinated groups.
San Francisco Department of Public Health leaders reported a rapid rise in COVID‑19 cases at the July 20 Health Commission meeting and urged renewed testing, targeted outreach and monitoring of hospitalizations.
Deputy Director Dr. Navina Bhabha said case rates rose sharply in recent weeks — an approximately eightfold increase over four weeks in non‑lagged data — and the city’s reproduction number (R) has climbed to about 1.6. Hospitalizations remain lower than case growth would predict but are rising from summer lows; Dr. Bhabha said the hospital census increased from single digits to roughly 43 patients, noting that about 43% of current hospitalized patients originate from outside San Francisco.
The department flagged…
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