Number of COVID-19 patients in San Francisco hospitals falls

SAN FRANCISCO — The number of people who were in the hospital in the city with confirmed cases of COVID-19 fell to its lowest level since April 4, according to data released Sunday, and the number of suspected cases fell to its lowest level since data-tracking began in March.

According to the Public Health Department website, hospitals had 77 patients confirmed to have COVID-19, with 50 people in acute care and 27 others in the intensive care unit. Officials also reported that 32 others suspected of having coronavirus were hospitalized, with one quarter of those patients in intensive care.

The April 4 report showed 67 people confirmed to have the virus in city hospitals, by comparison. The next lowest number was 83, recorded on April 5 and 16.

Officials said there were a total of 1,157 confirmed coronavirus cases in San Francisco — an increase of 20 cases from the previous day’s reporting. There were no additional deaths reported, holding the total at 20.

The total cases rank seventh in California based on figures compiled by this news organization. The latest figures Sunday morning showed 30,754 Californians are confirmed to have COVID-19 and 1,146 people have died. The state’s overall figures showed an increase from Friday’s count of 29,348 confirmed cases and 1,050 deaths.

San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Clara are the three Bay Area counties to report more than 1,000 confirmed cases so far. San Mateo County reported 838 cases in its latest figures on Friday.

San Francisco has reported fewer fatalities than Santa Clara (73), Alameda (41) and San Mateo (28). Contra Costa County lists 19 deaths so far.

San Francisco officials said Hispanics and Latinos made up 25 percent of its 1,157 confirmed cases. Whites comprised 19 percent whereas Asians were at 14 percent. Men made up 60 percent of the cases compared to 38 percent for women, according to the website.

Officials reported performing 10,855 tests with a 13 percent positive rate.

San Francisco Leaders announced plans for extensive contact tracing — an important step to lift shelter-in-place orders. They said the city, its health department, UC San Francisco and a technology company are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the digital tracking program. A voluntary program will allow health workers to connect remotely with anyone who has tested positive and who would be able to communicate their symptoms via text for 14 days.

Dr. Grant Colfax, the city’s health officer, described the need for a “fast-moving, comprehensive system to track cases and support people to prevent further spread as much as possible as we ultimately move out of shelter-in-place into a new phase of fighting the pandemic.”