As testing has become more available and widespread in San Francisco, we have expected to see jumps in the number of new cases found each day. But apart from a one-day, 6-percent jump on May 5 when 104 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed, the numbers of new cases found have not jumped significantly day to day.
That changed today with a new record number of new cases found in the city: 122. SF now has 2,320 confirmed cases, up from 2,198 on Thursday. Also, three new deaths were added today, brining the city's total toll to 40.
Percentage-wise, it's not quite as big of a leap as May 5 — 5.3 percent vs. 6 percent — but in terms of numbers it is significant. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, counties have been seeing one-day jumps in the vicinity of 2 percent for weeks.
As of today, 4.6 percent of San Franciscans tested have turned up positive — out of 50,533 tests administered.
Meanwhile, hospitalization rates have remained down overall over the last 10 days, though fairly steady over the last week. As of Wednesday, which was the last day for which data is available, there were 56 people hospitalized with confirmed cases, 18 of whom were in the ICU. Additionally, there were 44 suspected cases in hospitals — some of whom may have been confirmed as of this morning and therefore added to today's number. 13 of them were also in ICUs.
SF currently has 25 cumulative cases for every 10,000 residents, and the case counts continue to be highest in the Mission, Bayview/Hunters Point, Potrero Hill, and SoMa. 94103, the zip code encompassing much of SoMa, has the highest per capita rate with 57 cases per 10,000 residents.
Overall in the Bay Area, confirmed cases rose 1.5 percent on Thursday to 11,591, just as free testing was being offered to all in Santa Clara County, Sonoma County, and elsewhere.
In San Francisco, the two CityTestSF sites on the Embarcadero (near Red's Java House) and at Seventh and Brannan and a pop-up testing site in the Tenderloin are now allowing virtually anyone to be tested regardless of symptoms or occupation, though the website still says you need to be symptomatic, or have been recently exposed to a confirmed case, or be an essential worker.
