COVID cases hit all-time highs in rural California hospitals as delta variant rages

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Seven small California counties have recently broken their all-time records for COVID-19 patients in hospital beds, as cases of the delta variant are growing explosively in rural parts of the state. Del Norte, Humboldt, Tuolumne, Nevada, Mendocino, Lake and Amador counties each since the start of this month have recorded their highest daily total for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, state health data show. Six of those counties ranked among the state's seven worst by new cases per 100,000 residents over the past week — all but Mendocino, which ranked 13th worst out of 58. P...