San Mateo County is emerging from the sixth wave of COVID-19 cases, moving to the “low” or “green” COVID-19 community level, meaning case rates and hospitalizations are falling, county authorities have announced.

The move Thursday to lower the county's COVID-19 status by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, does not mean the end of the pandemic, the county health authorities warned. They cautioned that overall COVID-19 cases, fueled by the omicron BA.5 variant, remain high compared with previous periods.

In the Bay Area, Marin, Sonoma, San Francisco and Alameda counties are also in the low or green community level. Santa Clara County remains in the "yellow" or moderate tier. The CDC lists “Community Levels” for jurisdictions across the country as a way for officials to decide prevention strategies based on the latest information.

To move to the low COVID-19 community level, San Mateo County had to meet set by the CDC, including fewer than 10 new COVID-19 hospital admissions weekly per 100,000 residents. The county’s most recent rate was 8.7.

COVID-19 case rates must also fall below 200 over the past seven days; the most recent case rate is 185.63 in San Mateo County.

County Health still recommends that residents receive all vaccinations and boosters, get tested if one has symptoms, and wear high-quality masks such as N95 or KN95 indoors or where ventilation is poor or if one is at high risk for severe disease or illness.

Information on COVID-19 prevention strategies, a vaccine clinic calendar, data dashboards and more, is available on the County Health COVID-19 resource page.