California Governor Gavin Newsom reported 5,349 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday. That is below the all-time high of 7,149 the day before, but the governor was not enthusiastic about the drop, saying the number is “even higher than it should be.”
Newsom went on to warn that “We have seen 56,000 new cases in the past 14 days.” That’s more than a quarter of the total 195,000 cases identified so far. Some of that can be attributed to increased testing, Newsom said. But not all.
The positivity rate of tests every day has increased, 5.1 percent in the last 14 days. The World Health Organization recommends that regions be opened only after the positivity rate falls below 5 percent. In the past seven days, the governor said, that rate is at 5.6 percent.
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Yesterday Newsom revealed a 29 percent increase in total hospitalizations in the past 14 days. Today that number increased to 32 percent.
Total hospital space used remains at 8 percent.
When asked by a reporter about the fact that Los Angeles County exceeded the maximum number of reopening cases, Newsom said it is a situation “that we are monitoring very closely.” He said the counties were on hold on the certifications they made to reopen. “When people don’t comply [with those promises] they follow this guidance system, “the governor said, noting that state officials are engaged daily with Los Angeles county officials.
ICU numbers are also increasing in the last 14 days. “Approximately 34 percent of the beds available in the ICU in our hospital system are being used,” said the governor. That’s a 31 percent increase just 24 hours earlier.
Referring to the UCI numbers, Newsom said they are key to the decision on whether to readjust the restrictions or continue the reopening. “When our system cannot absorb, when there is a capacity or limitation,” said the governor, “it is when we turn off the alarms. When we see resource depletion, resource restrictions, it is when we worry.”
Newsom announced the launch of a new aggregate reporting and forecasting site, the California COVID Test Tool, which it called the “model model.” The idea is to help Californians understand the data and see what the trends are. Newsom said this is the same information that health managers are using to guide their decisions. That site can be found here.
Newsom said a board will also be released every morning.
While talking about forecasts and data, Newsom went out of his way to praise Disney for not reopening its Orange County Park. “I want to congratulate Disney and its team for making that determination.”
He indicated that Disney’s decision may have been the result of state guidance or lack thereof. “They noted that the state had stopped offering guidelines in those categories. That’s an example of the data that inform decision making. “
Newsom reported Wednesday that the state had seen another record number of newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases, 7,149 new infections. That’s a jump of 2,000 infections in just 24 hours.
“We cannot continue doing what we have done in the past few weeks,” Newsom said. He said some people had a cabin fever, “some people just let their guard down.”
“I am not naive,” Newsom said. “People are mixing. We are spreading this virus. It is our behaviors that lead to these numbers. “
