The day after California officials revealed that the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state had exceeded 7,000, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Monday that 8,358 new cases had been reported in the state. The 14-day trend showed only a slightly lower number.
“We continue to see hospitalizations increase and we continue to see an increase in the positivity rate in the state,” the governor announced.
Hospitalizations in the past 14 days have increased 28 percent. Admissions to the ICU have increased 20 percent. Both counts have decreased compared to where they were two weeks ago, of 50 percent and 39 percent, respectively.
The test’s positivity rate, according to state figures, has increased to about 7.7 percent in the past seven days. That is substantially.
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As a result, “We are returning to a ‘modifying mode’ of our original request to stay home,” Newsom said. “This is a new state action, effective today.”
The governor announced that he is requiring all counties to close their restaurants, movie theaters, wineries, zoos, and bars.
Additionally, LA and 29 other counties on the state’s watch list must close gyms, houses of worship, nail and nail salons, and closed shopping malls.
“We are looking to see an increase in UCI use in some rural areas of the state,” said the governor. Seeing it in multiple counties, state authorities became concerned about resource sharing limitations regarding the increase in some counties.
And it wasn’t just rural counties. On Friday, Los Angeles County public health officials reported that, outside of the emergency beds that could be converted, the 10 million county had only 113 ICU beds left.
Also, although tests have kept up with demand in recent weeks, “We are starting to see delays, once again, in test results,” Newsom said. That doesn’t bode well for the “data-driven” decision-making process that Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti have espoused.
This came after California Governor Gavin Newsom began his press conference Thursday on the state’s efforts to mitigate the wildfires, announcing the addition of 12 Blackhawk helicopters to the state’s fleet as the season of forest fire begins to peak. He then transitioned to address a more immediate conflagration.
Newsom announced a record number of daily deaths in the state from COVID-19, with 149 lives lost in the past 24 hours. That’s about 23 percent from the previous high of 115 deaths. That bleak mark was reported on April 22, during the virus’ previous spike in California. The total number of lives lost in the state due to the coronavirus is now 6,711.
