California surpassed the grim milestone of 200,461 coronavirus cases on Friday morning amid more worrying reports about the growing number of new infections. The state experienced a 2.5 percent increase in new cases from the previous day’s total.
Amid those concerns, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that, after weeks of engagement with the state’s hardest hit county, he was asking officials in Imperial County, near San Diego, to increase COVID preventive restrictions.
Newsom said he would let county officials determine the appropriate measures, but if they don’t find the correct measures, “I am committed to intervening.”
“They never advanced as far as other parts of the state,” he said, “but it’s time to go back further.”
Related story
As the United States sets a one-day record for coronavirus infections, Vice President Mike Pence says states are opening up
The 14-day area test positivity rate is close to 23 percent. As a result, “they need to decompress their hospital system,” Newsom said.
The Imperial County case rate per 100,000 in the past 14 days is more than 630. That is well above 100 cases for every state-required threshold of 100,000 before reopening can be considered.
There are several other counties that the state has on a “watch list.”
Newsom said it currently did not intend to “switch” to any other area of the state, but praised the recent reduction in San Francisco. “I imagine you will see others doing the same thing,” Newsom said.
However, the right to consider “withdrawing” in the future was reserved.
Statewide, there were 4,890 new cases reported on Friday. That marks the fourth highest number of daily cases in the region since the start of the pandemic. Seventy-nine people were
Newsom warned Thursday that “We have seen 56,000 new cases in the past 14 days alone. “That’s more than a quarter of the [then] total 195,000 cases identified so far. Some of that can be attributed to increased evidence, “Newsom said. But not all.
The positivity rate of the tests has also increased. As of Thursday, the positivity rate increased 5.1 percent in the past 14 days. On Thursday, the governor said, that rate registered 5.6 percent. On Friday, the rate rose to 5.7 percent. Infections among people ages 18 to 40 are increasing more rapidly.
Newsom on Wednesday revealed a 29 percent increase in total hospitalizations in the past 14 days. On Thursday that number rose to 32 percent. On Friday, the daily increase in hospitalizations was 3.3 percent, according to Newsom.
According to Newsom, the total hospital space used remains 8 percent as a result of new beds being brought online.
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. On Friday, the Governor said the number of patients with COVID-19 in the ICU increased 4.4 percent.
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.”
Daily COVID-related deaths have remained fairly stable. On Thursday, however, 101 deaths were recorded, most reported since June 10. However, deaths are often a lagging indicator in outbreaks, which only skyrocket after infections and hospitalizations.
“You will see mortality rates lag behind,” Newsom said Friday. The governor said he hopes to see an increase there soon.
After a week of record numbers and a curious drop in cases yesterday, Johns Hopkins University said Thursday that Los Angeles now has the highest number of coronavirus cases of any county in the nation.
Johns Hopkins reported 89,633 total cases in Los Angeles County as of Wednesday. The numbers at that institution often outperform other sources, but the Centers for Disease Control was slightly lower, with 89,490 total infections. That would still put the county at the top of John Hopkins’ ignominious list.
On Monday, the county experienced a record high of more than 2,500 new cases. Tuesday was another close record, with 2,364 new cases.
The numbers fell precipitously in the county on Wednesday, with 1,260 new cases reported. But on Thursday, the number of daily new cases increased again to 2,012.
So what does it matter? Often when case numbers increase, experts point to a parallel increase in evidence as the culprit. On Thursday, the county reported a daily testing capacity of 15,000, which is about .1 percent of its total population. And the peaks in the tests do not correspond to the peaks in the new cases.
On Friday, Newsom 77,000 tests, compared to more than 100,000. Recently averaged 88,000.
Many point to the recent Black Lives Matter protests, which gathered hundreds of thousands of people on the streets. When specifically asked about the protests, Los Angeles County Health Department Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer has repeated that she feels the increase correlates more closely with the general reopening and people going out and coming back to to work.
It may be impossible to make fun of both of them. The massive protests in Los Angeles began on May 27, almost exactly a month ago. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti lifted restrictions on “all commercial spaces” on May 26. The Los Angeles County Health Department indicates a 14-day quarantine to ensure that one has not been infected. “
When asked about the protests at Friday’s press conference, a state health official replied, “” We know from talking to our counties that you are a taxpayer. We won’t be able to tell exactly where someone was when they were exposed. But … staying out of those bigger crowds is what keeps us safe. ”
Also on Friday, US health officials on Thursday reported a national record of 39,327 new infections in a single day. Florida alone saw 9,000 new cases.
As a result, reopening efforts are paused or reversed in 11 states.
