California is entering a dangerous Fourth of July holiday weekend: Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to rise even as officials plead with the public to avoid the crowds and maintain physical distance in hopes of preventing more outbreaks than they can. overwhelm state hospitals.
Californians hoping for Independence Day weekend to have some summer fun again will find closed beaches, restaurants limited to outdoor service in most areas of the state, and increased enforcement of the state order. that requires people to wear face covers in public places.
“Just go out for essential activities like going to work or going to the market,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “And you must assume that everyone around you is infectious.”
The rate at which tests of coronavirus in California return positive continues its alarming rise: jumping 51% in the past two weeks, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times.
An increasing rate of positive results is an indication that disease transmission is worsening.
On Thursday, a Times analysis of state data showed that in the past seven days, 6.9% of coronavirus tests were positive. A week earlier, that number was 5.6%; and a week before that, it was 4.6%. The last time the so-called positivity rate was so high was May 1, when the rate was 7%.
At the state level, hospitalizations continued their upward march; California has broken daily records of the number of people hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus infections for 12 consecutive days, the Times analysis found.
There has been a 58% increase in hospitalizations in the past two weeks; On Wednesday, the state reported 5,355 people hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus infections; a week ago, there were 4,321; and two weeks ago, there were 3,398.
There was also a 49% jump in patients in intensive care units with confirmed coronavirus infections in the past two weeks; There were 1,676 reported on Wednesday, compared with 1,127 two weeks ago.
To help with the increase, the state has announced the reactivation of four alternative care locations: the Imperial Field Medical Site, the Seton Medical Center, the Fairview Development Center and the Porterville Development Center. Combined, these facilities will make hundreds of additional beds available to relieve stress on the health system.
Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday again urged residents to avoid meeting with people who do not live in the same home.
“We have not emerged from this crisis; We are still in the first wave of this crisis. It requires a certain level of personal responsibility, ”Newsom said.
In a sign of concern about the increased spread of the coronavirus, Orange County officials teamed up with Los Angeles and Ventura counties to close the beaches over the holiday weekend. Some Orange County cities initially considered keeping the beaches open, but changed their position as conditions deteriorated.
Newport Beach decided to put its beaches under hard closure From 10 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Sunday, after two first responders tested positive for COVID-19 and 23 were quarantined.
“I cannot, in good conscience, add more to our life jackets,” Mayor Will O’Neill said at an emergency City Council meeting Wednesday that approved the shutdown. “We simply cannot responsibly ask our first responders to do more with less. We just can’t. “
Los Angeles has introduced a new color-coded system to assess and report the risk of infection.
the online indicator, which Garcetti unveiled on Wednesday, is divided into four categories: red, orange, yellow and green, each representing different levels of threat.
“Threat information and data helps us all to report our behavior, guide us to better days,” Garcetti said.
As of Thursday, the Los Angeles flag was orange, meaning the risk of infection remains very high, according to Garcetti.
Red, the highest threat level, would mean “residents must stay home and take precautions and will likely be in a safer mandatory order at home,” Garcetti said.
Yellow means “we are successfully flattening the curve,” and green “will indicate that COVID-19 is largely contained and presents a very low risk to Angelenos,” he added.
In Silicon Valley, officials from Santa Clara County, one of California’s most cautious counties to restart its economy, unveiled its plan to reopen Thursday.
Santa Clara County never allowed the reopening of bars or restaurants inside, and has now concluded that it will not allow them to reopen for the foreseeable future.
Indoor swimming and saunas also cannot be reopened, as well as heated exercise rooms and smoking rooms.
These are “indoor facilities where you would necessarily have to remove your mask to participate in the activity. Those will not be able to proceed,” said James Williams, a Santa Clara County county attorney.
And because the county’s new planned health order wants to keep people separate from each other and away from crowded areas, other companies that can’t do it won’t be able to operate for the foreseeable future, either. Those include nightclubs, theaters, stadiums, arenas, playgrounds and entertainment centers, the county said.
Companies that may resume in the coming weeks include beauty salons, nail salons, massage parlors, and gyms. Smaller meetings could also be resumed when the new health order takes effect, which could be as early as July 13, but could be delayed.
The basic principles of the new county health order are that the exterior is safer than the interior; more physical distance is safer; fewer and shorter contacts are safer; and facial covers should be worn consistently and be the new normal, Williams said.
Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Health Officer, said: “This virus has proven time and time again, in communities across the country and around the world, that it will return with a vengeance if you let your guard down.
“Although we are testing much more than before, these numbers reflect a true increase in the prevalence of COVID-19,” said Cody. “And especially in Southern California, what we are seeing reflects exponential growth in transmission that will be extremely difficult to control and re-control.”
Times staff writers Maura Dolan, Hannah Fry and Phil Willon and Times Community News staff writers Hillary Davis and Lilly Nguyen contributed to this report.
