While California has seen an increase in coronavirus cases, the pace of growth is still much slower than in the rest of the United States, and experts say there is still time to stop the “third wave.”
There are clear warning signs in Los Angeles County, including an increase in trouble in daily cases. But statewide, for the moment – is still at a relatively slow pace and top health officials say there is no definite indication of an outraged type spike to California this summer.
Medical Epidemiologist and Infectious Diseases Specialist at UCLA Fielding School Public Health “We’re lucky in the sense that we have more muted optics to get started,” said Robert Kim-Furley. “And I think that’s why we’re largely sticking to this tiered approach to the economy and the gradual opening of schools.”
California’s slow resumption process has drawn criticism from some industries, such as some officials at the state’s largest theme park, whose drastic operations have been criticized for shutting down. Indoor bars that do not serve meals have large shutters throughout the state. And in the worst-affected counties, including Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino, restaurants have been ordered to close indoor dining rooms, as are indoor gyms and indoor worship houses.
But while that slow-moving resume strategy may still disappoint some, health experts and officials are crediting California’s hospitals for drowning out the boom in new cases.
The first attempt to revive California’s economy ended in disaster in late spring, with state officials, facing political pressure, agreeing to speed up its pace without meeting previously established standards. This led to an increase in summer cases of California’s worst epidemic season.
Coronavirus cases have increased in California, but not to the extreme levels seen nationally.
(Los Angeles Times)
The current mild situation in California, Kim-Farley said, could be considered a “slightly modest success story compared to the rest of the nation.”
While California has more than 17,900 deaths, it is worse than some countries – for example, Japan has only 1,800 deaths – Golden State still has about half of New York’s total deaths, the highest in the state. With about 34,000 casualties.
The number of weekly coronavirus cases recently reported in California is still much lower than its worst week. During the seven-day period that ended Thursday, about 34,000 cases were reported in California. California’s worst week, July 17-23, nearly halved, with 66,341 cases diagnosed.
In contrast, more than 662,000 cases were reported in the country last week – the second time in two weeks the nation has posted a new weekly record.
“Part of California’s success is because we’ve really slowed down by reopening; That we have Dr. Secretary of the Health and Human Services Agency of California. “We’ve given ourselves time to see how re-departure affects our healthcare delivery system,” said Mark Galli.
Galli said he also believes California has been helped in places where the state’s mandatory mask health order is highly adhered to, which he called “one of the game’s most valuable tools to reduce transmission.”
In contrast, some of the states with the highest per capita coronavirus case rates are residents who do not wear masks most of the time.
Across the country, cases of newly diagnosed coronavirus for the first time have risen to more than 100,000 a day in recent days – more than the highest one-day average ever. Since the epidemic began, U.S. Has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in any country worldwide, with more than 237,000 deaths and more than 9.9 million infections.
UC San Francisco Epidemiologist and Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr. The epidemic is growing rapidly in most states except the west coast, Hawaii, New York, Louisiana and parts of New England, George R. Ford said.
On a per capita basis, cases of coronavirus have been highest in the past week in the Midwest, where there has been widespread controversy over epidemiological management. In Wisconsin, the Democratic governor and the Republican-dominated legislature and the Supreme Court have argued for control measures.
On Halloween, Texas surpassed California with the highest number of coronavirus cases, and as of Sunday, more than 985,000 accumulated coronavirus cases were reported in Lone Star State; Golden State has more than 973,000.
Texas – which now has more than 19,000 COVID-19 deaths – is now the state with the second highest number of COVID-19 deaths, displacing California’s No. 2 ranking in mid-September.
In the past week, Texas, Illinois and Wisconsin have more new coronavirus case lengths than California, R. Ford said.
Ruthford said it is noteworthy how dense the spread of the infection is in places like Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and in metro areas in the mountain west. In contrast, the West Coast has been “relatively saved,” and Ruthford said, and “here in California, we’re lucky to have something.”
Diana Elam, center, with her children, 11, Jackson Love, left, and Jordan Love, 11, voting at Union Station in Los Angeles.
(Irrfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Rutherford said he was concerned that California was beginning to see a significant increase in cases starting about two weeks ago, with California filing 8,000 new cases a day, up from about 200,500 a day before October-October.
But the terrible scenario has not happened, at least not yet. In the past week, an average of 5,050 cases a day have been reported.
“Just because we’ve experienced growth in other parts of the country, it’s not a pre-determined decision that we’ll just see it on the road,” Gali said. “Our choices are a great deal.”
Like California as a whole, Los Angeles County has begun to see a surge in cases in recent weeks, but that’s not where immediate stress is expected in local hospitals.
“It’s definitely growing across the country. We’re not seeing that yet in LA County, “said Dr. John Smith, chief science officer at LA County Department of Public Health. Said Simon Simon. During the seven-day period, which ended on Thursday, 10,490 cases were reported, down slightly from the previous week’s 10,987, but still higher than the three-week count, at 7,921.
That number is still below the worst summer week, with more than 22,000 cases reported in July 10-16.
“We’re pretty sure at this point that these small gatherings – where people feel so safe because they’re with friends and extended family – are in fact encouraging a lot of extra,” said Barbara Ferrer, LA County Public Director. Health. “They’re not as safe as we think.”
It seems that healthy meals or parties, where people eat and drink inside, can easily spread the virus.
“Please don’t bring people inside your home who are not part of your home, as it only accelerates this increase in the number of cases,” Ferrer said. “Like everyone else, we don’t want to be in a place where we feel that open action is just too dramatic for us,” said people like England’s recent takeover.
In Solano County, Solano County Public Health Officer Dr. Bella Matias said in public that most of the recent incidents in Sorino County were caused by “family and social gatherings”, adding that social gatherings are also a problem in the two Bereas. Meeting.
“And some of those who have been reported were in clear violation of common sense: we had a funeral with 300 people and no one was wearing a mask. We were married to 40 people in a person’s home – no one was wearing a mask.
Other counties in Southern California are reporting a week-to-week increase in cases, but are still at lower levels over the summer period. In the seven-day period that ended Thursday, San Diego County reported 2,738 cases, up from 2,400 the previous week, but down from 3,753 in mid-summer.
Five county areas in LA, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties reported 18,558 cases last week, up from 17,704 in the previous week. That number is half of what was seen in the summer, where about 39,000 cases were reported in a week in mid-July.
The rise in cases is still a sign of concern, and in the cases reported on Thursday and Friday, Kim-Furley fears it could be related to a gathering around Halloween. If there is a jump in cases associated with Halloween, it leads the region to a sequential holiday of Thanksgiving, Christmas and other winter holidays, which exacerbates the epidemic.
“We come at a crucial time where we have a very well-established cultural family tradition of joining and celebrating together,” Kim-Furley said. “It really can’t be the same as last year.”
The state generally prohibits large gatherings and sets out the following requirements for how small social private gatherings take place: Outside, no more than three households are allowed, guests from different households live six feet apart, wear masks when not eating or Drink, eat, drink in single-serve disposable containers, and limit the duration to no more than two hours.
“This is not particularly the year to participate in the inner crowd,” said Dr. Grant Colefex, San Francisco’s director of public health. “We want to come here next holiday season. We wish we all came here. ”
Much of the concern across the country is that major gatherings take place in small groups of friends and family gatherings. Health experts are urging people not to organize or attend large gatherings, saying it is safest to celebrate in person with members of your household and spend time with others via phone or web video services.
“Except for a few big rallies, it seems to be small groups of people clustering together where most of the transmission is on.” “And so the concern is that Thanksgiving, and that’s it – because that’s the time when people cluster together their masks so they can eat and drink – the epidemic will be a big amplifier.
LA County officials are also keeping an eye on the disparity in coronavirus cases among Latino residents compared to other ethnic and racial groups. Inequality improved in early August and early September, but began to deteriorate again in October.
Lynn reported from San Francisco, Lee from Los Angeles and Lee from Thousin Oaks.
