By Sharon Bernstein
SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) – New cases of coronavirus soared in California over the July 4 weekend, stressing some hospital systems and leading to the temporary closure of the Sacramento state capitol building for a deep cleanup, the Monday officials.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has increased by 50% in the past two weeks to approximately 5,800, Governor Gavin Newsom said in a briefing.
About a third of those hospitalized were in Los Angeles County, according to state and local records, with about 630 confirmed and suspected coronavirus patients requiring intensive care.
And 25% of county hospitalizations in July were among patients ages 18 to 40, health officials said, as the new cases increasingly affect a younger population that may have been lax for safety precautions in recent weeks.
Further north, about 1,400 inmates at San Quentin State Prison have become ill from the virus, pressuring hospitals in Marin County, where the facility is located, Newsom said.
Overall, 271,684 Californians have tested positive for the virus, including 11,529 in the past 24 hours, state records show. Around 6,300 have died.
Determined to curb the spread of the disease over the holiday weekend, state alcohol regulators visited nearly 6,000 bars and restaurants to make sure they were complying with new rules that prohibit eating indoors and closing bars that don’t serve food, Newsom said.
Nearly half a million companies were contacted by the state over the weekend and warned that failure to comply with social distancing guidelines, including a state mandate to wear face covers, could lead to a subpoena, he said.
The virus also hit the hallways of the government.
On Monday, Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, a Democrat from Los Angeles County, tweeted that she and her daughter had tested positive for the virus after what state human resources representatives called a “mask-to-mask” transmission.
Lawmakers have met in person at the state Capitol building in Sacramento since mid-May.
Burke did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a spokeswoman for State Assembly President Anthony Rendon said the building had been closed for a deep cleanup out of concern for “the health and safety of the Capitol community.”
Five people who worked on Capitol Hill had been infected with the virus, spokeswoman Katie Talbot said.
(Reports by Sharon Bernstein; additional reports by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Lisa Shumaker in Chicago; Bill Berkrot edition)
