California has once again reported its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day, with 11,554 cases recorded Monday, according to the Los Angeles Times’ report count of the state’s 58 counties.
The number exceeds a record broken just a week ago, when 11,142 coronavirus cases were reported, according to The Times’ coronavirus tracker.
The state also reports worsening death rates. The seven-day average of coronavirus-related deaths has been hovering between 91 and 99 deaths each day since July 10, the worst since the pandemic began.
For the one-week period ending Monday, 674 deaths were reported in California, the highest weekly total to date. In the previous seven-day period, 640 people died, which had also been a weekly record; the week before that, 474 died.
Coronavirus-related hospitalizations are also at record levels. In the past 30 days, records have been broken for 28 of them, including Sunday, when 6,921 people were reported statewide in hospitals.
Despite the grim news, there are some indications that the situation may be improving after a shutdown of indoor services at companies like bars and restaurants, closings that have been ongoing for the past three weeks.
Hospitalizations grew 7% on Sunday, compared to the previous Sunday; That’s an improvement on a similar increase seen on July 12, when hospitalizations increased 12% the previous Sunday. On July 5, hospitalizations had grown 21% the previous Sunday; and on June 28, hospitalizations increased 29% in the previous week.
Furthermore, the rate at which coronavirus tests return positive may have finally stabilized, although it is probably too early to know whether that trend will continue.
On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom said the so-called positivity rate in the past seven days was 7.2%; it had been 7.7% the previous Monday.
On Friday, Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said he was encouraged by the stability in the positivity rate after weeks of increases. In late May, the positivity rate was around 4%.
Ghaly suggested Friday that it was too early to call it a trend, but if the positivity rate continues to decline, it could mean that the shutdown of some companies is working to help control the spread of the disease.
“As soon as we feel confident about that trend and see other numbers begin to stabilize, we will credit some of the moves we have made in the past few weeks,” said Ghaly. “It’s been about three or four weeks since … we started making movements … so we are in that period of time where we can see some of the changes in the benefits of those [policy changes]. “
Three weeks ago, on June 28, Newsom ordered the closure of bars in seven counties, including Los Angeles. Three days later, on July 1, it ordered the closure of indoor restaurant bars and dining rooms in 19 of the state’s most affected counties, affecting 72% of the state’s population.
Newsom extended the closure last week, ordering the closure of all indoor bars and restaurants in restaurants across the state. It also closed the indoor operations of a number of businesses, including gyms, shopping malls, nail and beauty salons, houses of worship and offices for nonessential industries, in dozens of counties.
Some of the areas with the worst coronavirus rates per capita are in outbreak-affected state prison counties, with Lassen County in the remote northeast corner of California reporting 805 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days and County of Marin reporting 565 cases per 100,000 inhabitants
Imperial County in the southeast corner of the state is still suffering, with 786 cases per 100,000 residents. The Central Valley is also highly affected, with case rates in Stanislaus, Madera, Kings, Kern, Merced, Fresno and Tulare counties, ranging from 400 to 700 cases per 100,000 residents.
Of the southern urban and suburban counties of the state, Los Angeles County reports 420 cases per 100,000 residents; San Bernardino County, 410; Riverside, 396; Orange, 383; Ventura, 231; and San Diego, 216.
Metropolitan areas of Northern California have reported lower numbers, with Sacramento County reporting 194 cases per 100,000 residents; San Francisco, 151; and Santa Clara County, home of Silicon Valley, reporting 124.
The state’s goal to keep the coronavirus under control is no more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days.
