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California has become the first US state to record 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases, reaching the milestone on Christmas Eve (local time) as nearly the entire state was under a strict order to stay in. home and hospitals were flooded with the highest number of cases. since the pandemic began.
A tally by Johns Hopkins University showed that the nation’s most populous state has recorded 2,010,157 infections since January.
At least 23,635 people have died from the virus.
The first case of Covid-19 in California was confirmed on January 25. It took 292 days to reach 1 million infections on November 11.
Just 44 days later, the number surpassed 2 million.
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The California Department of Public Health separately recorded 2,003,146 cases, a one-day increase from 39,070 infections, but below the one-day peak of nearly 54,000 cases in the middle of the month. The death toll in the state rose by 351, also below the record set last week. Another 427 people were hospitalized, bringing the total to 18,875. The number of 3962 in intensive care units was a record, as was the number of hospitalized
California’s infection rate, in terms of the number of cases per 100,000 people, is lower than the US average, but its nearly 40 million residents mean the outbreak is spreading to other states in large numbers.
Jae C. Hong / AP
Physical therapist Alireza Akbarpour, right, helps Maria Herrera exercise in a Covid-19 unit at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles.
The grim milestone comes as the Covid-19 crisis overwhelms the state’s medical system far beyond its normal capacity, prompting hospitals to put emergency room patients in tents and treat others. in offices and auditoriums, while many of their intensive care units overflow.
“In most hospitals, about half of all beds are full of Covid patients and half of all ICU beds are full of Covid patients, and two-thirds of these patients suffocate due to inflammation in your lungs caused by the virus. “said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
“They are suffocating to the point that they can no longer breathe on their own, and they need someone to put a tube down their throat to oxygenate their organs. Many of these people will not live until 2021.” “
Jae C. Hong / AP
A mother and her son wait in line to receive a Covid-19 test in California.
The state has seen its number of cases rise exponentially in recent weeks, driven in large part by people who ignored the warnings and held traditional Thanksgiving gatherings, health officials say.
The milestone sparked new warnings that the state’s medical system will be overwhelmed and unable to provide adequate care if people ignore increasingly urgent warnings to avoid gathering for the holidays, or at least take precautions like gathering outside in masks already. a safe distance, or open windows and turn on fans if they are indoors.
“Two million cases of Covid-19 in California is an unfortunate milestone, and it means that thousands of Californians will spend this Christmas season in a hospital,” said Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association. “On Christmas Eve, Californians can still make the decision to avoid unnecessary travel and gatherings on Christmas Day. We must all do what we can to stop the relentless spread of this virus.”
Renée C. Byer / AP
California has become the first state to record 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases.
In a rare ray of hope, a statistical model that state officials have been using to project hospitalizations predicts more than 71,000 patients in a month, which is still unsustainable four times the current number of patients, but roughly 40,000 fewer than previously. been projecting the same model. just a few days ago.
The transmission rate – the number of people that an infected person will in turn infect – has slowed for nearly two weeks and is approaching the point where each person who contracts the virus would bring fewer infections.
In addition, the rate of positive cases reached a new high of 12.4 percent over a two-week period, but began to trend downward in the past seven days from a high of 13.3 percent to 12, 6 percent. The seven-day rate was 12.1 percent on Thursday.
Jeff Chiu / AP
The death toll from Covid-19 continues to rise in the US.
On Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom called the slowdown in growth rates “a modest indication of a possible sign of good news.” He attributed stay-at-home orders for almost the entire state that imposed a night curfew, closed many businesses and restricted most retail stores to 20 percent of capacity. Restaurants can only serve take out food.
Pleas to avoid social gatherings for the Christmas and New Year holidays rang out with particular desperation in Southern California. Los Angeles County is leading the rise, accounting for a third of the state’s Covid-19 cases and nearly 40 percent of deaths.
“We know this emergency is our darkest day, perhaps the darkest day in the history of our city,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday, as the county reported its highest death toll and hospitalizations in a single day since the pandemic began: 145 deaths and more than 6,000 people in hospitals.
Damian Dovarganes / AP
Thousands of people have died from Covid-19 in California.
More than 9,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the county.
If Los Angeles County continues to see the same growth in Covid-19 infections over the next two weeks, hospitals could be forced to ration care due to a lack of medical staff, Garcetti said.
“That means that doctors will be forced to determine who lives and who dies,” he said.
Medical workers are disheartened and outraged by scenes of crowded outdoor shopping malls, crowded parking lots and parents and children walking without masks, Ghaly said Wednesday.
Dr. Jim Keany, associate director of the emergency department at Mission Hospital in Southern California’s Orange County, wonders how much more they can handle.
“Are we going to have the resources to take care of our community?” he said.
