California is in the midst of its deadliest stretch of the coronavirus pandemic thus far, setting a new record on Wednesday for COVID-19 deaths for the fourth time in eight days, as claimed by the large number of cases the state has seen in the last weeks. More and more lives.
Meanwhile, in another sign of how widespread the coronavirus summer surge has been, every county in the Bay Area is now on the state watch list for areas showing worrying signs of the spread of the coronavirus.
San Mateo County, the last place in the region where people could still visit beauty salons and exercise in gyms, was added to the list on Wednesday, after exceeding the state threshold for increased cases and hospitalizations. . At least 38 of California’s 58 counties were on the watch list as of Wednesday, halting economic reopens for the vast majority of California’s 40 million residents.
“We’ve been going in the wrong direction now for six weeks,” said John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccination at UC Berkeley, noting that the increase in deaths is the expected result of an increase in cases that started to beat. The state several weeks ago.
“The Bay Area is not doing well,” added Swartzberg. “Compared to Los Angeles, we are better; Compared to the Central Valley, we are clearly better. The problem is that “doing better” doesn’t say much. “
California public health officials reported 193 deaths from COVID-19 as of Wednesday night, according to data compiled by this news organization, far exceeding the 164 deaths recorded on Tuesday and breaking the previous record number of deaths set on July 22 and 23, when counties reported 155 and 156 deaths, respectively.
As of Wednesday, the seven-day average of coronavirus deaths continued to climb higher than it ever had, to 124 deaths per day over the past week. That measure has nearly doubled since July 1, when the state averaged 63 deaths per day from the disease.
The cumulative number of deaths in California is now close to 9,000, and its cumulative case count now exceeds 480,000, the most in the nation. That distinction is due in part to California’s size: on a per capita basis, it doesn’t figure the top 25 states in COVID-19 deaths or the top 20 in number of cases.
A glimpse of good news for California is that the number of new coronavirus cases, which shot up for much of July, appears to be declining. The seven-day average of new cases increased from 8,898 to 9,194 in the past two weeks, and is down slightly from last week, though authorities reported nearly 12,000 new cases on Wednesday.
Swartzberg cautioned that it was too early to tell whether the state curve was flattening again, particularly due to delays that have affected the coronavirus testing process.
“It is not possible to tell you where we are today,” said Swartzberg.
With all of its Bay Area neighbors already monitored by the state, San Mateo County’s addition to the watch list came as no surprise. Two-thirds of California counties have now been added to the list, and those that have not covered much less densely populated areas in the far north of the state and parts of Sierra Nevada.
If the county remains on the list for three consecutive days, what county officials said they expected, a number of services, including gyms and gyms, houses of worship, nail and nail salons, and shopping malls, will have to close or move. . your work outside. The closings would take effect at midnight on Saturday.
As of Wednesday, the 14-day moving average of cases in San Mateo County was 110.4, exceeding the state threshold of 100 confirmed coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents.
“We have been anticipating being added to the monitoring list as our case rate exceeds the state target,” County Manager Mike Callagy said in a statement Wednesday. “It is clear that COVID-19 continues to spread in our community and in the Bay Area.”
Still, news of the virus spread across the county, and the re-imposed restrictions that will now come with it, surprised Raoul Savy, who runs a Fitness 19 gym in San Mateo, off guard. The gym had been requiring customers to wear masks indoors and practicing social distancing on the team. But Savy doesn’t think the gym can move its services abroad and hopes it will have to close this weekend.
“I thought San Mateo had it under control here,” Savy said. “We thought we were going to make it.”
At All Star Barber Shop on East 3rd Avenue, Gloria Rosario spent thousands of dollars on safety equipment (air purifiers, thermometers, cleaning supplies) to reopen. Now that the county is on the watch list, you won’t be able to use it.
Rosario said her barbershop is “holding a rope right now.” She plans to remain open for the next few days. But beyond that, you just want to know when your business and others will be able to reopen.
“Four months was enough,” said Rosario. “How much longer are you going to go?”
Writer Fiona Kelliher contributed to the reports.
