At his daily briefing Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out the latest California coronavirus numbers. Here’s a look at some of the most significant ones he highlighted.

1.6 million file for unemployment

As the state scrambles to slow the spread of the coronavirus, 1.6 million Californians have applied for unemployment insurance, Newsom said. More than 150,000 people filed Monday, setting a record.

“We’re going to have to do more to meet this moment for employees and employers,” Newsom said. “Process this moment, get through it, then get this economy back and growing.”

California’s steeply climbing unemployment numbers reflect an economy brought to a standstill by the state’s stay-at-home orders that have confined many to their homes and forced businesses deemed nonessential, such as bars, hair salons and movie theaters, to close.

Early numbers indicate California may successfully be slowing its rate of infection, but Newsom said its too early to discuss lifting stay-at-home rules. His administration still predicts the state will need 50,000 more hospital beds on top of the 75,000 that the hospital system already had before COVID-19 began, with a peak anticipated around mid-May.

“Success is defined by buying us time to prepare” Newsom said of the social distancing measures.

25,000 join California Health Corps

Overnight, 25,000 people signed up for the California Health Corps announced Monday, Newsom said. Those include people who recently left the health workforce, medical professionals working part time who want to do more, and medical students close to finishing their degrees.

The overwhelming response came as a bit of a surprise, Newsom said. He now doesn’t expect California will need to bring in health care workers from other states, and may actually be able to aid other states. Just the day before, Newsom said California needs “thousands and thousands” of medical workers to step up to meet the surge in patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus spreading through the state.

He said he’s “never been more inspired” seeing the response from medical workers and others across the state stepping up to help fight the virus.

150 coronavirus deaths

Even so, infection rates continue to climb. Newsom listed several grim numbers: 150 dead, 1,617 hospitalized and 657 in intensive care.

New hotline number to help the elderly

The state has a new hotline to connect elderly people with their neighbors, Newsom says, encouraging people to call 833-544-2374

Newsom said the new hotline will help help older Californians stay connected to their communities while they are isolated during the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative aims to help connect seniors with others to make them feel less lonely, but also to help them get food or medical supplies.

This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 1:40 PM.