Coronavirus updates: California nearing 20,000 cases; 1 million file for unemployment
Stay-at-home orders and mandatory physical distancing guidelines are tightening in some parts of California, as the coronavirus pandemic continues an exponential growth trajectory across the United States and the rest of the globe.
Thursday marks three weeks since Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a mandatory stay-home order for all of California’s 40 million residents, an unprecedented effort to slow the spread of the virus that causes the disease known as COVID-19. The state was the first in the U.S. to do so.
Some of the most recent measures might have been unthinkable as recently as four weeks ago and may still seem surreal. Tourism entities like the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority are, for the first time ever, urging people not to visit. Plastic bags have appeared on basketball courts at public parks in Sacramento to prevent pickup games that would have had players within 6 feet of each other.
California has surpassed 500 deaths among almost 20,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to a Sacramento Bee survey of county public health department data. The number of cases in the state have doubled in a week.
But there are indications the extraordinary efforts to “flatten” the pandemic’s growth curve have been paying off: Death rates remain lower than some previous projections, and well below those recorded in the hardest-hit states like New York, the current epicenter, where more than 7,000 had died as of Wednesday evening.
Newsom, top health officials and other state and local leaders are reminding the public to stay vigilant and continue to adhere to the rules, especially with a series of ongoing and upcoming religious holidays representing a major test.
Small drop in ICU patients, Newsom says
Newsom during a daily news briefing Thursday gave the latest, confirmed statewide figures: 18,309 cases and 492 deaths, including 50 fatalities in the past day.
The governor said hospitalized patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are up to 2,825, a 4.1 percent increase from the previous day.
ICU patients dropped by 1.9 percent from a day earlier, down to 1,132, Newsom said. That decrease is “not a trend, it’s not a headline” because it represents just one data point over a very brief time period, but is still “encouraging,” he said.
Easter, Passover, Ramadan: Churches continue transition to online service
Closure orders prompted by the coronavirus have been a point of some controversy when it comes to places of worship, which are not exempt from the state’s stay-at-home order.
The pandemic has prompted churches in the Sacramento region and across California to transition their services online, many of them doing so as soon as the county and statewide orders to cease gatherings went into effect March 19. The Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, which includes dozens of parishes in the area, canceled weddings and funerals.
But other Northern California churches, such as Abundant Life Fellowship in Roseville and Cross Culture Christian Center in Lodi, continued to hold in-person services as recently as the past week, citing the First Amendment or declaring themselves essential services that should thus be exempt from the orders.
The Roseville church’s pastor, Doug Bird, announced this past Sunday he was ending in-person services until further notice. Palm Sunday services at Cross Culture Christian Center were effectively canceled, reduced to brief curbside prayers, a handout sermon and a wave of the hand — with police standing nearby.
Sacramento County health officials have also expressed great concern about parishioners instead gathering for worship in people’s homes, pointing to Bethany Slavic Missionary Church, south of Rancho Cordova, where 71 people connected to the church contracted COVID-19 as of last week and at least one parishioner had died.
Bethany Slavic ceased in-person services at its sprawling campus as soon as it was ordered to do so in March, church administrators say, but Dr. Peter Beilenson, director of the county’s Department of Health Services, said fellowship services continued outside of the church among its parishioners, presenting a public health danger.
Easter is this Sunday. Passover began Wednesday and lasts through next Thursday. Ramadan begins April 23 and lasts one month. According to broad time frames given recently by Newsom, social distancing guidelines are not expected to be lifted any time in May.
“The headline out of all of this is this,” Beilenson said. “At this time of major religious holidays, social distancing is unfortunately the measure that needs to be taken.”
Could coronavirus lead to worse economic crisis than Great Recession?
About 925,000 Californians filed for unemployment insurance last week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday, down slightly from the record 1 million claims the week before.
Economist Jeff Michael of the University of the Pacific in a report published Wednesday said California’s unemployment rate could reach 18.8 percent by May, with more than 3 million jobs lost.
That figure would represent the worst downturn since the Great Depression, when unemployment hit 25 percent.
Michael said Sacramento-area unemployment could hit 18.5 percent and Fresno 20.7 percent. Modesto would see a rate of 20.2 percent and the jobless figure will hit 20.5 percent in Merced.
The Bay Area, with its high tech economy, will fare slightly better. San Francisco unemployment will reach 17.1 percent and San Jose 15.3 percent, Michael said.
In California and most of the U.S., mandatory stay-home orders have already had an unparalleled impact on jobs. Bars and almost all retailers are closed; restaurants are limited to takeout only; and the tourism, entertainment and hospitality sectors have effectively ceased.
Michael, however, said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee said that he believes the economic recovery will be much swifter than the last recession, when the real estate bust left Sacramento and most California cities facing a multi-year ascent. Once the health crisis passes, “the pace of people returning to work will be quicker than previous (economic) cycles,” he said.
But it won’t be instantaneous, he said.
Roughly 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, according to seasonally adjusted data released Thursday by the Department of Labor, on top of the 6.8 million claims filed the week before. California’s figure of more than 1,050,000 claims was not seasonally adjusted.
Two homeless people in Sacramento test positive
County health officials told The Bee on Thursday that two local homeless people were hospitalized and have tested positive for COVID-19. It was not immediately clear whether either person had been staying in a homeless shelter prior to the hospital, or whether either had died.
The two cases represent Sacramento County’s first known instances of coronavirus spread within its homeless population, though it has been clear since community-transmitted cases were first reported in California in February that the state’s homeless would be among the most vulnerable to the highly contagious virus.
The county plans to place the first 20 to 25 homeless people in motels Thursday, spokeswoman Janna Haynes said, nearly four weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the plan.
New measures implemented at grocery stores
Public health officials, wary of an anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases, are starting to discourage visits to the supermarket, which have been deemed an essential business.
California grocery stores are heightening measures to increase physical distance among shoppers and otherwise protect them from spreading or contracting the coronavirus.
This week, Safeway said it will place directional arrows in its aisles to encourage one-way traffic and reduce congestion and close contact.
Nugget Markets is taking employees’ temperatures when they report to work and requiring them to wear masks. Starting next week Nugget will require customers to wear masks or scarves covering their noses and mouths, as well.
Raley’s spokeswoman Chelsea Minor said the chain hasn’t instituted any formal policies on masks but is having employees clean the store more rigorously, and customers are no longer allowed to bring their reusable grocery bags, she said.
Required Symptoms Screenings at Yuba and Sutter county facilities
Residents who enter Yuba and Sutter county facilities starting will now have to undergo a brief symptoms screening, including a temperature reading before they can enter those locations, officials announced Thursday afternoon.
Those residents who choose to visit county facilities must also wear something to cover their mouths and noses, such as a mask, to slow the spread of coronavirus, according to a news release. Residents must bring their own facial coverings, but they should not be hospital-grade masks. Those should be reserved for medical personnel.
Residents should wear bandannas, scarves and fabric masks that can be washed and reused. Officials reminded residents that using facial coverings without social distancing and frequent hand washing will increase their chances of COVID-19 infection.
“While residents should be staying home as much as possible under the state’s stay-at-home order, face coverings offer extra precaution while out for essential activities,” Yuba-Sutter Health Officer Dr. Phuong Luu said in the news release.
County employees will also be screened for coronavirus symptoms daily and be required to wear facial coverings. These requirements go into effect Friday.
PG&E closing more than 3 dozen campgrounds and recreational sites
PG&E Corp. said it is postponing the opening of its campgrounds, picnic areas and other recreational facilities in California to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
The decision covers 38 sites from the Hawkins Landing campground and boat launch in Shasta County to the Black Rock campground near Kings Canyon National Park. Most of its facilities are adjacent to PG&E’s hydroelectric dams.
The utility said the decision will allow PG&E to reduce risks associated with trash collection and restroom cleaning.
The sites, which usually open for the season around Memorial Day, will stay closed at least through late June. The company said it won’t start taking reservations until June as well.
UC Davis graduation ceremony going virtual
University of California, Davis, on Wednesday announced that its June graduation commencement will be held as a virtual celebration. The university is also considering an in-person ceremony for undergraduate and graduate students, possibly this December.
The virtual ceremony for undergrads is set for June 12.
Ceremonies for law and medical students were supposed to begin for UC Davis students in May, followed by graduate students in early June.
No hoops, no nets: Coronavirus shuts down sports at parks
Health officials earlier this week extended Sacramento County’s mandatory stay-at-home order through at least May 1. Authorities also tightened some of the restrictions in the order while loosening others.
The revised and extended order now clarifies that real estate agents can show houses for sale, if done safely, and funerals can take place, if limited to 10 attendees.
On the other hand, the new order prohibits “all nonessential gatherings of any number of individuals,” while groups of up to six people were previously permitted.
The new order also put stricter limits on outdoor recreation. Playgrounds, picnic areas, barbecue areas, tennis courts, pools and basketball courts “must be closed to public access,” the county said. A day later, on Wednesday, the basketball hoops at Sacramento’s 4th Avenue Park in Oak Park had black garbage bags blocking them.
Other cities and counties have taken similar actions. Vacaville, in Solano County, said in a Wednesday morning news release that it has “zip-tied” all basketball nets and removed the nets at tennis courts across all city parks. Facilities where such courts were fenced in have been locked.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers: 29 dead, over 800 infected
As of Thursday morning, the four-county Sacramento region had reported a total of 834 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 29 fatalities.
Sacramento County reports 613 confirmed cases and 22 deaths. Health officials provided the most recent update at 11:15 a.m. Thursday.
Placer County reports 120 confirmed cases and four deaths, last updated Thursday afternoon.
Yolo County reports 71 confirmed cases and three deaths, last updated 5 p.m. Thursday. The county had 35 cases in West Sacramento and 18 in Woodland.
El Dorado County reports 30 cases and no deaths, last updated 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The county had 11 cases reported in El Dorado Hills and nine in the Lake Tahoe area.
The county on Tuesday released data and a map breaking down infection totals, but not deaths, by ZIP code for each that had at least five confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Worldwide numbers: 95,000 dead, nearly 1.6 million infected
The pandemic crossed another milestone Thursday, now nearly 1.6 million confirmed cases worldwide, according to a data map by Johns Hopkins University. Over 95,000 people have died of COVID-19 as of 6 p.m. Pacific time.
The United States has surpassed 460,000 confirmed cases, of which more than 160,000 are in New York state, and over 16,000 have died nationwide — over 7,000 of them in New York state, including 5,150 in New York City, according to the Johns Hopkins map.
New Jersey has exceeded 1,700 deaths among 51,000 confirmed infections. Michigan, where 21,000 cases have been confirmed, has surpassed 1,000 fatalities. More than 700 have died in Louisiana.
Texas, Georgia, Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and California also each have more than 10,000 confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins, with death tallies ranging from 212 in Texas to 544 in California.
Italy has recorded the most coronavirus deaths of any nation at over 18,000, followed by the United States at just over 16,000 as of Thursday evening, followed by Spain at 15,447. France has reported over 12,000 fatalities; the United Kingdom nearly 8,000; and 4,110 in Iran.
Mainland China, where growth rates for reported new cases and deaths has slowed significantly, has observed 3,339 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins.
What is COVID-19? How is the coronavirus spread?
Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within 6 feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The CDC says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Most develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal. The disease is especially dangerous to the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 8:16 AM.
