Coronavirus updates: 9 deaths reported in Sacramento region; California braces for new normal
For weeks, as the coronavirus has infected hundreds of thousands and killed tens of thousands of people worldwide, one question has remained at the forefront for nearly everyone: When will things return to normal?
That’s a question that still lacks a firm answer in most places, including California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday released a “framework” that includes no specific calendar dates but instead six indicators that the state needs to meet before it can begin to lift its mandatory stay-at-home order, which has been in place since March 19.
As of Wednesday, the virus that causes the disease known as COVID-19 had infected more than 26,500 people and killed at least 861 in California, according to a Sacramento Bee survey of individual counties’ public health departments.
More than 5,100 were hospitalized with confirmed cases of the coronavirus and another 2,000 with suspected cases statewide as of Monday, the state Department of Public Health said. Of those, just under 1,200 confirmed patients and 400 suspected patients were in intensive care units, the state said.
The good news for California is those hospitalization and ICU rates still fall on the low end of projections that state health leaders have used to guide the nation’s most populous state toward “flattening” or “bending” the pandemic’s growth curve.
Newsom and other leaders have credited residents’ relatively strong adherence to physical distancing mandates in curbing spread of the highly contagious virus, keeping the state’s hospital systems so far from becoming overwhelmed.
The bad news, though, as Newsom reminded residents earlier this week, is the stay-at-home order will continue in full force until the state meets several criteria showing the coronavirus won’t simply spike and spread uncontrollably as soon as the order is lifted or relaxed. In other words, easing the restrictions too soon could render the past month of progress effectively worthless.
And even when some of those restrictions do begin to get relaxed, life will not simply return to normal as we knew it before the pandemic. A number of changes to everyday life are around the corner.
California’s new normal
Society won’t come back all at once, and Californians should brace for a version of public life in the early stages of exiting the stay-at-home order that will look very different from what existed before the coronavirus landed here.
Newsom on Tuesday said the prospect of mass gatherings, such as sports events and concerts, returning within the next few months “is negligible at best.”
Schools’ physical campuses have closed through the end of summer break, but even by the start of the next academic year, schools will likely have to implement numerous physical distancing measures. This could include things like staggering students’ schedules, reducing class sizes and significantly modifying a number of other daily aspects of school life, like lunch, recess and physical education, according to Newsom.
Theoretically, restaurants could be forced to take your temperature at the door before letting you dine in. Capacity inside eateries might be significantly reduced to maintain physical distancing, the governor said.
Lifting the stay-at-home order will also require dramatically increased cleaning and sanitation of public places and equipment, including benches and playgrounds, Newsom said.
Californians also will be encouraged to wear masks when they are in public, said Dr. Sonia Angell, who leads the state’s Department of Public Health. Masks will have to become more commonplace out in public as more Californians start leaving their homes, she said.
Nine new deaths Wednesday across Sacramento region
Health officials in Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties on Wednesday disclosed a total of nine new fatalities due to COVID-19.
Four came in Sacramento County, all in the city of Sacramento, three were reported in Yolo County and two came in Placer County, according to the counties’ public health departments.
El Dorado County has yet to report a COVID-19 death and has just 35 confirmed cases. The county also reported a total of seven active cases with 28 people recovered.
Those reported deaths bring the four-county Sacramento region’s total death toll to 46. Of Sacramento County’s 32 deaths so far, 18 have come in the capital city.
Sacramento area to enforce stay-at-home order
Police agencies throughout Sacramento County will ramp up enforcement of the local stay-at-home order, as violators could face fines of up to $1,000.
A joint news release by the Sacramento Police Department and other agencies said they will begin charging “blatant” violators with misdemeanors that carry a penalty of a fine or possible jail time.
The news release noted a number of recent house parties and a Sunday vehicle sideshow that damaged a California Highway Patrol cruiser while bringing hundreds of people together, observed gathered closely in “obvious violation of the public health order.”
Newsom’s six points
The governor’s six criteria that need to be met before beginning to reopen the economy and the society are the following:
▪ The ability to “monitor and protect” communities by “testing, contact tracing, isolating and supporting” those who test positive or are exposed;
▪ The ability to protect vulnerable populations from infection and spread, particularly senior citizens;
▪ Hospital systems’ ability to handle surges in patients;
▪ Ability to develop therapeutics to “meet the demand”;
▪ Schools, child care facilities and businesses being able to implement sufficient physical distancing measures; and
▪ The ability to determine when and how to reinstate certain measures, “such as the stay-at-home orders, if necessary.”
Newsom said during Tuesday’s news conference that these criteria are essential, but Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health pointed out that the list “is not simply about a set of indicators where we check and we move on,” but rather “a thoughtful process about how we modify our policies so that ultimately we protect the health of Californians.”
Also during Tuesday’s briefing, Newsom suggested reporters ask him again in two weeks — late April or early May — for an updated timeline.
What recession means for California’s budget
As recently as two months ago, California had been enjoying one of its most prosperous economic periods in modern times. Newsom in January proposed a $222 billion state budget that projected economic growth for a few more years.
Now, a recession is already upon us and has tossed that budget into a storm of uncertainty.
California’s reserves totaled around $17.5 billion in February, according to a recent Legislative Analyst’s Office report. Independent budget analysts had projected that this amount could support the state through a mild recession, but signs are increasingly pointing toward the ongoing pandemic bringing a severe one, experts and lawmakers say.
“It’s like someone took a Monopoly game board and in the middle of the game, took the board and threw it,” said Sen. John Moorlach R-Costa Mesa.
Unemployment claims have skyrocketed, with more than 2.5 million Californians filing in less than a month, as unprecedented efforts and mandates to flatten the coronavirus growth curve have meant the virtual shutdown entire industries. Employers from various sectors have resorted to mass layoffs or furloughs, with little idea regarding when they may be able to rehire. Some small or recently opened businesses may never recover.
Latest in Sacramento region: Over 1,100 infected, 43 dead
The four-county Sacramento region as of Wednesday evening had recorded at least 1,133 positive COVID-19 cases.
Sacramento County reported 77 new cases in a Tuesday update, the highest volume health officials have announced in a single day, and 37 more on Wednesday. Five new deaths were reported over those two days: four in the city of Sacramento and one in Rancho Cordova.
El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties reported a combined total of 43 deaths as of Tuesday, up from the 20 reported April 5. A week before, in late March, only eight fatalities had been reported.
Sacramento County has reported 853 cases and 32 deaths, last updated Wednesday morning on a new online dashboard being used by county health officials. Of the fatalities, 18 have come in the city of Sacramento, three in Elk Grove, two in Citrus Heights, one in Rancho Cordova and eight in unincorporated areas, the county says.
El Dorado County reports 35 cases, with no deaths reported.
Placer County reports 129 cases and seven deaths as of Wednesday, compared with 103 infections and three fatalities a week earlier. The county recently added an online dashboard for COVID-19 activity. Only one new case was reported between Monday and Tuesday.
Yolo County has seen a large jump in confirmed cases, now at 1116 compared with 37 about a week earlier. Seven fatalities have been reported, including the death of a resident at an undisclosed Woodland nursing facility.
Worldwide numbers: 2 million infected
The global total of confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday hit another grim milestone, reaching 2 million, according to a data map maintained by Johns Hopkins University. More than 134,000 people have died from the virus.
A little less than one-third of reported cases worldwide, at more than 635,000, have come in the United States, where over 28,000 people have died. More than 11,000 have died in New York state, close to 8,500 of those in New York City, as the nation’s densest urban hub remains an epicenter. The state has reported nearly 215,000 confirmed infections. New Jersey reports over 3,100 fatalities among more than 71,000 cases.
The U.S. recently overtook Italy for most deaths, with the latter reporting 21,000 fatalities so far as of Wednesday. Nearly 19,000 have died in Spain, more than 17,000 in France and almost 13,000 in the United Kingdom, according to Johns Hopkins. Iran is approaching 4,800 deaths, Belgium is over 4,400 fatalities, another 3,800 have died in Germany and about 3,100 people have died in the Netherlands.
The Hubei province of China, the original coronavirus epicenter, has stagnated in reported fatalities at around 3,200.
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 15, 2020 at 8:03 AM.
