Sacramento County nearing 1,500 coronavirus cases; California still in Phase 2 reopening
California has now been under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order for 11 full weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, and while a majority of the state has been permitted to loosen some of those restrictions, huge swaths of the economy remain effectively shut down as the death toll continues to rise.
As of Wednesday, the state Department of Public Health reported 4,422 fatalities among nearly than 120,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the highly contagious virus.
Newsom on March 19 issued a statewide order restricting California’s roughly 40 million residents from leaving home for any purpose considered nonessential. The governor’s administration has described a four-phase gradual reopening plan for businesses, public places and other establishments. All of the initial reopenings come with state-issued guidelines designed to keep six feet of social distance between people, and in many cases requiring or strongly encouraging facial coverings.
The entirety of California remains in some part of Phase 2, in which businesses considered to involve a lower risk of virus transmission have been allowed to reopen. In all 58 counties, the state has permitted retailers to reopen for in-store shopping; places of worship to reopen to a max of 100 people or 25 percent of their normal capacities (whichever is lower); and office spaces can reopen, but telework remains strongly encouraged.
All but seven counties — six in the Bay Area and Imperial County in Southern California — have filed attestation documents with the state, allowing them to accelerate further within Phase 2 under the guidance of their local health officers.
In those 51 counties, which include Sacramento and recently added Los Angeles, restaurants are now permitted to reopen for in-restaurant dining with a number of modifications. Barbershops and hair salons may also reopen, under conditions that include mandatory masks for both barbers and patrons.
Phase 3 represents the reopening of higher risk businesses, which include personal services like fitness centers; and entertainment or recreation venues that bring large groups of people in close proximity, such as card rooms and movie theaters. Phase 4 represents the full lifting of the stay-at-home order, which would allow large-scale events like concerts, graduation ceremonies and professional sports with full arenas to resume.
Unemployment: Almost 2 million initial claims nationwide last week
Nationwide and California unemployment figures each continued dramatic growth this week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly report released Thursday morning.
Nearly 1.9 million filed for unemployment insurance across the U.S. for the week ending May 30, for a total of more than 42 million claims over the past 11 weeks.
More than 230,000 of those claims came in California, an increase from the 203,000 new filings reported one week earlier. The nationwide figure is seasonally adjusted, while state figures are not.
California hospitals have lost an estimated $10 billion in revenue
California hospitals have lost at least $10 billion total during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as they made preparations for an influx of patients, bought new equipment and canceled non-emergency medical procedures, according to the California Hospital Association and a Wednesday report by the nonprofit California Health Care Foundation.
“I don’t think hospitals are going to recover for some time to come,” said Dr. Glenn Melnick, a professor of public policy at the University of Southern California and the co-author of the report. He said much of his research comes from work he’s done on his own in the field but that he also interviewed hospital executives and studied data from a company that tracks hospital admissions nationwide.
In the first month of shelter-in-place orders, California hospitals saw an estimated 50 percent reduction in revenue, the report said. the report estimates the average revenue for California hospitals fell by $3.2 billion a month during March, April and May, and are projected to be about the same for June.
Less invasive COVID-19 testing available at Cal Expo
Sacramento County’s drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at Cal Expo is now using a new, “less invasive” method.
Doctors and nurses would take a long swab and stick it deep into a patient’s nasal cavity, leaving some bleary-eyed, coughing and in mild pain.
Patients who take the new test at Cal Expo’s drive-through site will instead be handed the stick to self-sample, and instructed by a nurse to swab the nostril from a “relatively shallow location,” according to a county news release Wednesday.
A Bee reporter who took the COVID-19 test at Cal Expo on Wednesday was told to stick the swab about an inch up his nose.
Hospitalization rates falling, death rates still rising in California
State health officials’ data dashboard shows some good news in the fight against COVID-19: as of Wednesday’s update, total suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients in hospitals were at 4,458, down by 4.8 percent from two weeks earlier. Patients in ICUs dropped to 1,313, a 2.4 percent decline.
More than 750,000 tests were conducted across California in those 14 days, an average of more than 53,000 per day. That is still short of Newsom’s stated goal of at least 60,000 diagnostic tests per day, but 59,700 tests were conducted between Monday and Tuesday.
The bad news is that the statewide death toll continues to come in waves, appearing to decline for a few days before shooting back up near triple digits roughly every week.
The state saw 95 new COVID-19 deaths reported May 28. The death toll increased by 88 last Friday, then 57 on Saturday, 38 Sunday and 35 on Monday. But then, 75 fatalities were reported Tuesday, state data show.
Sacramento County approaching 1,500 cases, 60 deaths
As of a Thursday morning update, public health officials have reported 1,490 lab-confirmed cases and 58 fatalities from COVID-19 in Sacramento County.
The infection total increased by 27 over Wednesday’s update, which had represented a jump of 24 from Tuesday’s.
Sacramento County’s online COVID-19 dashboard now breaks down confirmed cases by “episode date” rather than when they were first reported publicly; this refers to the earliest indicator of infection (diagnosis, onset, death, or “specimen collection” date) available to the county. That chart shows 103 new cases were reported last week, May 24-30. The peak for the county, to this point, came between late March and early April: 195 new cases emerged the week of March 29 to April 4.
The health department also now breaks down fatalities by the date of death, rather than the date the death was reported by the county. Officials increased the death toll by two this Monday, from 56 to 58, but the most recent deaths came May 25-26, with one each day. The county chart so far shows no deaths occurring from May 14-24, but that could change as new data come in.
Yolo County reported two new cases Thursday afternoon; the county has a total of 216 cases and 24 deaths. Health authorities have now connected 17 of the 24 deaths with Stollwood Convalescent Hospital, part of the St. John’s Retirement Village complex in Woodland, where an outbreak was first reported April 13.
Placer County has recorded 259 cases and nine deaths, last updated 8 a.m. Thursday. Reported infections have surged with 19 new cases reported Thursday morning, the highest single-day increase to date in the county. Fifteen new cases were reported Saturday and 11 more were reported Tuesday and 12 on Wednesday. Those four one-day totals were the highest reported by the county in about two months, dating back to April 2, according to its public health dashboard.
El Dorado County reported four new cases Thursday afternoon. The county has a total of 102 COVID-19 cases, which is up 10 from Friday. Three of the new cases were reported in the Lake Tahoe area, which has the most cases in the county with 45. El Dorado Hills has the second highest number of cases in the county with 22. No deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported in the county. One patient remained hospitalized and in the ICU.
Sutter County reported three new COVID-19 cases Thursday afternoon; the county had a total of 51 cases and two deaths. The county reported two new cases Wednesday. Yuba County added no new cases Thursday, remaining at 31 people infected so far and one fatality. Sutter County reported three infected people were hospitalized on Thursday, and Yuba says none were in the hospital for COVID-19.
Global case total at 6.5 million, death toll approaches 400,000
More than 6.59 million lab-positive cases and over 388,600 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported worldwide, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
The United States accounts for over 108,000 of those deaths and over 1.87 million of the cases. Within the U.S., New York state has now surpassed 30,000 dead; New Jersey is nearing 12,000 dead; Massachusetts has passed 7,200; and each of Michigan, Illinois and Pennsylvania range from 5,500 to 6,000 deceased.
After the United States, the United Kingdom was approaching a death toll of 40,000 on Thursday afternoon. Italy reports close to 34,000 dead, as Brazil is over 32,500. France reports 29,000 dead, Spain reports 27,000 and Mexico is near 12,000.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 10:40 AM.
