California’s COVID-19 numbers are stable, Gavin Newsom says – but state is ‘watching’ some counties

California’s key measures of coronavirus impact show the state has stabilized, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday, even through a series of reopening decisions and Memorial Day weekend celebrations.

The percentage of positive coronavirus cases has declined sharply in California, and is now holding steady at around 4.5 percent even as the overall number of cases rises, Newsom said in a press conference. He said that’s significantly down from an average positivity rate of 40.8 percent in the the first two weeks of April, when people with symptoms were prioritized for testing.

He said hospitalizations and ICU admissions also have held roughly flat over the last two-week period.

“Testing’s increased. You see total number of positives increased as a consequence, but the percentage, the positivity rate, has declined sharply and has remained stable over the course of the last month and a half plus,” Newsom said.

Newsom said the rising number of overall cases does not mean that the state reopened too quickly. Newsom said the state now has built capacity in hospitals in case the virus surges, and that it now has more than 11,000 ventilators on hand.

“We never made the case that the stay-at-home order was a permanent state. We wanted to buy time...and we ultimately wanted to save lives and prepare for a pandemic that needs to take its course,” he said.

Newsom said that 52 out of California’s 58 counties have now been allowed to advance into Phase 3 of California’s reopening. California as a state is still in Phase 2.

But he said the state is still closely monitoring counties whose numbers are more troubling than the statewide averages.

Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of California Health and Human Services, said state officials are providing “targeted technical assistance and support” to 13 counties with worrying coronavirus trends.

That support includes helping counties move patients to less overwhelmed hospitals in nearby counties, Ghaly said Monday, or ensuring local facilities have enough ventilators on hand. Those counties are part of a fluctuating state watch list, where public health officials are keeping an eye out for sudden increases in hospitalizations, positive cases and more to tamp down on outbreaks.

“Each day we use this information, through frequent calls and meetings and conversations about resource needs and plans, so that we can make sure as frequently as possible we’re getting in front of issues early,” Ghaly said during the Monday press conference.

In particular, seven counties — Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, San Joaquin and Tulare — have failed to meet at least three state benchmarks for reopening for three days in a row, Ghaly said Monday.

Those benchmarks include conducting more than 150 tests per every 100,000 people every day, or having fewer than 8 percent of tests come back positive.

In Imperial County, which has the highest rate of cases per capita in the state, the county’s two area hospitals have become overwhelmed with patients.

In the last two weeks, more than 20 percent of all tests conducted in the county returned with a positive coronavirus case. A flood of U.S. citizens and residents living in the Mexicali Valley seeking treatment in Southern California has put increased pressure on local hospitals there. Reaching capacity, some report having to send COVID-19 patients to other hospitals outside the county.

At El Centro Regional Medical Center, one of the county’s two hospitals, 52 patients are positive for the virus, and 12 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care, as of last Thursday.

“I’m asking you please do not let your guard down when it comes to COVID because again, the numbers are fairly high,” said CEO Dr. Adolphe Edward during a Facebook livestream last week.

One area of concern remains the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on both Latino and Black communities, Ghaly said Monday.

He said the state is seeing a disproportionately higher number of cases relative to the Latinos’ share of the state population, and a disproportionate number of deaths among African Americans.

He said the state needs to work with the counties to figure out what must be done, including providing more testing “so it can be available earlier and often.”

This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 3:32 PM.