Coronavirus updates: Over 5,000 more new cases in California; Fauci urges mask use
Hospitalizations and new cases of the coronavirus continue their rapid resurgence in California, where public health data show a spike that has now lasted over a week.
More than 34,000 of the state’s 195,000 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported June 18-24, according to the Department of Public Health’s data dashboard. That’s about 18 percent of the pandemic’s three-month total in a single week. Updates Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday brought the three highest increases of the pandemic so far, with more than 5,000 each day.
The state also Thursday reported 101 new fatalities to bring the all-time death toll to 5,733, marking the most deaths in a day since June 10. Those have been the only two days with triple-digit death increases since May 20, when 106 people died across California.
Of active cases, 4,240 patients were hospitalized and 1,306 of them in intensive care units, both all-time highs and each more than a 3 percent increase from the previous day. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that hospitals were full to 8 percent of capacity, but ICUs are at 30 percent.
Newsom said during a Thursday news conference that those capacities are some of the biggest factors in determining whether to pause or reverse economic reopening.
“To the extent we don’t see progress being made, and we’re not advancing the cause of public health and public safety, then we certainly reserve the right to put a pause in terms of advancing into the subsequent phase,” he said.
According to county-level data maintained on the state dashboard, Sacramento County’s rise in hospitalized cases remains alarming. The county had 61 patients in hospital beds with confirmed cases of COVID-19, the most since April 20, when 69 were hospitalized.
The day-over-day increase, from 50 in Wednesday’s update to 61 Thursday, was the biggest one-day surge since April 6, when 13 new hospitalizations pushed the total to a record-high 77. At the same time, the county’s ICU rate fell — from 18 in Wednesday’s update to 14 by Thursday.
As a result of spiking hospitalizations, Sacramento County ended back up on the state’s monitoring list for counties with elevated coronavirus activity, as it briefly had three weeks ago when the figure jumped from 19 to 35 in two days. After that, hospital rates had appearing to stabilize for a little more than a week.
This time around, the state reports that the driving force for the county has been “community transmission due to holiday gatherings among large families,” referring to Memorial Day.
As of midday Thursday, 15 of the state’s 58 counties were on the watch list, the most ever.
The rate of new fatalities has generally remained stable statewide, rising steadily but not yet spiking along with the state’s other COVID-19 metrics. Because the period from onset of the virus to death can range from a couple of weeks to more than a month, it’s possible a spike in fatalities could follow the uptick in hospitalizations.
California not considering incoming travel quarantine
During Thursday’s news briefing, Newsom said the state is not considering closing its borders or implementing mandatory quarantine periods for those entering it, “at this time.”
The tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on Wednesday issued a travel advisory requiring 14-day self-isolation for any visitor traveling in from states with elevated coronavirus activities, a group of hot spots that initially included Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington.
California’s neighbor from that list, Arizona, has seen one of the nation’s highest surges, reaching 63,000 total infections on Thursday after reporting 3,000 new daily cases for the fourth time in under a week.
While the state isn’t considering travel restrictions, Newsom stressed that anyone entering California needs to follow its mask order.
Fauci says communities following state guidance is critical
Both Newsom and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Wednesday that as the state has gradually reopened its economy in recent weeks, many people have become too lax about social distancing and face covering guidelines that are intended to slow the spread of the virus, which causes the deadly respiratory disease known as COVID-19.
Fauci, speaking at a virtual COVID-19 discussion hosted by the Sacramento Press Club, said Newsom and the state are doing a good job handling the virus. But Fauci said community adherence to the state guidelines is also crucial, and that young people in particular “think that now that we’re opening, opening means all or none, black or white. Either no restrictions or lockdown.”
“There’s a big difference between the two,” he added.
Increased testing capacity is one factor contributing to the growth in cases. California has now conducted close to 3.7 million lab tests for COVID-19, adding more than 101,000 tests Thursday for the biggest one-day boost yet.
But the percentage of tests coming back positive for COVID-19 is increasing as well, indicating that spread of the virus is also growing. The percentage of Californians who have tested positive over the past two weeks was about 5.1 percent as of Wednesday, Newsom said. The same figure for the last seven days rose to 5.6 percent. On Monday, Newsom said the two-week positive rate was 4.8 percent.
The World Health Organization recommends positive test rates below 5 percent before reopening. A recent Sacramento Bee data analysis found positive test rates increased for 38 of the state’s 58 counties between June 10 and this Monday. Seven of those counties — Imperial, Glenn, Tulare, Stanislaus, Merced, Riverside and San Joaquin — had 14-day positive test rates above 8 percent at that time, which placed them automatically on the state health department’s watch list.
Echoing recent comments by local health leaders in Sacramento and Yolo counties, Newsom blamed private gatherings among friends and family members in people’s homes — things like birthday and graduation parties — for most of the spike in infections.
“We cannot continue to do what we have done over the past few weeks,” the governor said. “The reality is people are mixing, and that is increasing the spread of this virus. That shouldn’t surprise anybody... We are putting people’s lives at risk.”
Three Kings players test positive for COVID-19
Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield, forward Jabari Parker and center Alex Len have all tested positive for the coronavirus, according to multiple reports Wednesday.
A statement on Parker’s positive test, issued by the team, said he is recovering in Chicago but still plans to rejoin the team in Florida after self-isolating.
The NBA plans to resume the 2019-20 season at Walt Disney World Resort on July 31. The league addressed the possibility of positive test results in a manual distributed to teams last week, stating: “The occurrence of a small or otherwise expected number of COVID-19 cases will not require a decision to suspend or cancel the resumption of the 2019-20 season.”
Players who test positive will be quarantined and must test negative twice over a span of more than 24 hours before they can be cleared to return.
Near-universal mask use could save tens of thousands, model says
An updated forecast model out of the University of Washington predicts that if 95 percent of the U.S. population wore masks while in public, the projected national death toll from COVID-19 by the start of October could be about 33,000 lower than without universal masks.
That’s according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation model, which is often cited by the White House. In a recent update, the IHME model predicted over 179,000 total deaths under current circumstances. But with “universal masks,” 95 percent of the population using masks in every public setting, that figure drops to about 146,000.
Both estimates include the approximately 122,000 who have already died of COVID-19 in the U.S.
Fauci, tuning in to the Sacramento Press Club event from the National Institutes of Health in Washington, called masks essential to cutting down spread of the virus and protecting vulnerable populations.
Newsom and state health officials made mask use mandatory in most indoor, public circumstances in an order issued June 18. It’s a difficult requirement to enforce at the individual level, but Newsom said the recent budget deal he reached with state lawmakers includes a provision in which his administration could withhold funding from counties that don’t comply with the face covering requirement or other COVID-19 protocols.
A graphic recently shared by the governor’s office and state health department explains that the respiratory droplets responsible for spreading COVID-19 can be spread about 4.5 feet through breathing, 6 feet via coughing and up to 26 feet by way of sneezing. Masks “significantly” reduce these methods of spread, health officials say.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers: 100 dead in four-county area
The four-county capital region has recorded more than 3,500 total coronavirus infections and exactly 100 deaths as of Thursday morning. Sacramento County surpassed the 2,500 case milestone on Thursday, while El Dorado, Yolo and Placer counties combine for more than 1,000 more infections.
Sacramento County has reported 2,512 infections and 66 coronavirus fatalities, last updated Thursday morning. County health officials increased the case total by 72 over Wednesday’s update, which included 66 new cases. Those two one-day totals are more than the county had reported in almost any day of April or May, but lower than the 131 cases reported this Tuesday. More than 300 of the county’s all-time cases emerged in the four-day window of June 16-19, according to the county’s online dashboard. The most recent death was reported June 17.
Placer County health officials report a total of 579 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 10 of them have died, with figures last updated Thursday morning. The county reported 23 new infections Thursday after disclosing 22 Wednesday. Eight cases are hospitalized, two of them in the ICU. Placer on Tuesday reported its first coronavirus death since May 22, with that person having died Sunday, a county spokesperson said.
For the third consecutive day, Yolo County reported a single-day record in cases, but no deaths. The 22 confirmed infections were spread across the county, with seven each in West Sacramento and Woodland, five in Davis, two in Winters and one in an incorporated area. Thursday’s total surpassed the 20 cases reported Wednesday and 19 cases Tuesday. Yolo County’s previous high was 17 confirmations Monday and April 6. A total of 408 coronavirus infections have been confirmed in the county and 24 people have died. Of those deaths, 17 have been connected to an outbreak at Stollwood Convalescent Hospital in Woodland.
El Dorado County on Thursday afternoon reported five new COVID-19 cases, bringing its total to 158 cases and no deaths related to the virus. Slightly more than half those cases, 80, stem from the Lake Tahoe area. The county on Monday reported 15 new cases from over the weekend and three new cases on Wednesday.
Just outside of the four-county capital region, Sutter County health officials reported 13 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday for a total of 140 people infected and three dead from the virus. Sutter County reported six new cases on Monday, seven new cases on Tuesday and two new cases on Wednesday. Yuba County reported two new COVID-19 cases Thursday and has a total of 51 infections and one person dead from the virus. Yuba County reported six new cases on Wednesday. While the numbers in these counties remain small, infection rates have been increasing.
World approaching 500,000 dead, 10 million total cases
More than 489,000 people have died among 9.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide as of Thursday evening, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. remains the nation with the highest death toll, surpassing 122,000 Thursday, as well as infections, with more than to 2.4 million.
Within the U.S., more than 31,000 have died in New York, the previous epicenter for the pandemic, and nearly 15,000 in New Jersey. Massachusetts reports nearly 8,000 dead, Pennsylvania and Illinois have each seen over 6,500 deaths, followed by 6,100 in Michigan and about 5,700 in California, according to Johns Hopkins.
Brazil follows the U.S. at nearly 55,000 dead, then the United Kingdom with over 43,000, Italy at almost 35,000, France at nearly 30,00, Spain at over 28,000 and Mexico at more than 24,000 fatalities.
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 June 25, 2020 at 8:24 AM.
