Coronavirus updates: New round of shutdowns in California, where infections top 320,000

Huge swaths of California’s economy have now plunged back into shutdown mode, as Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered the closure of shopping malls, gyms, indoor church worship, nail salons and more to limit the rapidly growing coronavirus outbreak.

The new wave of closures applies to counties that have been on the state’s monitoring list for three or more days, and comes as nearly 321,000 have been infected in California thus far. More than 7,000 Californians have died from the coronavirus, as of Sunday, and a growing number of infected individuals are ending up in hospitals.

The rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths comes as California approaches an ominous benchmark set earlier in the crisis: 8 percent of all tests conducted returning positive.

Over the last two weeks, about 7.4 percent of all tests conducted returned positive in California. That’s an increase from 5.5 percent of tests returning positive just 14 days ago. The World Health Organization recommends that positive rates remain at 5 percent or lower over a two-week period before a government reopens.

Hospitalizations also continue to steadily climb: More than 6,300 Californians are hospitalized with the virus as of Sunday, and more than 1,800 of those patients are in intensive care.

Though nearly 60 percent of positive cases in California are among people 18-49, the majority of deaths — about 76 percent — are among people 65 and over.

A growing number of counties have seen either a dramatic rise in cases, increased hospitalizations or reduced capacity at hospitals in recent weeks, placing them on a state monitoring list.

Since July 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered all counties on the state watch list for more than three days in a row to shut down bars and a range of indoor businesses, including dine-in restaurants, bars, card rooms and movie theaters, in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 amid the current surge.

On Monday, Newsom expanded those closures to all counties in California.

With the exception of El Dorado, the entire six-county greater Sacramento area is now on the state watch list. 30 of California’s 58 counties are also on the watch list as of Sunday, accounting for more than 32 million of the state’s 40 million residents.

New wave of indoor business shutdowns in California

Effective Monday, shopping malls, gyms, indoor church worship and nail salons will shut down again in counties covering about 80 percent of Californians, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday.

The new round of measures is aimed at curtailing the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, and applies to counties that have been on the state’s monitoring list for three or more days.

In addition, all counties in the state of California are now required to close restaurants for indoor dining, wineries, theaters, zoos, museums, card rooms, bars and family entertainment centers.

Newsom had previously required only counties on the state watch list to close such businesses, ahead of the Fourth of July weekend.

Sacramento County Health Chief Dr. Peter Beilenson said on Monday the state and the county likely reopened some businesses more quickly than they should have, but defended those earlier reopenings. State and local health officials were also weighing the impact on the economy and on people’s paychecks, as well as mental health.

“There are incredibly competing demands here,” he said. “It’s a huge balancing act. It was reasonable to do some of the openings, but no one has 20-20 foresight.”

Northern California counties to fine businesses resisting safety measures

With virus infections surging, Yolo and El Dorado county officials say they will take a tougher stand and fine or suspend the permits of businesses refusing to comply with safety measures.

“We felt we had to. Our hand was forced,” said Gary Sandy, chairman of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, after his county was the first to announce last week it will now fine egregiously non-complaint businesses.

“We felt things were slipping away,” he said.

The new targeting of businesses that are resisting safety measures like masks for all its employees would fall on code enforcement officers.

In Sacramento County, which has also seen virus positivity rates rise swiftly in the past month, officials are talking about whether mandatory enforcement is a potential next step.

“We’re starting to discuss it,” county health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson said on Friday. Such a step would go before the Board of Supervisors first, he said.

Similar measures in other counties across the region are also possible in the coming weeks and months, The Bee reported.

“I can’t say enforcement is off the table. Businesses have been hit hard, so we don’t want to further burden them, but we need to make them understand why it is important to take precautionary steps to avoid their location becoming a virus cluster site,” Yuba County spokeswoman Rachel Rosenbaum said.

Inside a California nursing home overrun by COVID-19

Within days, the disease that ricocheted around the world began its terrifying march through Stollwood Convalescent Hospital, a small nursing home amid the 14-acre campus of St. John’s Retirement Village in Woodland.

First a housekeeping employee tested positive April 2. Three days later, a resident developed a fever. Then, a rash of residents tested positive but did not show signs of the virus.

All told, the outbreak at Stollwood has killed at least 17 people, including a certified nursing assistant who worked there for nearly 20 years — the deadliest nursing home outbreak in Northern California.

Interviews and documents obtained by The Bee detail a frantic, sometimes slapdash effort to ramp up testing at the nursing home and roll out ever-changing rules from California’s health department. New bureaucratic edicts spawned by California officials left health leaders confused.

And employees at nearby facilities who might have been exposed to people leaving Stollwood expressed their concerns to others with the county, who in turn criticized the response.

“Not only are employees (and their families) at risk, but so too are the residents,” Dr. Michael S. Wilkes, a member of the Yolo County Health Council, wrote in a May 5 email to the county’s top health officials. “We should not be cheap or restrictive with testing.”

Large crowds in Tahoe amid coronavirus surge

Over the weekend, hundreds flocked to Lake Tahoe’s Camp Richardson beach, even as coronavirus cases rise in El Dorado County.

County officials have linked the alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the region to an influx of tourists and businesses not following mask and social distance regulations.

The Tahoe area makes up about 17 percent of the county’s population, but about half of all coronavirus cases reported.

Though The Bee reported some tourists were closely abiding by physical distancing guidelines, others were flouting them.

Benjamin Satterlee of Colfax enjoyed a drink outside of the Beacon Bar & Grill while visiting South Lake Tahoe with nine family members and friends.

“I’d be surprised if this was a different crowd than a year ago on the same day,” Satterlee said. “People don’t seem very scared up here, and that’s awesome.”

County public health officer Dr. Nancy Williams said that even more cases may be reported over the next few days, as crowds from the three-day Fourth of July weekend start to develop symptoms and get tested.

Latest Sacramento-area numbers: 129 dead, more than 8,600 infected

The six-county region of Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Sutter and Yuba has reported more than 8,600 people infected by the coronavirus as of Monday.

Two more deaths were reported by Sacramento County on Monday, bringing the death toll in the region to 129.

Sacramento County reports 5,714 confirmed coronavirus infections since the pandemic started, of which 83 people have died, according to the county’s data dashboard

On Monday morning, 225 new cases of the virus in the county were reported, the third-highest single-day total of infections reported.

And 18 more people were reported hospitalized on Monday, according to state data, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients in Sacramento County hospital beds to 175. Of those, 58 are in intensive care.

The city of Sacramento, which accounts for about one-third of the county’s roughly 1.5 million residents, has now surpassed 3,450 cases and has had 43 residents die.

Placer County reported 37 new cases Monday, bringing the total number of infections there to 1,114. Of those, 40 are in the hospital. Eleven people have died of COVID-19 in Placer County thus far. The vast majority of cases, about 80 percent, have originated from the south Placer area including Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln.

El Dorado County on Friday afternoon reported 15 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 307. The county still is reporting no confirmed COVID-19 deaths, but has seen case totals climb faster in the past several days. About half of the county’s cases have been reported in the Lake Tahoe region.

North of the four-county capital region, Sutter County reported 14 new COVID-19 cases Monday morning, for a total of 403 confirmed infections. The county has a total of four fatalities.

Yuba County reported six new COVID-19 cases Monday morning for a total of 198 cases. Three have died there thus far. The county reported a death from COVID-19 on Saturday; the first of the pandemic came in early April. About one in four of the patients infected showed no symptoms of the virus, Sutter and Yuba health officials reported.

World numbers: Death toll nears 570,000, nearly 13 million infected

Nearly 13 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 worldwide and over 569,000 have died as of Monday morning, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

About one-quarter of each — more than 3.3 million infections and over 135,000 deaths — have come in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins.

After the U.S., the coronavirus has hit hardest in Brazil, where 1.86 million have tested positive and more than 72,000 have died.

Next by death toll are the United Kingdom at nearly 45,000, Mexico at over 35,000, Italy at nearly 35,000, France at just over 30,000 and Spain at more than 28,000, 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 July 13, 2020 at 8:40 AM.