Coronavirus updates: 425,600 infected in California, more than any other state
More people in California have now been infected with the coronavirus than in any other state, surging past the previous record holder New York this week.
Over 425,600 Californians have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began, according to the latest state public health data released Thursday morning, compared to over 409,000 in New York.
Nearly 7,200 people are in a hospital bed with COVID-19, and about 29% of those hospitalized patients are receiving intensive care, according to state public health data released Wednesday morning. Hospitalizations appeared to decline slightly per state numbers released Thursday, but the state public health department reports that the day’s numbers doesn’t include historical data from 39 facilities.
On Wednesday, California reported a record-setting 12,807 new cases in one day. The growth in infections across the state prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to announce sweeping shutdowns statewide on businesses and schools last week to slow the record-breaking number of infections and hospitalizations.
It will be another week, if not longer, before local health officials see whether the closures have the intended effect.
California now has too many COVID-19 cases for contact tracers and investigators to follow up on each new infection. Test results are coming back days, if not weeks, after the sample was taken, meaning those who choose to not quarantine while waiting for results are unwittingly spreading.
And hospitals in Southern California and the Central Valley are starting to feel the pressure of a growing number of COVID-19 positive patients. Other counties, like Sacramento and Yolo counties, which both have less than 20% of their intensive care beds available as of Wednesday morning, are on high alert.
Thus far, 8,027 people in California have died from complications of the virus, with an additional 157 deaths reported by the state Thursday — the state’s highest death toll reported in a single day since the pandemic began.
Who’s handling coronavirus better, California or New York?
California this week surged ahead of New York as the state with the most total cases of COVID-19 — a dubious title that prompts what would have seemed a silly question two months ago:
Is New York now handling the virus better than California?
As of Wednesday, more than 415,000 Californians have tested positive for the virus. That’s slightly more than in New York, a state that was devastated in March and April by the pandemic. New York still has more total infections per capita because its population (about 19.5 million) is half the size of California (about 40 million).
Only 1% of New Yorkers tested for the virus in recent weeks are infected, while in California, the positive test rate has ratcheted up beyond 7%. And California’s hospitalization numbers are hitting new highs on a daily basis, while New York state this week reported the lowest number of new hospital admissions in four months, since mid-March.
Testing and contact tracing have been considered a key, and in that sense, New York appears to have done a better job than California.
California, as of this week, has conducted 6.5 million tests, the most of any state. New York has conducted the second-most, 5.2 million. But a lot more people live in California than New York or any other state. Viewed by percentage, up to 16% of Californians may have been tested, whereas New York has tested up to 26% of its residents.
California Democrat wants state back under stay-at-home order
As the coronavirus surges through California, which now has the highest number of cases in the country, state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, said on Thursday it’s time for most counties in the Golden State to return to a strict stay-at-home order.
“It’s clear that we have lost control of the coronavirus fight,” Glazer said during a Zoom press conference. “And you don’t have to look very far to see it in the numbers.”
To regain control of the virus, Glazer laid out a multi-point mitigation plan that first recommends pulling counties back under a stay-at-home order if they have a higher positivity rate than 2%. That would mean most Californians would return to a March- and April-like existence, when only trips to an essential job or to places like the grocery store and pharmacy were allowed.
Glazer also also said the administration should consider a regional approach in its reopening guidelines. Under that method, if a county lowered its positivity rate but its neighbor did not, then it could not lift the stay-at-home order.
“These counties are not islands in the sea,” Glazer said, adding that they’re only a “block away, roadway away, freeway away” from an area with uncontrolled COVID-19 numbers.
Weekly $600 benefit a ‘lifeline’ for jobless workers
A debate simmers in Sacramento and the country at large over the worthiness of weekly $600 unemployment relief from the federal government.
Some business owners believe the benefits are so generous that it’s become difficult to rehire workers. But residents who fell victim to furloughs say the extra benefits should continue. Some think tanks argue the extra $600 has done exactly what it was supposed to do — prevent millions from going into an economic free-fall at a time when unemployment has soared into the double digits.
Unemployment in the Sacramento area has fallen to 12.8% but is expected to rise again amid a new wave of closures. Californians filed more than 290,000 new claims for unemployment last week, the federal government reported Thursday. That’s a sign that the economy is weakening again.
“Through the end of June, even if the economy was not fully reopened, there was an expectation that a renewed economy was not too far in the future,” said Michael Bernick, a labor law specialist. “The past two weeks have brought a new narrative in California government that the lockdowns may well be with us through the end of the year or longer.”
Sacramento nail salon owners resist operating outdoors, citing safety concerns
Although Gov. Gavin Newsom declared this week that nail salons could operate outdoors during the coronavirus pandemic, salon owners say the governor’s new guidelines are unworkable.
They say working outside, in a dusty and windy environment could pose significant health hazards to themselves and their customers, given the array of volatile chemicals that are part of the manicurist’s trade.
The outdoor heat could also prove taxing for clients, particularly the elderly. And there’s the matter of getting permission from landlords and insurance companies, and simply finding the room outside to do the work.
“Are they going to do it in the parking lot? Where are they going to go?” said Lui Nguyen, owner of two Top Coat nail salons in Natomas. Above all, he said, “We have a lot of concerns with the safety.”
California to buy additional 420 million masks from China-based BYD
California is extending its agreement with China-based manufacturer BYD to buy hundreds of millions more masks to protect essential workers from the coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday.
The state will buy an additional 120 million N95 masks and 300 million surgical masks, Newsom said, adding to the hundreds of millions the state has already purchased and received from the company. The state will pay BYD $315 million: $255 million for the N95s and $60 million for the surgical masks, according to the new contract.
California will pay $2.13 per N95 mask, a decrease in price from the $3.30 the state paid BYD for the first batch of shipments.
California’s contracts with BYD have faced significant scrutiny from lawmakers and the public since Newsom first announced the deal in April on MSNBC. At the time, he said the state had agreed to buy 200 million masks per month, mostly N95s, which are thought to be the most effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
California paid nearly $500 million up front for the N95s, but did not receive any for months because BYD did not secure federal certification for them until June.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers: 156 dead, over 12,000 infected
The six-county region of Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Sutter and Yuba has seen 12,447 cases of the coronavirus as of Thursday morning. The virus has killed a total of 156 in the region.
Sacramento County reported 276 new cases Thursday morning, bringing the total number of confirmed coronavirus infections to 8,247 since the pandemic started. The virus has killed 98 people, according to the county’s data dashboard.
There are 213 COVID-19 patients in Sacramento County hospital beds as of Wednesday, an all-time high. Of those, 69 are in intensive care units, according to state public health data. About 15.5% of ICU beds are available.
Placer County has reported a total of 1,531 infections in the county, as of Thursday morning. There are now 50 people hospitalized in Placer because the virus, and 11 in intensive care. Another death was reported Thursday morning bringing the death toll in Placer to 13. The vast majority of cases, about 82%, have originated from the south Placer area, which includes Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln.
Yolo County on Thursday afternoon reported 51 new COVID-19 cases and two new deaths due to complications from the respiratory disease. The county has reported a total of 1,275 cases and 37 deaths since the pandemic started. About 1 in 10 infections have been linked to outbreaks at six long-term care facilities in Yolo County, resulting in 112 people infected and 20 deaths. Stollwood Convalescent Hospital’s outbreak, which was first reported in April, has accounted for 17 deaths.
El Dorado County on Thursday afternoon reported 22 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths. The county, which has reported a total of 508 cases, also reported 22 new cases on Wednesday. Twelve of Thursday’s new cases were reported in the Lake Tahoe region, which has nearly half of the county’s cases reported since the start of the pandemic. The county reported its first death due to complications from COVID-19 over the weekend. The county had two people hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment on Thursday; those patients were both in intensive care.
Sutter County reported a record-tying 35 new COVID-19 cases Thursday night for a total of 601 confirmed infections since the start of the pandemic. Of those, 13 people were in the hospital Thursday. Thursday’s reported cases matches the county’s record from July 10. Four people in the county have died due to COVID-19, but no new deaths were reported Thursday.
Yuba County reported 19 new COVID-19 cases Thursday night for a total of 338 cases since the start of the pandemic. Of those, seven people were in the hospital Thursday. Three people in the county have died due to COVID-19, but no new deaths were reported Thursday.
In the Yuba-Sutter area, about one-third of the patients testing positive showed no symptoms of the virus, based on local public health data reported.
World numbers: Death toll over 632,000, more than 15 million infected
Over 15.4 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 worldwide and more than 632,000 have died as of Thursday night, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University. About one-quarter of each — over 4 million infections and more than 144,000 deaths — have come in the United States.
After the U.S., the coronavirus has hit hardest in Brazil, where nearly 2.3 million have tested positive and over 84,000 have died. Next by death toll are the United Kingdom at more than 45,600, Mexico at close to 42,000, Italy at more than 35,000, France at just over 30,000, India just shy of 30,000 and Spain with over 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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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 people 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 23, 2020 at 8:15 AM.