Coronavirus updates: California reaches 16,000 COVID-19 deaths; capital region reopening
California entered October with more than 800,000 lab-confirmed cases recorded and on the verge of 16,000 deaths. State health officials in a Saturday morning update gave the exact totals as 819,436 infected and 16,074 dead, increases of 2,159 new cases and 88 deaths since Friday.
That’s the most infections of any state, but California is also the nation’s most populous. Texas (776,000 confirmed cases) and Florida (709,000) have each had more infections per capita than California, according to Johns Hopkins data.
On Monday, the global death toll for COVID-19 exceeded 1 million, with the U.S. accounting for over 209,000 of those deaths as of Saturday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. also leads the world in confirmed infections, reporting 7.3 million coronavirus cases out of 34.7 million globally.
Reopening continues across California to start October
Across the U.S., the prevalence of COVID-19 and government response to mitigate its spread have varied from state to state.
California is now a little over a month into its second economic reopening campaign, one that classifies counties into four tiers (purple, red, orange and yellow) based on their COVID-19 risk level, as assigned by the California Department of Public Health in a weekly assessment of counties’ metrics.
Ten of the state’s 58 counties improved to less restrictive tiers this Tuesday, including Sacramento and Yolo exiting the strict purple stage.
That has cleared the way for numerous types of businesses and activities — including restaurants, gyms and movie theaters, along with places of worship — to reopen on an indoor basis, with modifications and strict capacity limits in place. Some Sacramento-area movie theaters plan to reopen Friday.
The new reopening system was introduced as COVID-19 activity showed signs of decline after a sharp summer surge: California’s reported totals of 2,287 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 673 in intensive care units as of Saturday are each less than one-third of the state’s peaks in late July.
Some counties have encouraged residents to do their part by treating the tier promotions as a challenge. In Sacramento, health leaders set up a site, www.TurnSacramentoOrange.com, calling upon the community to help bring COVID-19 activity into orange-tier levels by Halloween.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers: 33,000 infected, over 550 dead
Sacramento, Yolo, Placer, El Dorado, Sutter and Yuba counties have combined for more 557 COVID-19 deaths and over 33,000 infections since the pandemic began.
Sacramento County health officials have now reported 22,855 all-time infections and 430 deaths, with 64 new cases added Wednesday, 101 Thursday and 100 on Friday. At least 85 county residents have died from Sept. 1 to Sept. 27, after more than 170 died of the virus in August, the county says.
Sacramento County had 108 patients in hospital beds and 29 in intensive care units as of Thursday, according to state data. The numbers are down from peaks of about 280 hospitalized and 90 in the ICU as of late July; the recent ICU total matches the county’s lowest since July 3.
The capital city accounts for over 13,000 of the county’s infected residents and more than half of the deaths at 238.
Sacramento County is now in the red tier.
Yolo County health officials have reported a total of 56 COVID-19 deaths among 2,867 infections, reporting 20 new cases and one new death Saturday after adding 11 on Friday and eight on Thursday. There were four infected patients in Yolo County hospitals, with one in intensive care, according to state data updated Saturday morning. The county now has six ICU beds available.
Yolo has seen outbreaks at several long-term care facilities, which account for 151 of the total cases and 27 of its deaths. The county, like Sacramento County, is now in the red tier.
Placer County has reported a total of 3,628 cases and 49 deaths, reporting four new fatalities since the start of this week.
There were only 13 people hospitalized specifically for COVID-19 countywide as of Friday, and the ICU count is all the way down to two after being as high as 11 earlier this week, the county says. The hospitalized total had plateaued at around 65 in early-to-mid August before declining sharply; the ICU total peaked at 16 on Aug. 25.
Placer County was promoted from the purple tier to the red tier in September.
El Dorado County has reported a total of 1,180 COVID-19 cases and four deaths, adding 22 new cases Friday after only eight on Thursday. The county reported one death in July, one in August and two in September. One patient is hospitalized, not in an ICU, as of Friday’s update to state data.
El Dorado County improved from the red tier to the orange tier last week.
Sutter County has reported a total of 1,748 COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths, last updated Friday afternoon, adding 15 new cases from Thursday. There were six infected patients hospitalized in the county, including one in intensive care.
In neighboring Yuba County, a total of 1,188 people have been infected with COVID-19 and nine have died as of Friday, adding five new cases and one new death. There are four infected people in Yuba County hospitals, with one of them in intensive care, the county said.
Both Sutter and Yuba counties, which share a bi-county health office, remain coded purple.
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 8:21 AM.
