Californians are beating the state’s model for coronavirus effects, but ...

Californians are so far beating the state’s model for coronavirus hospitalizations, but that progress is contingent on residents continuing to stay at home and observe social distancing practices, Gov Gavin Newsom said Friday.

“If we pull back from that effort, you can see numbers that will change radically,” Newsom said during his daily noon press conference.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly showed a series of county charts built using mobility data that show Californians are staying home.

“These graphs show that movement is going down all across California,” Ghaly said. “County by county, we see the similar trendline, going from up top to down low as it moves to the right.”

The graphs show that people are moving much less now compared to the same time in February.

Ghaly said that the state originally was facing something close to 700,000 hospitalizations as a result of COVID-19, but that the actual number of projected hospitalizations is now well below not only that, but the 50,000-bed surge capacity that Newsom has focused on to this point.

Ghaly said that if Californians continue to observe good pandemic practices, staying home when possible and keeping physical distance from others when not, when the peak number of cases happens, whether in May or later, it may not be much different than what the state is already experiencing.

“But I want to remind you that it is contingent on us continuing to do what we have been doing very well across California,” Ghaly said.

What does that mean for California’s stay-at-home order?

Newsom said the state has to continue to “hold the line.”

“Give us a few more weeks to see where these trend lines go,” he said.

Ghaly said that staying home this weekend, when many Californians will celebrate Easter, is of vital importance. Newsom, for his part, urged that anyone who goes out for Easter, including those in church communities, observe physical distancing as they do so.

“As you pray, move your feet at least six feet apart from someone else,” Newsom said.

This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 1:53 PM.