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California has reported a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, reaching a grim milestone that shows the virus is more prevalent than ever.
State officials reported 7,415 hospitalizations due to the virus on Saturday, the latest data available, breaking California’s previous record of 7,170 in July. It was a dramatic jump from Friday’s figure of 6,972.
Hospitalizations in California have more than doubled in two weeks. The number of people in intensive care units due to the coronavirus is also close to a record.
Nationwide, hospitalizations hit another record – 91,635 – on Saturday, according to the COVID tracking project.
Hospitalizations in the Bay Area stood at 759 on Saturday – not far from the record high of 815 at the end of July.
“This is obviously concerning,” said Dr George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology at UCSF. “It’s one of those things we try to avoid is overwhelming hospitals.
He added: “The hope is that by essentially skipping Thanksgiving and adding additional curfews and restrictions, we will curb that and we can start to reduce the curve of new cases, which will mean there will be. fewer and fewer hospitalizations. death. We just have to stay tuned to see how it goes. “
The nine Bay Area counties together reported 2,078 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday – a new daily record, according to data reported by county health departments and compiled by The Chronicle and Los Angeles Times. That number does not include data from Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties, which had not yet reported the new cases for the day or were not reporting on the weekends. The previous day’s high was 1836 on August 14, when the state cleared the backlog of a computer problem.
On Sunday, Contra Costa County – one of the few counties to provide data in the early afternoon – reported 380 new cases of the coronavirus, one of its highest daily figures on record.
Santa Clara County recorded 560 new cases on Sunday – one of its highest totals on record, though it was eclipsed by the record 760 new cases recorded on Saturday.
“The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in our county has doubled in the past two weeks, and we risk exceeding our hospital capacity very soon if current trends continue,” said Dr. Sara Cody, head of county health. On Saturday – the same day, she issued a new directive requiring travelers returning more than 150 miles away to be quarantined for 14 days. The directive will be in effect until at least December 21.
Also reflecting alarm over the skyrocketing, San Francisco and San Mateo counties joined the purple level of the state’s coronavirus restrictions on Saturday. All Bay Area counties except Marin are now in purple, which means almost all inland businesses must go out of business and residents are subject to a 10 p.m. to 10 p.m. curfew. 5 h.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease specialist, warned on ABC’s This Week Sunday that with holiday rallies underway despite health officials, “we could see a surge in arrow.
Rutherford said the California hospital record was “unfortunate, it’s not good. But hopefully, with the changes underway and people restricting their movement and increasing social distancing more, we’ll see a drop soon. At least that’s what you hope.
This story will be updated.
Sam Whiting, editor of the Chronicle, contributed to this report.
Tatiana Sanchez is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @TatianaYSanchez.
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