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Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was bracing for a ‘skyrocket’ in coronavirus cases after the holidays, and that grim prediction appeared to be taking shape on Monday: California reported more than 70,000 cases, the most in a day since the pandemic started.
The sober toll came after a brief lull in the wave that swept through the state for the past two months. Average daily cases had declined for a week or two, but public health officials warned the respite was likely temporary and they expected a new wave of cases from Christmas and New Years onwards.
“This week is crucial to better understand where we are at,” Newsom said at a press briefing on Monday. “We’re getting into what we predict – the surge plus a flare-up – is going to put a lot of pressure on (the intensive care units) coming out of the holidays.”
The record number of cases – 74,135 cases on Monday – came even as California continued to grope its efforts to vaccinate against the coronavirus, reporting that only about a third of all doses sent to the state had been administered. About 450,000 people have been vaccinated to date.
Meanwhile, the state over the weekend identified five more patients infected with a new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus, for a total of six cases, all in southern California. Although infectious disease experts say the vaccine should work against the new strain, officials fear that it is already circulating in the state and that it may intensify the ongoing outbreak and make it more difficult to control.
Newsom said parts of the state have stepped up enforcement of stay-at-home orders over Christmas and, in particular, New Years Eve to prevent “big-ticket” events and parties. State authorities visited more than 2,500 bars and restaurants, particularly in Los Angeles County, during Dec.31 and Jan.1, he said.
In the Bay Area, a large hospital outbreak reported over the weekend underscored the ease with which the virus can spread, even among those knowledgeable about the threat. At least 44 cases, including one death, were reported to Kaiser Permanente San Jose, after an employee who was infected but had no symptoms presented to the emergency room on Christmas Day wearing an inflatable costume. Kaiser is investigating the outbreak and examining whether the costume helped spread the virus to so many people at once.
Hospitals and intensive care
Critical care capacity remained at peak in southern California and the San Joaquin Valley on Monday, where hospitals brought in healthcare workers from outside the region and added intensive care services fortune to treat COVID-19 patients.
The availability of intensive care in the Bay Area climbed to 7.9% on Monday, after falling to a low of 5.1% over the weekend. Regional availability has been below 10% for almost a week, which does not bode well for the Bay Area to be released from the Stay Home State Order.
The Bay Area order could expire as early as Friday, but unless ICU availability increases to at least 15% by then, the tenure will likely be extended. San Francisco officials announced last week that the city would remain under a shelter-in-place order for at least two more weeks.
“We expect a further increase in cases and hospitalizations after the holidays,” Sonoma County health official Dr Sundari Mase said during a press briefing Monday. “We don’t plan on going out of the state house stay order for a few more weeks. We are still seeing widespread transmission of the virus. “
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 are increasing both in the state and in the region, but the number of intensive care patients has remained fairly stable over the past week.
As of Sunday, 21,128 COVID-19 patients were in hospital in California, including 4,584 in intensive care. The Bay Area had 2,106 inpatients and 506 in intensive care, compared to 520 intensive care patients on New Years Eve and New Years’ Day.
Ninety patients in California were being treated at state-run alternative care centers, which were opened to relieve pressure on flooded hospitals in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. Five of these sites are currently open. State and federal authorities have also deployed nearly 1,300 workers to provide backup to hospitals in difficulty.
“We have seen a seven-fold increase (in hospitalizations related to COVID-19) in just two months. On intensive care admissions, a six-fold increase in just two months. It shows what can happen in a very short period of time, ”Newsom said.
Cases and deaths
Monday’s large number of cases was mainly linked to the spread of Christmas-related illnesses, but it was also artificially high due to reporting delays during the year-end holidays, public health officials said. Many counties skipped several days of reporting over the past week and began to catch up on Monday. And the state deleted its scheduled maintenance reporting database on Saturday.
For example, Riverside County alone recorded 17,683 cases on Monday after three days of non-reporting, according to data tracker The Chronicle.
The Bay Area reported 3,872 cases as of Monday – far from a record total and roughly in line with the daily average for the past two weeks.
Aside from the state’s alarming report, average daily cases had been roughly stable for California and the Bay Area. California averaged about 36,000 cases per day last week and the Bay Area about 3,800. Public health officials said it was not just underreporting. , but proof that the state was starting to slow its fall and winter soaring.
“We believe the regional home support order has made a significant difference in recent weeks in reducing that curve,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, California Secretary of Health and Human Services. “This very steep climb was slightly flattened. I believe we have given ourselves some space to deal with what we have in front of us. “
Deaths from COVID-19 continue to rise, however. Dec. 31 was the deadliest day of the year for the state and the Bay Area, with 575 COVID-19 deaths reported in California, including 91 in the Bay Area, according to an analysis of the data. of the Chronicle.
The state reported an average of 336 deaths per day last week. The Bay Area has reported 29 deaths per day. The state reported 379 deaths on Monday.
Vaccinations
Newsom said on Monday it would offer an infusion of at least $ 300 million to bolster efforts to distribute the coronavirus vaccine in California in its next budget plan that the governor will announce later this week.
The money would be used to develop the vaccine management system, consolidate transport and storage supplies and expand a public education campaign, Newsom said.
California ranks in the bottom 10 states in percentage of available doses used, according to a vaccine tracking system maintained by Bloomberg News. Newsom said complicated logistics slowed distribution. The state allocates vaccine quantities to local health services, which then distribute them to facilities in their communities. The facilities then have to order the doses through the state, but they are delivered by the manufacturers.
“We have some work to do on this,” Newsom said, acknowledging that the state’s vaccination campaign so far has not gone smoothly. “As we go into January, we want to see things speed up, we want to see things go a lot faster.”
San Francisco Chronicle editors Alexei Koseff and Catherine Ho contributed to this report.
Erin Allday is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]
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