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Coronavirus infections in California are rising to a level not seen since the summer, with the state surpassing one million cases on Thursday, and health officials are warning disastrous measures must be taken to stop the spread of the disease.
If the outbreak continues in Los Angeles County, “further action” may become necessary to bring the rate of transmission under control, said director of public health Barbara Ferrer.
While not clarifying what potential new measures could be implemented, Ferrer stressed that LA County remains on a knife-edge and everyone must do their part to prevent conditions from worsening. . The warning comes as California joins Texas in becoming the only two states to have officially surpassed one million infections.
“We all need to act now,” she said in a briefing. “The actions we take today, tomorrow and next week have a dramatic impact on the health and well-being of so many people across the county. If, collectively, we fail to stop the acceleration of new cases, we will have no choice but to consider further action. “
Thanksgiving promises to be a particularly painful choice. The county recommends residents not to travel out of state for the holidays and, if they do, quarantine them for 14 days upon their return.
“If you are going on a trip – which we recommend not to do, we actually recommend that Thanksgiving be a Thanksgiving at home – but if you are going on a trip, we ask you on your return to quarantine yourself for 14 days.” “Said Ferrer. “And the more you can restrict your activities during these 14 days, the better off we are all.”
While the thought of not seeing family and friends after such a difficult year may seem untenable or unreasonable to some, health officials have repeatedly warned that getting together with people outside your household increases the risk. of disease transmission.
Ferrer admitted it was a sacrifice, saying she would not be seeing her grandchildren this year because they live in another state.
“Like all of you, I wish things were really different. But they are not, ”she said. “And my feeling is that I don’t want to be one of the people who is contributing not only to the increase in cases that restrict our ability to continue on our road to recovery, but to the increase in cases that could lead to disease and even the death of other people.
California has generally banned large gatherings and says that smaller than three households can be kept outside with limits, including time limits and requirements for attendees to physically walk away and wear coveralls. face.
LA County, like California as a whole, is experiencing a new spike in coronavirus infections that is currently showing no signs of dissipating. As of November 3, the average number of daily cases in the county was 1,464 – up from 988 a month earlier, Ferrer said.
Recent figures have been even higher. Ferrer reported 2,533 new cases on Thursday.
The county is also starting to see hospitalizations soar. As of Thursday, there were 953 COVID-19 patients in county hospitals – up from 777 on Nov. 2, Ferrer said.
Given that it typically takes a few weeks for a case crash to result in a corresponding increase in hospitalizations and deaths, Ferrer said that “we probably haven’t yet seen all the consequences of the surge in cases that we have. recently suffered. “
“While we have made impressive progress in caring for people with the virus, such an increase in cases could very well lead to enormous suffering and tragic deaths in the future,” she said.
So far, the county has not seen an increase in deaths corresponding to the outbreak. In fact, as of Nov. 2, the average number of deaths per day in the county was 10, which “is the lowest number we’ve seen since the very early days of the pandemic,” Ferrer said.
Yet, she stressed, “it will take all of us to avoid an increase in grief.”
The seven-day average of new daily COVID-19 cases in California now stands at 6,719 – up from the 14-day average of 5,622, state data shows.
The proportion of tests returning positive has also climbed to 4.4% in the past seven days, a rate not seen “since late August, early September,” said this week the Secretary of Health and Social Services of California, Dr. Mark Ghaly.
Hospitalizations are also on the rise. The number of COVID-19 patients statewide is 3,300, up about 40% from two weeks ago, according to state data. There are 913 intensive care patients, a 39% increase over the past 14 days.
On average, 42 Californians have died every day over the past week, and the state’s total death toll now exceeds 18,100.
California’s rise comes as a coronavirus wave of unprecedented size crashes in the United States. The country as a whole reported more than 144,000 new cases on Wednesday, an all-time high, according to COVID follow-up project.
Hospitalizations have also reached record levels across the country and, on average, more than 1,000 Americans have fallen victim to the virus daily over the past week.
UC Berkeley infectious disease specialist Dr John Swartzberg compared humans to fuel and the virus to fire.
“As long as there is fuel, the virus will get there,” he says. “The virus does not know if it is Nevada, California or Wisconsin. … You’re going to see this virus everywhere, and California’s fuel is a lot.
He said he believed the coronavirus was likely to flood California in December and that parts of the state’s economy will need to be shut down.
“In a month after Thanksgiving, the number of cases will increase significantly,” Swartzberg said. “California is going to be very worried and we’re going to start to see things shut down.”
Eleven counties regressed to more restrictive levels in California’s coronavirus reopening system this week – subjecting them to tighter limits on businesses and other public facilities. Ghaly said more was at risk of pulling back if conditions did not improve.
“We predict, if things stay as they are, that between this week and next week, more than half of the counties in California will be downgraded to a more restrictive level,” he said during a briefing on Tuesday. “And that is certainly an indication that we are concerned and need to watch what is happening closely.”
In Alameda County – which was not among those that moved to a more restrictive level this week – officials said they would delay further reopening, citing an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
“We need to be cautious and prepare to act quickly to protect our residents and hospitals from the increase in COVID-19 cases,” County health official Dr Nicholas Moss said in a statement. “We continue to monitor the situation closely. If necessary, we will limit activities that pose a higher risk of the spread of COVID, including those in which people congregate indoors without a mask. “
Health officials and experts have said residents must use all available infection prevention tools to prevent California’s rise in power from reaching the skyscraper heights seen elsewhere. These include wearing masks in public, washing your hands regularly, keeping a physical distance from those you don’t live with, and staying home when you are sick.
It also means, as Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said this week, that residents should “for goodness sake stop gathering.”
Officials have increasingly highlighted gatherings as a major potential source of infections, as residents are less likely to take precautions when surrounded by people they know and trust.
This is particularly worrying with the holidays on the horizon.
Steinberg acknowledged in a statement posted on Twitter that “it will be more difficult to resist the reunion as the days turn cold and dark” and that “we are faced with vacations, traditions of friends and family to be together”.
But he challenged residents of Sacramento County, who have passed this week to the most restrictive reopening level in the state: “Create new traditions, find new safe ways to be together virtually, to be together. safe and patient. ”
“We have the power to reverse this trend,” he said. “There is everything it takes to redefine what the holiday cheer means in 2020. It means putting public health first. Everything we treasure depends on it. “
Times editor Maura Dolan contributed to this report.
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