California moves closer to 3 million coronavirus cases

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LOS ANGELES, January 6, 2021 – Health workers line up to be vaccinated at a vaccination site at Lincoln Park Recreation Center, Los Angeles, California, United States, January 6, 2021. Eighteen vaccination sites are now open daily. in Los Angeles County, capable of immunizing 2,000 health workers per day. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Tuesday confirmed 13,512 new cases of COVID-19 and 224 new deaths, bringing the total number of infections and deaths to 840,611 and 11,071, respectively. (Photo by Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua / Xinhua via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES (AP) – California moves closer to 3 million coronavirus cases as the state tries to smooth rocky vaccine rollout during a continuing spike in COVID-19 deaths.

The state reported 432 deaths on Sunday, a day after recording the second-highest daily tally of 669, according to the Department of Public Health. The death toll in California since the start of the pandemic has risen to 33,392, while the total number of cases has reached 2.94 million.

Hospitalizations and admissions to intensive care units remained slightly down, but officials warned that could be reversed when the full impact of transmissions at Christmas and New Years gatherings takes hold.

“As the number of cases continues to rise in California, the total number of people with serious outcomes will also increase,” the health department said in a statement on Sunday.

There have been around 500 deaths and 40,000 new cases a day over the past two weeks.

Lawmakers and public health officials have said the outbreak would not be flattened without mass vaccinations, but California has taken the lead over the rest of the country in inoculating its residents. So far, the state has only vaccinated 2,468 people per 100,000, a rate that falls well below the national average of around 3,300, according to federal data cited by the Sacramento Bee on Saturday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said he and other governors were told last week that a reserve of 50 million doses would be distributed, but no timeline has been given.

After California adjusted its vaccination plan to include everyone over 65, some public health experts expressed concern that there will not be enough vaccines available for second doses, which should be administered within three to four weeks of the first dose, the mark.

“Righting the ship by pushing all we’ve got is unforced error,” said Andrew Noymer, infectious disease and public health specialist at the University of California, Irvine. “The second dose will not arrive on time.”

Sacramento County warned last week that most residents 65 and older – a group numbering more than 200,000 – will not receive gunshots right away because they simply don’t. not, the newspaper reported.

“We ask for patience as we work to navigate the rapidly changing landscape of best practice and vaccine availability,” Dr Olivia Kasirye, county public health manager, said in a statement.

Adding to concerns, Los Angeles County announced on Saturday that it had detected its first case of a more transmissible variant of COVID-19. It has been identified in a man who recently spent time in the country’s most populous county. The patient traveled to Oregon, where he isolated himself.

Although this is the first confirmed case of the variant, health officials believe it is already spreading in a county that topped one million cases of the coronavirus this weekend. While the new strain, first detected in the UK, doesn’t seem to make people sicker, it spreads more easily, which could lead to more infections, and with them, additional hospitalizations in a harsh region. affected by the outbreak.

“The presence of the UK variant in Los Angeles County is troubling because our healthcare system is already under heavy strain with over 7,500 people currently hospitalized,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health. THE.