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The coronavirus outbreak in California continued its astonishing, deadly and shattering rise with more than 60,000 new cases reported on Wednesday and 398 deaths, according to a New York Times database.
Patients overwhelm hospitals in the country’s most populous state, especially in the hard-hit San Joaquin Valley, where many low-wage essential workers live without sufficient access to health care, even in the best of circumstances.
Los Angeles County officials said Wednesday that, on average, two people die from the virus every hour. And in the Bay Area, which had managed to avoid the worst of the outbreak by adhering to what was considered a cautious, data-driven reopening process that was even more restrictive than the required state, the capacity The intensive care unit fell below the 15% threshold, leading to a regional stay-at-home order, which goes into effect Thursday evening.
The numbers are all the more demoralizing as they have apparently continued unabated as the state implemented some of the country’s toughest restrictions. Restaurants are supposed to be closed except for takeout in most areas of the state. Gatherings of any kind, public or private, are prohibited near the holidays. Experts and officials now say tough lockdowns are the only way forward for the state, as the virus is too prevalent in too many communities.
While experts have reported a post-Thanksgiving tidal wave of new cases, there isn’t enough specific data on where the virus is being transmitted to more carefully tailor lockdown orders.
“They tried to keep things open because of economic need, which unfortunately makes the message more difficult,” Dr Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, associate dean for population health and health equity at the UC San Francisco’s School of Medicine, told The Times earlier this month. “Because now we are really in crisis.”
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