Newsom considers new stay-at-home orders in California, warns hospitals could be overwhelmed by Christmas

Gov. Gavin NewsomGavin Newsom Skepticism over vaccines emerges as Biden’s early test Denver mayor apologizes for vacation trips after advising residents to stay put California and Texas break national record by one day new cases of coronavirus PLUS (D) said on Monday that California was considering new stay-at-home orders to prevent hospital intensive care units from being overwhelmed by Christmas.

The governor suggested during a briefing that if hospitalizations and ICU statistics continue to climb, the state “is going to have to take much more dramatic, arguably drastic, measures.”

“It will take – and we are evaluating it in real time over the next few days or two – to determine the deep purple movements in these purple statuses that are more equivalent, more in line with the stay-at-home order that people were.” familiar at the start of this year, ”he said, adding that there would be“ changes ”.

California designated 51 of 58 counties as purple or at highest risk for community spread, after six states were moved over the weekend. This encompasses over 99 percent of the state’s population.

The possibly targeted stay-at-home orders could come as projections indicate that California’s hospital capacity could be 78 percent full by Christmas Eve. It is estimated that about 12% of COVID-19 cases in the state require hospitalization.

Hospitalizations could double or triple from current numbers to reach this point, the governor said, “without any additional intervention, behavior change or fundamental change in the way we conduct ourselves as individuals in this condition.”

Newsom called the ICU capacity forecast “sobering” because the state as a whole is expected to reach capacity in mid-December and be at 112% by Christmas Eve. It is predicted that about 10 to 30 percent of people hospitalized will need an intensive care unit bed.

“It’s the lay of the land in terms of the red flags flying. No yellow flags, ”Newsom said.

Health and Human Services Agency secretary Mark Ghaly said at the press conference that intensive care capacity would be the “main trigger” for more restrictions and any stay-at-home orders.

California’s seven-day average in new cases reached higher than its summer peak with 14,657 new cases per day. The state still ranks 39th across the country for its average of seven days per 100,000 population.