California near 800,000 coronavirus cases, more than almost any country in the world
The rate of new cases is decreasing and hospitalizations remain on the decline, but California is closing in on 800,000 total coronavirus infections in a span of less than seven months.
The California Department of Public Health has officially tallied 798,237 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide as of a Saturday data update, adding 4,197 from the previous day.
Other sources that compile virus data more frequently than daily already show the state of reaching the 800,000 milestone. The COVID-19 dashboard maintained by Johns Hopkins University showed California hitting that mark Friday morning, and the United States as a whole reached 7 million around noon. As of Saturday afternoon, the U.S. had 7,065,000 confirmed cases, according to the dashboard.
At least 15,532 Californians have died of the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, after crossing the 15,000 threshold Monday, according to CDPH data. The state health department on Friday reported 84 new deaths, a slight improvement compared to the average of about 95 daily reported deaths over the preceding two weeks. On Saturday, however, deaths went up by 134.
With the U.S. leading the world in infections by a margin of over 1 million and deaths with a total of almost 204,000, California by itself has reported more lab-positive infections than any other nation except India, Brazil and Russia. According to Johns Hopkins data, California has confirmed more cases than Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa and France; and more deaths than Argentina, Indonesia and Germany — all of which are more populous than the state.
California has the most confirmed cases of any U.S. state, but it’s also easily the most populous with roughly 40 million residents. Texas, which has roughly three quarters that many, is nearing 750,000 cases; and Florida, which has about half California’s population, is closing in on 700,000, Johns Hopkins data show.
The good news for the Golden State is that the statewide hospitalization total, the number of patients in intensive care units and the percentage of diagnostic tests returning positive are each well under half of what they were around late July, the apparent peak of a severe surge in virus activity that lasted most of the summer.
The drop in hospitalizations has been especially sharp: On Friday, for the first time since April 4, fewer than 2,500 patients were in California hospital beds with lab-confirmed cases of the disease, down from a peak of nearly 7,200 on July 21. Of those, just over 750 are now in ICUs, the fewest since March 30 and down from a peak of 2,050 that same day in late July.
The steady decline in each of those key metrics has been a promising sign that true spread of the virus is also decreasing, with state and local health and government leaders expressing cautious optimism toward that end.
Latest on state’s reopening process
Gov. Gavin Newsom and his administration at the very end of August introduced a new, color-coded, four-tier economic reopening “framework,” allowing some counties to move forward following a nearly two-month-long rollback of a process that started in the spring but was halted weeks later due to surging COVID-19 numbers.
In the new framework, counties are assessed weekly on their COVID-19 risk level according to two main metrics — rate of new cases per capita, and test positivity percentage — and can move into less restrictive tiers if those numbers improve to meet certain criteria for at least two weeks in a row.
From most to least restrictive on businesses, gatherings and other activities, the four tiers are: purple, red, orange and yellow. Counties’ tier statuses are updated each Tuesday.
In the first few weeks in the new system, several counties have already been promoted out of the most-restrictive purple tier, allowing them to permit a number of types of businesses and activities -- including indoor restaurant dining, movie theaters and places of worship -- to reopen with strict capacity limits. A few more, relatively sparsely populated counties moved from red to orange, which allows for looser capacity limits and a few other less-essential businesses to open up, such as bowling alleys.
Separately, personal care services including barbershops, hair salons and nail salons were recently given the state’s OK to reopen across all counties, regardless of tier status.
Threat of ‘twindemic,’ and other challenges
Multiple areas of concern remain despite California’s observed decline in COVID-19 metrics, with officials urging both residents and businesses to keep their guard up.
One is the impact of reopening schools for on-campus learning, which an increasing number of campuses and districts will be allowed to do as some of the state’s more populous counties start to move from the most restrictive purple tier down to the red tier.
Another, which should emerge in available data very soon, is the possible impact of Labor Day. Almost three weeks removed from it, the state should gain a better idea of whether gatherings held that three-day weekend led to an uptick in virus cases.
Consistently during the pandemic, holidays have emerged as problematic. Newsom along with state and local health leaders have continued to urge Californians not to gather with people outside their own households — especially indoors, and even with friends or extended family members — in advance of every major holiday.
Sacramento County health officials have previously pointed to Memorial Day weekend in late May as one of the main culprits of the spike in large cases that began in the second half of June, saying there were simply too many parties and get-togethers where social distancing and mask use weren’t observed, allowing the respiratory disease to spread among loved ones.
And last but certainly not least, public health officials, hospital leaders and other experts have recently started referring to the threat of a “twindemic,” a portmanteau recently coined to refer to a potential spike in COVID-19 activity coinciding with flu season, potentially overwhelming medical facilities. Those health leaders continue to urge the public to get their flu shots as soon as they can.
California International Marathon canceled
Organizers officially canceled the CIM for 2020 on Friday, saying they “turned over every stone” searching for a social-distancing-friendly solution, but ultimately determined the 26.2-mile race couldn’t proceed this year due to the pandemic.
The annual race, which has been held since 1983 and is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon and U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon, usually runs a route spanning most of Sacramento County and finishing in front of the state Capitol building.
The event won’t be run again until Dec. 5, 2021, the Sacramento Running Association says.
All who already registered for this year’s CIM will receive a voucher for one free entry into a future CIM from 2021 through 2023.
Latest Sacramento numbers: County passes 400 dead
Sacramento, Yolo, Placer, El Dorado, Sutter and Yuba counties have combined for more than 500 COVID-19 deaths and over 30,000 infections since the pandemic began.
This week, Sacramento County reported its 400th resident death from the virus.
Sacramento County health officials have recorded 22,183 all-time infections and 406 deaths, with 157 new cases added to the tally Friday morning.
The county’s death toll continues to grow, with the local health office now recording 62 fatalities in its first three weeks of September. More than 170 died in August, after 88 deaths in July, the county says.
Sacramento County had 139 patients in hospital beds and 34 in ICUs as of Friday, according to state data. The numbers are down from peaks of about 280 hospitalized and 90 in the ICU as of late July; the recent ICU total matches the county’s lowest since July 3.
Sacramento County remains in the purple tier.
Yolo County health officials have reported a total of 55 COVID-19 deaths among 2,795 infections, reporting six new cases Saturday, seven new cases Friday and 12 new cases Thursday. There were three infected patients in Yolo County hospitals as of Saturday, with two of them in intensive care. The county has five ICU beds available.
Yolo has seen outbreaks at several long-term care facilities, which account for 151 of the total cases and 27 of its deaths. The county, like Sacramento County, is coded purple.
Placer County has reported a total of 3,567 cases and 45 deaths as of Saturday, reporting 25 new cases and one new fatality. The county also added three fatalities this week after two the week before. There are 24 people hospitalized specifically for COVID-19 in the county, and the ICU count is at 11, the county says. The hospitalized total had plateaued at around 65 in early-to-mid August before declining sharply; the ICU total peaked at 16 on Aug. 25.
Placer County was promoted from the purple tier to the red tier earlier this month.
El Dorado County has reported a total of 1,109 COVID-19 cases and four deaths as of Friday afternoon, adding 11 new cases. The county reported two of its four fatalities last week. One patient is hospitalized and in ICU treatment with the disease, El Dorado’s first for either in 10 days.
El Dorado County improved from the red tier to the orange tier earlier this week.
Sutter County has reported a total of 1,705 COVID-19 cases and 11 total deaths as of Friday evening. The county reported nine new cases Friday. There were nine infected people hospitalized in the county, including one in intensive care, down from 15 hospitalized and five in ICUs on Monday.
In neighboring Yuba County, a total of 1,153 people have been infected with COVID-19 and seven have died. The county reported 10 new cases Friday. Six infected people in Yuba County were hospitalized at that time, with two of them in intensive care, the county said.
Both Sutter and Yuba counties, which share a bi-county health office, are coded purple.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 12:45 PM with the headline "California near 800,000 coronavirus cases, more than almost any country in the world."
