With more people in California hospitalized with COVID-19 than ever before and worries that the state’s intensive care units could be overloaded by mid-December, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signaled that a more restrictive stay-at-home order could be days away.
Meanwhile, a new health mandate put in place by Santa Clara County this weekend prompted the 49ers on Monday to announce that the team will play its next two games from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Sobering projections shared by the governor on Monday indicate that without any changes in behavior, the record number of Californians hospitalized due to COVID-19 could double or triple in just one month. If the explosive spike in hospitalizations continues, California could reach its intensive care bed capacity statewide by mid-December and be at 112% of capacity by Christmas Eve. The Bay Area would reach its ICU capacity by the start of the new year, according to state projections.
“We are looking at intensive care unit capacity as the primary trigger for deeper, more restrictive actions, because when that capacity goes away … we know the quality of care sometimes takes a dip and we see outcomes we don’t want to see,” said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly during a news briefing Monday.
Nearly 8,000 coronavirus patients were hospitalized across California as of Sunday — the most of any point during the pandemic, according to the latest available data from the state. That number has more than doubled in the past two weeks, while deaths and coronavirus cases are up 50% and 75% respectively. The state’s daily average of new cases climbed to an all-time high, nearly 14,000 per day over the past week, and the cumulative death toll surpassed 19,200, with an average of about 61 deaths per day over the past week, according to data compiled by this news organization. By Monday evening, counties had reported more than 20,000 cases — only the second time California has reported a total that high.
Since hospitalizations reflect infections reported two to three weeks prior, the unprecedented recent surge in coronavirus cases — combined with an anticipated additional increase following travel and gatherings during the Thanksgiving holiday — has officials up and down the state sounding the alarm.
If hospitalizations continue to spike, Newsom said he would “take much more dramatic, arguably drastic action” for counties in the state’s most restrictive purple tier, which now includes 51 of the state’s 58 counties and every county in the Bay Area except Marin. The new restrictions, he said, would “fall in line” with the statewide stay-at-home order rolled out in mid-March but with some modifications. He did not say what those modifications might entail.
“This is a dynamic week. This is an incredibly important week in the history of this pandemic for this nation, not just this state,” Newsom said. “I can assure you that we’ll be coming out with some additional information, additional recommendations in the very, very near future.”
Los Angeles County’s three-week stay-at-home order went into effect Monday and is currently the strictest public health mandate in the state. It advises residents to stay home “as much as possible.” It shutters outdoor dining and prohibits people from gathering with others who aren’t in their household, whether outdoors or indoors, except for religious services or protests, which are still permitted outside with certain public health measures in place.
As for the state, Ghaly said officials are working with our local partners to “make sure what we do is both impactful and as time-limited as possible.”
This is the tipping point.
CA has worked hard to prepare for a surge—but we can’t sustain the record high cases we’re seeing.
Current projections show CA will run out of current ICU beds before Christmas Eve.
Please stay safe & stay home as much as you can for next few weeks. pic.twitter.com/5NJYzHokhE
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 30, 2020
A new stay-at-home order, which could be unveiled as early as Tuesday or Wednesday, would mark the latest round of restrictions for Californians as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge amid the pandemic’s largest wave yet, here and across the country.
Within the past two weeks, Newsom has reverted almost all of California into the state’s most restrictive tier of its reopening blueprint — forcing many businesses to shutter or move their operations outside — and added an overnight curfew for nearly all residents across the state to stop people from leaving their homes for non-essential work or gatherings late at night.
Santa Clara County this weekend went further than the state and announced a slew of new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, including a three-week ban on all professional, collegiate and high school sports, a mandatory quarantine for those traveling into the region from more than 150 miles away and new capacity limits for indoor businesses. As the new mandate went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, the county broke its record for the highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day, recording 793 cases — nearly 50 more than the previous record set over the weekend.
To assist small businesses through the latest and largest wave of COVID-19, the state unveiled a new Small Business Emergency Relief Package on Monday. It provides businesses affected by the pandemic — such as hair salons, restaurants and bars — with the opportunity to apply for tax credits and deferrals, loans and grant funding.
Staff writer Evan Webeck contributed to this story.
