Lockdowns extended in large swath of California amid surge

California extended its strict stay-athome orders Tuesday in areas where intensive care units are running out of beds, coming after Gov. Gavin Newsom warned residents to brace for the effect of a “surge on top of a surge” of coronavirus cases from holiday travel.

The state’s top health official, Dr. Mark Ghaly, said that Southern California and the agricultural San Joaquin Valley still have what is considered no ICU capacity and that the state’s restrictions would continue longer there.

Newsom said Monday that even with hospital admissions plateauing in some places, the state was destined to move into a “new phase” that it’s been preparing for as it sets up hospital beds in arenas, schools and tents, though it is struggling to staff them.

“As we move into this new phase, where we brace, where we prepare ourselves for what is inevitable now ... based on the travel we have just seen in the last week and the expectation of more of the same through the rest of the holiday season of a surge on top of a surge, arguably, on top of, again, another surge,” Newsom said.

California reported more than 31,000 new cases Tuesday and 242 deaths, but the numbers are likely to climb this week as labs and counties catch up their reporting from the holiday week.

State officials also notified hospitals that the situation is so dire they should prepare for the possibility that they will have to resort to “crisis care” guidelines established earlier in the pandemic, which allow for rationing treatment.

The surge of infections is due in large part to Thanksgiving travel and celebrations, which happened despite warnings from health officials not to gather because the nation’s most populated state was already seeing explosive growth in cases.

It’s created the greatest challenge for California’s health system since the pandemic began, with case counts, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 regularly breaking records.

Models used for planning show hospitalizations more than doubling in the next month from about 20,000 to more than 50,000.

JAE C. HONG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Registered nurse Leslie Clark, right, collects a nasal swab sample from a man as administrative worker Sander Edmondson works on his computer at a COVID-19 testing site in Los Angeles on Sunday.