1 in 98 Californians infected with COVID-19 as hospitalizations climb to an all-time high

SACRAMENTO — More than 400,700 Californians — about 1 in 98 state residents — have been infected by the coronavirus. Of those, 7,755 have died as of Tuesday morning.

And more Californians are currently in the hospital than at any other time during the pandemic: Nearly 7,100 people are in a hospital bed with COVID-19, and about 28% of those hospitalized patients are receiving intensive care, according to state public health data released Tuesday morning.

Hospitals in Southern California and the Central Valley are starting to feel the pressure. Other counties — like Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties, which all have less than 20% of their intensive care beds available — are on high alert.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced sweeping shutdowns on businesses and schools last week to slow the record-breaking number of infections and hospitalizations. It will be another week, if not longer, before local health officials see whether the closures have the intended effect.

Sacramento County health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson told The Sacramento Bee on Monday that business openings don’t appear to have contributed to virus transmission “anywhere near as much” as private gatherings are continuing to do.

Still, those reopenings may have given the false impression that the worst of the pandemic was over, county health officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye previously told the Bee.

Local and state officials continue to hammer the importance of mask-wearing and physically distancing from those not in the same household as simple but crucial ways to help slow the spread of the virus.

Over the last two weeks about 7.5% of tests are returning positive. That’s an increase from the 14-day average reported two weeks ago, when about 6.8% of tests were returning positive. The growth means the increase in cases cannot be attributed to simply more testing being conducted.

California has too many COVID-19 cases to realistically investigate and trace each new infection, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Tuesday.