San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
CALIFORNIA DEATHS SURGE TOWARD 7K
State and others continue to see large increases in cases
California coronavirus deaths approached 7,000 on Saturday as officials raised new alarms about rapid community spread and the grim consequences ahead if the public cannot change its behavior. The increase comes as other states are also seeing their death tolls rise amid a surge of virus cases as restrictions have been eased.
As of Saturday, California’s coronavirus-related death toll stood at 6,945, according to the California Department of Public Health. Daily death totals have begun to increase after a month of spiking cases and hospitalizations tied to businesses reopening and people getting back to old habits and social gatherings.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti again warned residents that the city could reimpose a mandatory stayat-home order should conditions continue to deteriorate.
“We’re not back to a Safer at Home order, but we all need to do our part to minimize the spread of COVID-19,” he said.
Half of California’s 58 counties are now on the state’s coronavirus watchlist as the number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise.
The state reported 7,798 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. On Thursday, California set a one-day record with 9,816 new cases and 137 related deaths — the second-highest total on a single day since the pandemic began, officials said.
Statewide, there have been more than 318,000 confirmed coronavirus infections.
Across the state, 29 counties are seeing elevated disease transmission and/or increasing hospitalizations — up from 26 earlier in the week.
San Diego County on Saturday reported 508 new positive cases and two more deaths. In all, San Diego has recorded 19,371 cases and 422 deaths. More than 10 percent of cases have required hospitalization, according county officials.
Nationally, the United States is seeing an upward trend in death rates.
According to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average for daily reported deaths in the U.S. has increased from 578 two weeks ago to 664 on July 10 — still well below the heights hit in April. Daily reported deaths increased in 27 states over that time period, but the majority of those states are averaging under 15 new deaths per day. A smaller group of states has been driving the nationwide increase in deaths.
California is averaging 91 reported deaths per day while Texas is close behind with 66, but Florida, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey and South Carolina also saw sizable rises. New Jersey’s recent jump is thought to be partially attributable to its less frequent reporting of probable deaths.
The virus has killed more than 134,000 people in the
U.S. and more than a halfmillion worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, though the true numbers are believed to be higher.
Researchers now expect deaths to rise for at least some weeks, but some think the count probably will not go up as dramatically as it did in the spring — for several reasons.
First, testing was extremely limited early in the pandemic, and it’s become clear that unrecognized infections were spreading on subways, in nursing homes and in other public places before anyone knew exactly what was going on. Now testing is more widespread, and the magnitude of outbreaks is becoming better understood.
Second, many people’s health behaviors have changed, with mask-wearing becoming more common in some places. Although there is no vaccine yet, hospitals are also getting better at treating patients.
Another factor, tragically, is that deadly new viruses often tear through vulnerable populations first, such as the elderly and people already weakened by other health conditions. That means that, in the Northeast at least, “many of the vulnerable people have already died,” Halkitis said.
Now, the U.S. is likely in for “a much longer, slower burn,” Hanage, the Harvard researcher, said. “We’re not going to see as many deaths (as in the spring). But we’re going to see a total number of deaths, which is going to be large.”
Texas, which has been a hot spot in the last few weeks, state officials reported a record 10,351 new confirmed cases for the day.
The increase reported Saturday brought the state’s total cases of COVID-19 to just over a quarter-million since the start of tracking in early March.
A record 10,083 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized, while 99 new fatalities were reported Saturday. The total is second only to the record 105 reported Thursday and brought the state’s overall death toll to 3,112.
In Nevada, lawmakers on Saturday pumped the brakes on their emergency special session because someone in the legislative building has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Gov. Steve Sisolak convened the session so lawmakers can balance the state budget amid a projected $1.2 billion shortfall stemming from the economic damage of the pandemic.
But on Friday staff members announced that someone in the building is infected with the virus, though the person shows no symptoms.
On Saturday, 13 Nevada lawmakers decided they would now participate remotely in the emergency session and both chambers agreed to recess until Monday morning. That will give time for legislators time to get tested and staff to answer a long list of questions that lawmakers have asked in hearings.
In Florida, where there has been a surge in cases, the state health department reported 96 new deaths Saturday, bringing the total for the week to 496 or an average of nearly 71 per day.
The state on Saturday confirmed 9,960 new coronavirus cases and 421 addition hospitalizations. Since March 1, when the first Florida infections were recorded, the state has reported 254,511 confirmed cases and 4,301 deaths.
There was a bit of good news Saturday from New York, which was hard hit early in the pandemic. The number of New Yorkers hospitalized with the coronavirus — 799 — has fallen to the lowest point in nearly four months.
However, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is concerned a resurgence in cases is inevitable amid outbreaks in other states.