U.S. VIRUS CASES CONTINUE TO SOAR

California seeing steady increase as cases top 900K

Confirmed coronavirus infections continued to soar Saturday in many parts of the U.S.

Oklahoma, Illinois, New Mexico and Michigan were among states announcing new record highs in daily confirmed cases Saturday, a day after a nationwide daily record of more than 83,000 reported infections, according to Johns Hopkins University.

As of Saturday night, more than 8.5 million infections have been reported in the U.S. since March, and more than 224,000 people have died, according to the COVID-19 Dashboard published by Johns Hopkins.

Among the states seeing the heaviest increases was Illinois, which reported a one-day record of 6,161 confirmed cases on Saturday.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also reported 63 more people died of the virus, bringing the statewide total to 9,481 since the start of the pandemic.

Illinois officials have warned in recent days the state is experiencing a second surge and pleaded with people to wear face coverings and take other precautions.

Michigan reported more than 3,000 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus — the highest daily count yet during the pandemic.

The 3,338 new COVID-19 cases reported Saturday surpassed the state’s previous single-day record of 2,030 new cases set on Oct. 15. That earlier record had topped the previous record of 1,953 from early April.

The state agency also reported Saturday 35 more deaths from COVID-19, raising Michigan’s pandemic toll to 7,182 deaths.

Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan’s chief medical executive, said it’s “now more important than ever that people take this seriously.” The 3,338 new COVID-19 cases in her state topped the old record by more than 1,300.

California, meanwhile, surpassed 900,000 cases on Saturday, with officials reporting 5,901 new cases. Total related deaths topped more than 17,300, public health officials reported. But the number of new cases statewide has plateaued and remains near levels seen in the spring, officials said.

Across the state’s 58 counties, Los Angeles County remains by far the hardest hit, with nearly 300,000 cases and 6,989 deaths. On Saturday, the L.A. County Department of Public Health confirmed 2,173 new cases and 17 new deaths.

In San Diego County, local officials reported a slight uptick in virus-related hospitalizations Saturday, with 246 currently hospitalized. The county reported 386 new coronavirus cases Saturday, bringing the county’s total since March to 54,314. Officials also reported one additional death, bringing the total to 868. Six new community outbreaks, defined as having three or more cases in a setting among people of different households, were also reported.

The novel virus is considered widespread in 12 counties that together comprise 42 percent of California’s population. Other hard-hit counties include: Riverside, with 65,757 cases and 1,279 deaths; San Bernardino with 62,353 cases and more than 1,000 deaths; Orange with 58,326 cases and 1,444 deaths; Kern with nearly 34,000 cases and 416 deaths;

Fresno with 30,590 case and 436 deaths; Sacramento with 25,264 cases and 484 deaths.

Elsewhere, Oklahoma registered more than 1,800 newly confirmed coronavirus cases.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health report on Saturday comes one day after Gov. Kevin Stitt extended a state of emergency another 30 days. The health department reported 1,829 new cases for a total of 115,685.

There have been 11 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 1,245.

New Mexico officials reported 875 new cases and five additional deaths, increasing the state’s totals to 41,040 cases and 965 deaths.

Many rural communities are bearing the brunt.

In Columbia, Tenn., Maury Regional Medical Center said Friday it was suspending elective surgical procedures that require an overnight stay for two weeks, beginning on Monday. The Daily Herald reported that it was treating 50 COVID-19 inpatients, 20 of whom were in the medical center’s 26-bed intensive care unit.

Martin Chaney, Maury Regional’s chief medical officer, said small home gatherings have become the emerging threat through which the disease is being spread in the six-county region the medical center covers.

“In our homes, we all let our guard down,” Chaney said. “You think it is safe to not socially distance, and you take your masks off. That is spreading the disease very rapidly.”

In Texas, the surge in the border city of El Paso continued Saturday with a record 1,216 new cases, nearly 20 percent of the state’s 6,125 new cases, according to city-county health officials.

There have been 3,346 cases in the city during the past three days, according to city-county health reports. El Paso has reported 38,554 total cases since the pandemic began in March.

“Today’s spike is part of an unfortunate national surge that we have been planning and preparing for,” public health director Angela Mora said in a statement. “Now, we need our community to help us by doing their part and staying home, if and when possible, for the next two weeks in order to stop the rapid the spread of the virus.”

Gov. Greg Abbott has sent medical equipment and about 500 medical personnel to the region to help fight the virus. There have been more than 858,000 reported cases in Texas and nearly 17,500 deaths, 81 reported Saturday, since the pandemic’s start.

The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and U-T staff contributed to this report.