Newsom Raises Alarm About Rising Number Of COVID-19 Cases
Sacramento, CA — Yesterday California had 5,307 new COVID-19 positive tests, compared to 4,810 new cases the day prior.
As bars across seven counties in California are now required to close, Governor Gavin Newsom indicates that these types of actions could become more common if cases continue to spike across the state.
During his afternoon media briefing, he stated that county’s with attestations to further open economies should be prepared to “toggle” restrictions back and forth, similar to a “dimmer switch.”
We reported that bars must now close in Los Angeles, Fresno, San Joaquin, Kings, Kern, Imperial and Tulare counties. In addition, over the weekend, Newsom recommended that local health officers consider closing bars (though not a state mandate) in Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Sacramento, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Stanislaus counties. Four more counties were just added to the list today, Solano, Merced, Orange and Glenn.
Newsom reiterated that COVID-19 cases have been generally on an upward slope over the past 14 days.
Hospitalizations related to coronavirus have been up 43-percent over the past two weeks. Breaking down the numbers, he stated that California has 73,687 hospital beds, 42,895 are currently being utilized by patients for various needs, and 4,776 are specially COVID-19 positive patients. There are over 37,000 ICU beds across the state, and 1,465 are being used by COVID-19 patients.
He noted that many of the recent cases have been related to social gatherings and people failing to practice physical distancing. He noted that more messaging on this topic will be coming in the days leading up to the Independence Day holiday.
