LOS ANGELES (AP) – California became the first state to register 2 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, reaching the milestone on Christmas Eve, as almost the entire state was under a strict order to stay at home.
Governor Gavin Newsom warned that hospitalizations could double soon if people do not change their behavior for the holidays.
A Johns Hopkins University count showed that the country’s most populous state has registered 2,010,157 infections since January. At least 23,635 people died from the virus.
The first COVID-19 case in California was confirmed on January 25. It took 292 days to reach 1 million infections on November 11.
Just 44 days later, the number reached 2 million.
The California Department of Public Health recorded 2,003,146 cases separately and a one-day increase of 39,070 infections that decreased from the one-day peak of almost 54,000 cases in the middle of the month. The death toll in the state rose to 351, also below the record set last week. Another 427 people were hospitalized, bringing the total to 18,875. The number of 3,962 intensive care units was a record, as was the number of hospitalized patients.
“We are projecting that our number of hospitals will double in the next 30 days, and our projections have become much more solid,” said Newsom in a video posted on his home’s social media pages, where he remains quarantined for the second time after a potential exposure. “I fear that, but we will not be a victim of that if we change our behavior.”
California’s infection rate – in terms of the number of cases per 100,000 people – is lower than the US average. But its nearly 40 million inhabitants mean that the outbreak affects other states in absolute numbers.
The crisis is straining the state’s medical system far beyond its normal capacity, prompting hospitals to treat patients in tents, offices and auditoriums.
“In most hospitals, about half of all beds are occupied by COVID patients and half of all ICU beds are occupied by COVID patients, and two thirds of these patients are suffocating due to the inflammation in their lungs caused by the virus,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
“They are suffocating to the point where they can no longer breathe on their own and need someone to put a tube in their throat to oxygenate their organs. Many of these people will not live to be in 2021, “she said.
The municipality released on Thursday new records of deaths – 148 in a single day – and hospitalizations of almost 6,500 people, 20% of whom were in the ICU.
The state has seen its number of cases increase exponentially in recent weeks, fueled in large part by people who ignored the warnings and held traditional Thanksgiving meetings, health officials say.
“Our systems are overloaded and the virus is spreading everywhere,” said a coalition of 10 local southern California health departments in what they called an urgent holiday message. “We cannot continue on our current path without facing serious consequences.”
Los Angeles Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels planned internal masses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with Archbishop José Gomez set to lead two of the four services, despite having informed in a letter to priests and pastors on Wednesday that it is safer to continue celebrating masses outdoors.
Dozens of physically spaced out believers removed their masks just to commune with the clerics’ outstretched arms, and there were none of the songs that health officials warned could increase spread.
Father David Gallardo held a copy of the children’s book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” at a mid-afternoon service while teaching that “darkness does not win”, comparing the coronavirus with the Grinch.
In the meantime, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to suspend orders from lower courts that blocked Christmas services in churches in Pasadena and Chula Vista, although lawyers have said they would request intervention by the US Supreme Court.
Los Angeles County health officials said categorically in a statement that “attending an in-house service will result in the transmission of COVID-19 … that the health care system cannot control at the moment.”
It was one of the new warnings that the state’s medical system will be overwhelmed and unable to provide adequate care if people do not avoid meeting for the holidays or at least take precautions such as being outdoors with masks at a safe distance. or open windows and turn on fans if they are indoors.
California Hospital Association President and CEO Carmela Coyle said the 2 million count “means that thousands of Californians will spend this holiday season in a hospital. On Christmas Eve, Californians can still choose to avoid unnecessary travel and meetings in the Christmas day”.
In a rare ray of hope, a statistical model that state officials have used to design hospitalizations predicts more than 71,000 patients in a month – still unsustainable four times the current number of patients, but about 40,000 less than the same model had designed a few days ago.
The rate of transmission – the number of people that an infected person in turn infects – has been decreasing for almost two weeks, and is approaching the point that would bring fewer infections for each person who contracts the virus.
In addition, the rate of positive cases reached a new high of 12.4% in a period of two weeks, but had already been showing a downward trend in the last seven days, from a peak of 13.3% to 12.6%. The seven-day rate was 12.1% on Thursday.
“Some encouraging signs, in terms of it appear to be some stabilization in the growth rate,” Newsom said on Thursday, but he said this was offset by the increase in cases and deaths.
Newsom on Wednesday credited home stay requests to almost the entire state that imposed an overnight curfew, closed many deals and restricted most retail to 20% of capacity. Restaurants can only serve take-out food.
Calls to avoid social gatherings over the Christmas and New Year holidays sounded with special despair in Southern California. Los Angeles County leads the increase, accounting for a third of the state’s COVID-19 cases and nearly 40% of deaths.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti called Wednesday “perhaps the darkest day in the history of our city” as the county reported the highest number of deaths and hospitalizations in a single day – 145 deaths and more than 6,000 people in hospitals. More than 9,000 people died from the coronavirus in the municipality.
If LA County continues to see the same growth in COVID-19 infections over the next two weeks, hospitals may have to ration care due to a lack of medical staff, said Garcetti.
“This means that doctors will be forced to determine who lives and who dies,” he said.
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Thompson reported from Sacramento. Associated Press writer Stefanie Dazio and AP photographer Ashley Landis in Los Angeles contributed to this story.