Infection and hospitalization rates in California drop, but vaccine deployment peaks – NBC Los Angeles

After a deadly months-long increase in coronavirus, California is beginning to see infection and hospitalization rates drop, even as the state struggles to intensify a chaotic vaccination program and warns people to remain on guard.

The number of new virus cases reported on Tuesday was just over 12,000, the lowest daily number since November. In early January, daily counts were routinely over 40,000.

The hospital’s capacity is increasing after falling so much in December that crowded facilities spoke of service rationing. If current trends continue, the number of patients at the COVID-19 hospital will drop by half in early March, Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said on Tuesday.

The Biden administration said it will increase the distribution of vaccines and use pharmacies directly. Patrick Healy reported on NBC4 News on Tuesday, February 2, 2021.

Another reference is the capacity of intensive care units. Most counties were ordered to stay home in December. Southern California – the most populous and hardest hit of the five regions designated by the state – has exhausted its regular ICU beds and maintained its 0% capacity until January.

But in just over three weeks, the number of ICU patients across the state dropped from a record high of almost 4,900 to about 3,800 and all state requests for stay at home were suspended.

The state projects that in four weeks the southern California region will be able to see its ICU capacity reach 44%.

California has recorded more than 41,000 deaths – second only to New York among states – but even that pace may be starting to drop. After an average of 544 daily deaths last week, the last three daily counts averaged 371.

Still, Ghaly said the COVID-19 case rates “are low, but they are not low”.

The championship celebrations in Southern California over the World Series victory for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the NBA crown for the LA Lakers last fall marked the beginning of the wave, which peaked in January before beginning a sharp decline.

“The chance for another increase in California is real” if people let their guard down or if mutations in the virus become prevalent, said Ghaly.

He urged people not to gather for big Super Bowl celebrations on Sunday, which could become “super-spreading” events.

“Try to share as little as you can, except for the applause,” he joked. “Don’t freak out about it.”

The state is also taking a series of measures to prepare for the possibility of a fourth wave. He is maintaining an order that speeds up transfers of patients between medical facilities, continuing to bring in external health workers and helping hospitals ensure they have enough oxygen for patients with respiratory diseases, said Ghaly.

Meanwhile, the state of nearly 40 million residents is working to smooth out a rugged distribution of COVID-19 vaccines that has been marked by a few different doses and different county rules for those who were immediately eligible to receive them.

Ghaly said the state administered more than 3.5 million doses of vaccine, significantly increasing the daily number of vaccines that were being administered just a few weeks ago, Ghaly said.

The Biden government has pledged to increase delivery, and on Tuesday, CVS pharmacies announced that they would start vaccinating people in some California stores next week.

But California is still lagging behind other US states on vaccinations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and desperate residents report continuing problems when trying to schedule an interview while state officials try to create a system that protects the most vulnerable. .

Authorities made the big announcement last week that the state was creating a new centralized vaccine distribution system led by Blue Shield, the insurance giant. But a letter of intent signed by the state and the company released on Monday shows that the details of the program are still being worked out, even with state officials saying they hoped to transition to the new system in mid-February.

The state has authorized vaccinations for health workers, teachers, food and agriculture officials, other first responders and people aged 65 and over. In a surprise move last week, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state would then move to an age-based system, outraging, among others, people with disabilities who were previously in line.

The Newsom government is “reneging on its promise to ensure that our community is safe,” said Judy Mark, president of Disability Voices United.

“What they are saying is that they are willing to protect all the people and caregivers that surround people with disabilities, but not the people with disabilities themselves,” she said.

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Amy Taxin in Orange County, Janie Har in San Francisco and Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento contributed to this report.