Coronavirus updates: Sacramento County hits 600 dead; Newsom unveils regional system

California is at a critical juncture in the coronavirus pandemic, with essentially every indicator of spread trending hard in the wrong direction.

In response, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday rolled out additional stay-at-home restrictions.

The latest system groups counties “based on pre-existing mutual aid (hospital) systems in the state of California,” and will institute tighter business and gathering restrictions when a region’s hospitals fall below 15% intensive care unit capacity.

The five regions are: Greater Sacramento, Northern California, Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.

ICU beds are in short supply statewide, Newsom warned Monday. In Thursday’s announcement, Newsom said the Greater Sacramento, Northern California, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California regions are all currently projected to fall below 15% “within the next week or so,” while the Bay Area “may have a few extra days” before maxing out.

The Greater Sacramento region is composed of 13 counties: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba.

Combined, hospitals in those counties had 24% ICU capacity remaining as of Monday, Newsom said, but that number has dropped quickly during the current surge, as it has throughout the entire state.

For regions failing to keep 15% or more ICU beds available, the new order will prohibit nonessential gatherings and require people to stay at home as much as possible.

Playgrounds, indoor recreation, salons, museums, zoos, aquariums, movie theaters, wineries, bars, casinos, live-audience sports and amusement parks must close in regions subject to the order.

The order will still let people in affected regions continue with essential activities like going to the doctor, buying groceries and picking up takeout. It also allows distanced outdoor exercise. Schools that have already opened for in-person learning can stay open.

But essential businesses like retail and grocery stores in counties impacted by the regional order will have to set a 20% capacity limit.

Newsom first hinted in a Monday news conference that the state might need to take “drastic” action to rein in COVID-19 activity.

In the three days since those remarks, matters have only gotten worse, data from the California Department of Public Health show.

The state on Wednesday set a record with the reporting of over 20,000 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, coming from a pool of 138,000 diagnostic tests. On Thursday, the state added its second-highest total of the pandemic, 18,591 cases from about 175,000 tests.

Those two days’ infections and testing numbers shot California’s two-week average for daily new cases past 14,500 and moved the test positivity average from 6.5% to a flat 7%, hitting that percentage for the first time in more than four months.

But in numerous areas, positivity is far above the statewide rate. Fifteen counties had 10% or more of their diagnostic tests return positive for the week ending Nov. 25, one day before Thanksgiving, the latest CDPH data show. Sutter County, home to 106,000 people, breached 20%.

The total number of patients in California hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 also continues to expand on its record high, surpassing 8,800 Thursday, a net growth of 314 patients.

The state reached 2,066 intensive care unit patients with the virus, surpassing the previous peak from summer of 2,058.

Available ICU capacity hit an all-time low of 1,810 on Wednesday, then set another record Thursday, dropping to 1,731. Dr. Mark Ghaly, the Newsom administration’s top health official, said in Monday’s briefing that ICU capacity would be the “primary trigger” for more restrictive health orders.

To date, about 1.26 million Californians have tested positive for the coronavirus. The state reported 113 COVID-19 deaths each of Wednesday and Thursday, more than in any day in November, for an all-time total of 19,437.

Sacramento County’s health chief resigns

Dr. Peter Beilenson, director of the Sacramento County Department of Health Services who has overseen the county’s pandemic response, submitted his resignation this week.

Beilenson says he is returning with his wife to their former home in Baltimore due to an ongoing family crisis.

“It is not related to the job at all,” he told The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday. “It’s not because of pressure. Honestly, it’s that there are family emergencies.”

County officials are in the process of choosing a replacement for Beilenson, who will depart in two weeks. He and county Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye are holding a Zoom forum Thursday evening for an update on COVID-19 in Sacramento County.

Latest in capital region: Sacramento County hits 600 deaths

The six-county Sacramento area has combined for at least 789 deaths and more than 60,000 total confirmed infections during the health crisis.

As of Thursday, hospitals in those six counties were treating a reported 560 COVID-19 patients, including at least 117 in intensive care. The latter figure is a record during the pandemic.

Sacramento County has recorded 40,305 lab-positive coronavirus cases and 603 resident deaths from the virus, crossing the 600 milestone with the addition of 12 reported deaths Thursday.

Health officials reported 1,115 new cases Tuesday, blowing past the previous single-day record of 957 set Nov. 24. Wednesday added a comparatively low 368 infections, before Thursday brought another 938.

Hospitalizations continue to surge and have blown past the summer record of 281 concurrent patients. By Wednesday, the countywide total reached a record-high 363, including 77 in ICUs, according to state data. Those dropped slightly Thursday, to 359 hospitalized and 76 in ICUs, with 71 ICU beds now available.

At least 63 Sacramento County residents died of COVID-19 from Nov. 1 through Nov. 26, health officials said Wednesday. The month has surpassed October’s death toll.

Yolo County has reported 5,020 total lab-confirmed cases during the pandemic, adding 92 Wednesday. The county set a single-day record on Nov. 25 with 114.

At least 81 Yolo residents have died of COVID-19 to date, including five fatalities reported Wednesday. At least 49 of those deaths have been linked to skilled nursing or assisted living facilities, most of them in Woodland.

Recent outbreaks at Cottonwood Post-Acute Rehab in Woodland and Riverbend Nursing Center in West Sacramento have resulted in at least two deaths and one death, respectively, according to the county’s health office.

Yolo as of Thursday had 20 hospitalized virus patients including a record-tying 11 in ICUs.

Placer County has reported 6,664 cases, reporting 42 new cases Tuesday. The county did not report daily case data Wednesday, with a note on its online dashboard saying it is facing a system issue that it expects to be resolved soon.

The countywide death toll stands to 71, with two fatalities added in Monday’s update and another added Tuesday.

Placer continues to break hospitalization and/or ICU records on essentially a daily basis. The county on Wednesday evening reported having 126 patients in hospital beds with confirmed coronavirus, 113 of them (90%) in hospitals specifically “because of COVID.” The county says 18 were in ICUs, a new record high, with all 18 being treated specifically for the disease.

State data, which has varied slightly from the county’s own numbers, on Thursday showed 131 hospitalized with 19 in ICUs.

El Dorado County is one of a few California counties with a single-digit death toll, with just four fatalities since the start of the pandemic. But new cases are coming at an accelerated pace and hospitalizations are rising fast as well.

County health officials added 91 cases Wednesday, bringing the cumulative total to 2,637. El Dorado reported 35 new cases Tuesday, 231 covering the weekend and Monday, and 185 cases Friday for the two-day period including Thanksgiving.

El Dorado had 13 hospitalized COVID-19 patients as of Thursday, down one from the previous day, with one patient in an ICU. Eight ICU beds remain available in the county.

Sutter County health officials have reported a total of 3,733 people positive for the coronavirus and 19 deaths, including two fatalities Tuesday. The county added 97 cases Wednesday and 70 Tuesday after a record-smashing 168 on Monday.

Yuba County has reported a total of 2,310 COVID-19 infections and 11 deaths. Yuba added 87 cases Wednesday to set a new single-day high, surpassing the 85 reported Nov. 24.

Sutter and Yuba, sister counties that share a public health office and have just one general acute hospital between them, have seen their COVID-19 patient total skyrocket: from two patients on Nov. 7 to 48 by the end of November — 30 Sutter residents and 18 Yuba residents, the local health office says. Six in each group are in ICUs.

According to state data updated Wednesday, Rideout in Marysville was treating an all-time high 45 coronavirus patients, including eight in ICUs. The overall total dropped to 37 Thursday but the ICU total rose to 10, with only one one staffed ICU bed remaining available.

The Yuba-Sutter dashboard, last updated Wednesday, said 48 residents of those two counties were hospitalized, including eight in intensive care, though not all of those were necessarily at Rideout.

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World numbers: Global death toll hits 1.5 million

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths have surpassed 1.5 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University on Thursday afternoon.

The U.S. continues to lead the world in fatalities, with more than 275,000, according to Johns Hopkins. Over 14 million have tested positive nationwide, which is 21% of the world’s 64.9 million infections.

Following the U.S. by death toll are Brazil at nearly 175,000, India at almost 139,000 and Mexico approaching 108,000. After that are the United Kingdom at over 60,000, Italy at 58,000 and France at 54,000. Iran is closing in on 50,000 virus deaths.

Another 46,000 have died in Spain, 41,000 in Russia, 39,000 in Argentina, 37,000 in Colombia and nearly 36,000 in Peru, according to Johns Hopkins.

The Bee’s Tony Bizjak, Sophia Bollag and Noel Harris contributed to this story. Listen to our daily briefing:

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