Coronavirus updates: California officially passes 10,000 COVID-19 deaths, state confirms

California’s death toll from the coronavirus has officially surpassed 10,000, as the state has seen the rate of average daily reported COVID-19 fatalities rise steadily for more than a month.

The California Department of Public Health increased the tally to 10,011 with Friday morning’s reporting of 142 confirmed deaths.

CDPH and county health officials throughout California say a widespread issue with the state’s electronic lab reporting system, CalREDIE, has been continuing to cause an underreporting in new cases for at least about a week.

The technical glitch has major implications throughout the state. The system is the main basis for launching crucial contact tracing investigations, and the state and local governments rely on accurate, up-to-date COVID-19 data to make policy decisions, such as when it may be considered safe to reopen schools or non-essential businesses.

But the system problem does not appear to be impacting California’s reporting on COVID-19 deaths, state officials say. A graph from CDPH shows that the state averaged 130 deaths per day in the two weeks preceding Thursday. California’s rolling 14-day average had been around 60 fatalities just prior to July 4. It then rose sharply — to 80 by July 11, 100 by July 18 and about 115 by the end of July.

Before that spike, deaths from the highly contagious respiratory disease had been on a slow decline: the two-week rolling average fell from 68 at the start of June to 63 by the end of that month.

California becomes the third U.S. state to reach a five-digit figure. New York state has recorded close to 33,000 deaths and New Jersey just under 16,000, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The vast majority of those two states’ deaths came in April and May, when the region became the world’s epicenter for COVID-19 activity.

CDPH reports that California has confirmed at least 538,416 lab-positive cases of COVID-19, with a disclaimer beneath that number saying it is an “underreporting,” though the extent of undercounting remains unclear. The state reported more than 8,400 new cases in Friday’s update, a substantial increase from daily totals ranging from 4,500 to 5,800 Monday through Thursday, but continues to carry the disclaimer.

The CDPH monitoring list for elevated COVID-19 activity now includes 38 of California’s 58 counties, which combine for more than 97% of the state’s 40 million residents. The state has put a pause on adding or removing counties from the list until the CalREDIE issue is fixed. Watchlist status is used to determine which counties are subject to stricter restrictions on businesses, places of worship and on-campus learning at K-12 schools.

Statewide hospitalization rates appear to be on downward trend

State officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, said earlier this week that California’s figures for coronavirus hospitalizations and ICU rates are reported through a system separate from CalREDIE. They’re believed to be accurate, Ghaly said Tuesday.

Hospitalization trends appear to show what Newsom at the start of this week called a modest decline. After peaking near 7,200 concurrent hospitalized patients with COVID-19, including over 2,050 receiving intensive care, both those figures were down more than 10% in about the last two weeks, to just under 6,000 in hospital beds and about 1,800 in the ICU.

California’s COVID-19 hospitalization total fell below 6,000 for the first time in exactly a month, standing at 5,932 as of Friday’s update.

CDPH notes it received survey responses accounting for more than 99% of the state’s nearly 74,000 licensed beds Friday; in other words, hospitalizations don’t appear to be underreported.

Some parts of California remain much harder hit by COVID-19 than others, surging hospitalization and infection rates show. The Central Valley is emerging as a major point of concern. Five counties — Marin, San Mateo, Imperial, Orange and Tulare — were treating COVID-19 patients at “surge” sites due to filling hospitals, according to a state data dashboard.

Lawmakers urge relief for Central Valley farmworkers

California’s estimated 800,000 farmworkers are among some of the most exposed to the coronavirus.

Assemblymen Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, are urging the state Legislature to move forward on a package of four bills to provide relief to this group. Chief among the bills is AB 2043, which would fund an outreach campaign to inform farmworkers on best practices for preventing COVID-19, as well as information on paid sick leave and other coronavirus-related services.

Farmworkers in California are overwhelmingly Latino, according to a COVID-19 farmworker research brief. About 90% are from Mexico, and 60% are unauthorized to work in the U.S. As the virus surges, Latino communities have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 infections and deaths.

State data updated Thursday show that Latinos, who make up 39% of the state population, account for 58% of California’s coronavirus cases.

Crowded housing conditions and packed transport buses make social distancing difficult for those workers, who often lack health insurance and the ability to quarantine.

“We deem these workers as essential because we know that they are. We treat them more like they’re sacrificial.” said Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San Jose. “We don’t give them the health care they deserve. We don’t protect their families and their children. We don’t protect them at job sites.”

Northern California water park faces fines for staying open

The city of Roseville in Placer County may soon impose daily fines up to $500 against Golfland SunSplash, the water park/mini golf course/go-kart track along Interstate 80 that has remained open in violation of the state’s health orders aimed at mitigating coronavirus spread.

The facility’s parking lot was packed with cars Thursday afternoon, as large groups of family and young friends streamed in to use its water park on a summer day, The Bee observed.

The city has received public complaints about the water park, prompting the Economic Development Advisory Committee to make initial contact with the business owner to educate about compliance with the health order, according to Laura Matteoli, director of Roseville’s economic development department.

Because of continuing noncompliance, Matteoli said, city code enforcement visited the business last week, again notifying them they were in violation and instructing them to shut down. A third visit on Monday showed SunSplash continued to violate the state order, she said.

The city of Roseville has moved into enforcement mode, notifying the Roseville Police Department of SunSplash’s continued violation, which will lead to a compliance check and warning by officers.

The park’s operation has been openly advertised on television and social media.

According to the water park’s website, masks are recommended for guests, as well as social distancing whenever possible. Any guest that does not follow social distancing may be asked to leave by an employee. The park is also limiting ticket sales, marking off areas to encourage distancing and increasing cleaning, according to its site.

Many groups, while walking into the park or while on rides, appeared to not be wearing masks Thursday.

Sacramento residents left home more often last month. Here’s what the tracking data show

Sacramento area by the numbers: At least 16,000 total cases, 234 dead

The six-county region of Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Sutter and Yuba counties has reported 234 coronavirus deaths among more than 16,000 lab-confirmed infections. Close to two dozen of those deaths have been reported since Monday across those six counties.

In terms of exact death dates rather than the date of reporting, Sacramento County had 71 confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in July. The toll has continued to rise as August proceeds, because it can take more than a week in some cases for cause of death to be officially designated. The county suffered 34 virus deaths in April, 18 in May and 18 again in June.

Sacramento and Placer have confirmed that some of their recent daily case numbers have been undercounts due to the ongoing statewide technical issue, though daily numbers reported Thursday and Friday have been more in line with what had been typical prior to the data problem.

Sacramento County, which passed 10,000 cases last weekend, had tallied 10,795 with the addition of 300 new infections Thursday and 251 more Friday. At least 161 residents have died, with 19 of those fatalities being disclosed since Monday morning. In total, 106 who have died were capital city residents, 22 lived in unincorporated areas of the county, 10 in Citrus Heights, nine in Elk Grove, seven in Rancho Cordova, four in Galt and three in Folsom.

At least seven Sacramento County residents died of COVID-19 over the first three days of August, health officials say.

State health data updated Friday show 250 COVID-19 patients currently in hospital beds across Sacramento County, a decrease by 12 from Thursday and down from a peak of 281 on July 30. Eighty-one are currently in the ICU with the virus, down seven from one day earlier, with 93 ICU beds still available countywide.

Placer County has reported 2,099 cases and 20 deaths, reporting 60 new infections Friday and one new death a day Monday through Thursday. There are 63 people being treated for COVID-19 at Placer County hospitals, including 12 in the ICU.

Yolo County health officials have reported a total of 1,690 cases and 43 deaths, with 30 new cases and 1 new fatality reported Friday.

El Dorado County has reported a total of 729 cases and just one death from COVID-19. On Friday, 13 new cases were reported by county health officials. There are three positive cases in county hospitals, with one being treated in an ICU. The county has 14 ICU beds available. El Dorado County, despite reporting its first death last month, remains the only county in the capital region to have not been placed onto the state’s regional coronavirus watchlist, reflecting its relatively low number of cases.

Sutter County has reported a total of 893 cases and six deaths, adding a record-setting 41 new cases Wednesday. Nineteen are hospitalized with the virus in Sutter, five of them in the ICU.

In neighboring Yuba County, 572 people have been infected and four have died. Ten people in Yuba County were hospitalized as of Thursday evening, with three in intensive care.

World numbers: 19 million infected, 715,000 dead

The worldwide death toll for COVID-19 has recently surpassed 716,000, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University. Over 19 million people have tested positive for the virus.

The U.S. tops both lists with over 160,000 coronavirus fatalities and 4.88 million cases as of Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins.

Next in terms of death toll are Brazil at over 98,000, Mexico at just over 50,000, the United Kingdom at 46,000, India at more than 41,000, Italy at more than 35,000, France with over 30,000, Spain at 28,500 and Peru at just over 20,000.

California’s death toll of just over 10,000, as reported by Johns Hopkins, puts it above dozens of countries throughout the world, including Canada, Germany and South Africa, all of which reportedly had between 9,000 and 10,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths as of Friday morning. California has a slightly higher population than Canada, but tens of millions fewer residents than the two other nations.

What is COVID-19? How is the coronavirus spread?

Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within 6 feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”

Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure.

Most people develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal. The disease is especially dangerous to the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.

Sacramento Bee reporters Tony Bizjak, Kim Bojórquez, Sophia Bollag, Molly Burke and Maria Heeter contributed to this report.