Coronavirus updates: California hits record 4,000 cases in a day; mask order in place

The economy continues to reopen but masks are now mandatory in public across California as the state, nation and world continue to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 458,000 people globally and nearly 120,000 in the United States.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday turned what had previously been a strong recommendation to wear facial coverings into a requirement during most public activities, with some exceptions and exemptions outlined in a set of guidelines. Newsom said the state was “seeing too many people with faces uncovered – putting at risk the real progress we have made in fighting the disease” known as COVID-19.

Friday marks exactly three months since Newsom issued his statewide stay-at-home order, making California the first state in the nation to shut down effectively all businesses, in an effort to slow the spread of the highly contagious virus by maintaining social distancing between people.

Businesses in recent weeks have gradually been allowed to reopen with significant modifications — with many state-issued guidelines already having required mask use by staff or patrons prior to Thursday’s order — throughout most of the state. All but five of California’s 58 counties have been permitted to let a slate of different types of Phase 3, higher-risk establishments reopen — from bars and movie theaters, which could reopen their doors as of June 12, to nail salons and tattoo shops, which can do so Friday if their county allows it.

A total of 5,290 people have died from COVID-19 across California, with 87 new deaths reported Tuesday and 82 on Wednesday, the state Department of Public Health reported in Thursday’s update. While confirmed cases and hospitalizations trend upward, the death toll has increased at a relatively steady rate since about mid-April. Just under 3,000 of the fatalities have come in Los Angeles County.

New cases, hospitalization spike throughout much of California

By the numbers, Tuesday and Wednesday appear to represent one of California’s worst two-day stretches so far in terms of new COVID-19 infections and hospitalized patients, according to state data last updated Thursday.

The California Department of Public Health’s online dashboard for COVID-19 shows a total of 4,000 new lab-confirmed cases reported Wednesday, the highest single-day increase yet for the state. It follows Tuesday’s increase of 3,455, now the fourth-highest tally, as the state infection total is now over 161,000.

State officials in a note attached to the infection graph point out that out of 4,084 new confirmed cases reported Wednesday, more than half came from Los Angeles County. Of those nearly 2,100 positive cases in that county, 600 results came “from an earlier testing period,” the state dashboard says.

Rising case numbers can be attributed in part to increased access to testing. The state has now performed over 3 million diagnostic tests. More than 76,500 were conducted between Tuesday and Wednesday; Newsom has repeatedly referenced a goal of between 60,000 and 80,000 daily tests.

However, hospitalization rates have also peaked throughout many different parts of the state this week, according to the same state data dashboard.

Fourteen of the 50 counties with at least 10 total infections reported their highest ever one-day case increase either Tuesday or Wednesday, according to data from both the state and county level. Los Angeles, Tulare, Ventura, Stanislaus, Monterey, Marin, Solano, Placer, San Luis Obispo, Yolo, Santa Cruz, Madera, Mendocino and Tehama counties each peaked this week.

And 12 of the 22 counties with at least 10 reported COVID-19 hospitalizations either set or tied their all-time high for that metric on one of those two days: Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Kern, Imperial, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Kings, Tulare, Santa Barbara and Ventura. All but two from that group — Orange and Ventura — were on the state’s “watch” list as of Friday morning, which includes counties being monitored due to elevated disease transmission and/or increasing hospitalization.

Boosted by those increases, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized statewide shot quickly from 3,092 last Saturday to more than 3,400 by Tuesday, more than a 10 percent jump in four days. The statewide hospitalization total hadn’t exceeded 3,400 since May 1, state data show.

State health officials say California boasts a surge capacity of more than 53,000 hospital beds.

‘Unprecedented’: California unemployment still above 16 percent

The state Employment Development Department reported essentially the same unemployment rate for May as its revised estimate for April: 16.3 percent for the more recent month, down very slightly from 16.4 percent following “unprecedented job losses never before seen in California’s history” in April.

The two figures on record by the department, which has data dating back to 1976, far exceeds the 12.3 percent jobless rate reached during the peak of the Great Recession in 2010.

“April’s revised loss of 2.4 million jobs in California since March is the biggest month-over job loss in state history, far eclipsing the Great Recession’s then record-setting, month-over loss of 132,800 jobs between December 2008 and January 2009,” the EDD said in a news release accompanying the statistics.

What does mask order mean? How might it be enforced?

Thursday’s order from the governor’s office requires face coverings in most public or shared indoor spaces, including but not limited to riding in taxis and rideshare cars; taking public transit; standing in line to enter a building; or walking through common areas like hallways, stairways, elevators and parking garages.

Masks don’t need to be worn while seated at a restaurant with six feet of distance from others, while engaged in outdoor recreation or while walking outdoors in circumstances where six feet can be kept from those not in one’s immediate household.

The guidelines call for wearing a cloth mask that covers the nose and mouth. If a mask can’t be obtained, you can fashion one out of household items such as a shirt, towel or scarf.

The order does not apply to children age 2 or younger, or those with a mental health or medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask. Other exemptions include those who are deaf or have hearing loss.

Newsom’s order does not explicitly state how the face covering requirement will be enforced. For counties that imposed mask requirements prior to the state order, the strategies have varied. Marin County, for instance, made violations of its order a misdemeanor. In Yolo County, the order that went into effect in late April clarifies that enforcement would be directed “at non-complying Essential Businesses and other enterprises” rather than individuals.

“The success of this Order depends upon voluntary compliance by individuals and community acceptance of its requirements,” the Yolo mask order reads. “Individual violators are unlikely to be cited.”

Sacramento-area numbers: Capital region still at 100 deaths

The four-county Sacramento region as of Friday morning reports a total of 100 coronavirus fatalities and at least 2,876 confirmed cases.

With recent spikes in cases observed in the area, health officials in Sacramento and Yolo counties say contact tracing investigations have linked the increase in COVID-19 activity to large private gatherings in people’s homes, such as birthday parties.

Sacramento County on Friday morning reported 36 new lab-positive cases of COVID-19 for an all-time total of 1,976. Health officials on Wednesday reported 67 new infections and four deaths, the highest of each figure since at least early May. The county’s death toll stands at 67, with none added Thursday or Friday.

Sacramento County’s public health dashboard now estimates 480 active cases of the disease, with 1,429 “likely recovered” cases and the remaining deceased. A day earlier, the county reported 506 active cases.

Placer County disclosed 28 new COVID-19 cases Thursday morning — its highest ever daily increase — and 16 more Friday for an all-time total of 476 infections. Of those, nine have died and 288 cases are considered recovered, meaning approximately 179 of the cases are active. Placer had reported record highs in new cases three days in a row, after health officials added 21 new cases on Tuesday and 21 more Wednesday.

Yolo County on Friday afternoon reported 8 new cases of the coronavirus. On Wednesday, the county reported its highest daily increase, 26 new infections. Countywide, a total of 310 people have tested positive for coronavirus. The county’s death toll remains at 24. At least 17 of these deaths have been connected to an outbreak at Stollwood Convalescent Hospital in Woodland.

El Dorado County has maintained consistently low infection rates and is one of the few counties in California with no reported COVID-19 deaths. With five new cases reported Friday, 130 people have been infected, 66 of them from the Lake Tahoe region. The county has reported 100 recoveries and no current hospitalizations.

Just outside the capital region, Sutter County, which has also seen relatively low numbers, has reported 23 cases since June 11, including three new cases Wednesday. Sutter County reported five news cases Thursday, bringing the total to 97. Three people have died there. In Yuba County, officials reported one case new case Wednesday and no new cases Thursday. The county has reported a total of 39 cases and one death.

World numbers: 458,000 dead, over 8.5 million infected

More than 458,000 people worldwide have been killed by the coronavirus as of Friday afternoon, with over 119,000 deaths coming in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. accounts for more than 2.2 million of the world’s 8.63 million lab-positive cases confirmed as of Friday.

Brazil has reported nearly 49,000 fatalities, followed by the United Kingdom at around 42,500, Italy at about 34,500, France at nearly 30,000, Spain at over 28,000 and Mexico at close to 20,000.

Sacramento Bee reporters Rosalio Ahumada, Sophia Bollag and Andrew Sheeler contributed to this report.

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