Coronavirus updates: California’s death toll is over 2,000, but it’s likely much higher
California’s total deaths of all causes have spiked by nearly 10 percent so far in 2020 above the state’s historical average mortality rate in recent years, according to recently released federal data, suggesting deaths from complications of the coronavirus or otherwise related to the pandemic could be well above the official death toll.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which published new data this week on mortality rates across all 50 states, had only attributed COVID-19 as the cause of 1,017 California deaths as of Monday. But the state has experienced an excess of more than quadruple that figure — about 4,500 more fatalities, for 9 percent greater than what would align with historical trends based on figures from 2014 to 2019, according to a recent analysis by the Los Angeles Times.
The numbers remain preliminary and further studies are needed, but health experts told the Los Angeles Times there is a gap of approximately 3,500 more deaths than usual but not attributed to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. The experts said it is likely some combination of uncounted coronavirus deaths and patients not receiving treatment for other ailments amid the global health pandemic.
The data come from official death certificates, and the federal data lags behind state and local data. While the CDC recognized just over 1,000 coronavirus deaths as of Monday, the California Department of Public Health reported 1,755 confirmed COVID-19 fatalities as of that time, a figure that rose by Thursday to 1,943, according to figures collected by The Sacramento Bee.
State health officials on Wednesday reported 78 new deaths the day before, a decrease of one-third of the single-day record of 115 set April 22. By Thursday afternoon, the state’s death toll surpassed 2,000, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. In all, the university reports more than 3.25 million confirmed cases and over 233,000 deaths worldwide, including nearly 63,000 in the United States.
The number of cases steadily climbed Wednesday, with nearly 2,380 new confirmed positive tests reported across the state. According to The Mercury News of San Jose, a 91 percent increase from Tuesday’s number of cases. Wednesday’s increase is the highest-recorded number of cases since April 20, when state officials reported 2,283 new cases.
As of Thursday morning, according to figures compiled by The Bee, more than 49,000 people in the state are confirmed to have the virus that causes COVID-19.
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a mandatory stay-at-home order, telling all of California’s roughly 40 million residents they must only leave the house for purposes considered essential, exactly six weeks ago on March 19. The unprecedented measure was taken in an effort to flatten or “bend” the pandemic’s growth curve to keep a surge in cases within levels that hospital systems can manage.
The governor this week described a “road map” for a phased reopening that could have retail and manufacturing businesses back up and running, but with social distancing protocols implemented, within “weeks, not months.” Other businesses considered “high risk” for virus spread, such as fitness centers and salons, are likely still months away from opening.
But Newsom also has described a framework of six key indicators the state will be looking at for evidence that stay-at-home restrictions can be restricted. At the top of that list are more widespread diagnostic testing and contact tracing of confirmed infections.
The total of lab-confirmed coronavirus cases was just over 46,500, the state Department of Public Health reported Wednesday afternoon, but the true infection total is almost certainly much higher; Newsom said Monday 550,000 tests have been conducted in the state of roughly 40 million people, and on Wednesday the governor said the state is “almost there” on its goal of conducting 25,000 tests a day by the end of April.
Newsom has faced increasing calls from local leaders, especially in rural counties where coronavirus infection and death rates have been much lower than urban hubs like Los Angeles County, to allow businesses to reopen as soon as possible, citing the vast economic damage being suffered during the crisis.
The shutdown has created unprecedented job losses and cratered the U.S. and state economies into recession levels in a matter of weeks.
Newsom orders temporary closure of OC beaches
After a widely circulated memo saying he would close all state beaches Thursday, Newsom announced that only beaches in Orange County would be temporarily closed, a decision driven by crowds that flocked to those beaches over the weekend, apparently violating social distancing rules that people stay 6 feet away from others from different households, the governor said.
Newsom was expected to announce Thursday all beaches and state parks would be closed starting Friday, according to a memo sent late Wednesday to police chiefs throughout the state. However, Newsom contradicted that report in his daily briefing, saying that he would only order Orange County’s beaches to close. Those elsewhere in the state, including state parks in the Sacramento region, can remain open with social-distancing restrictions.
Eric Nuñez, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, said the memo was sent to give chiefs a chance to plan before Newsom’s expected announcement, the Associated Press reported.
“After the well-publicized media coverage of overcrowded beaches this past weekend, in violation of Governor Newsom’s Shelter in Place Order, the Governor will be announcing tomorrow that ALL beaches and all state parks in California will be closed, effective Friday, May 1,” a copy of the memo reads.
Newsom countered Thursday that despite reporting last night, it was never intended to be a statewide order.
Newsom, during a daily coronavirus news briefing at the start of this week, pointed to images of crowded beaches in Orange and Ventura counties as examples of poor social distancing, which he suggested could set back the state’s progress in “bending” the growth curve of the virus, keeping hospitalization rates manageable.
Another protest planned for state Capitol
A week after the California Highway Patrol banned public protests at the state Capitol and other state properties, a demonstration is expected at noon Friday around the downtown Sacramento building by people demanding the state reopen despite the threat from COVID-19.
The group, calling itself Re-Open California, End the Lockdown,” says on its Facebook page that protesters will make “their voices heard while remaining safely inside their vehicles.”
“Californians will gather for a peaceful in-vehicle protest, circling the State Capitol in Sacramento, California — calling for the re-opening of the Golden State,” the group said in an online post. “Millions of California families are currently struggling to figure out how they will put food on the dinner table, pay for urgently needed medicine for their families, and restore a sense of purpose and relevance to their lives.”
A similar protest on April 20 that drew roughly 500 demonstrators on foot and in vehicles received a permit from the CHP, but the agency announced a new policy banning such protests after hundreds of people gathered on the west steps of the Capitol without masks, gloves or social-distancing efforts called for in Newsom’s stay-at-home order.
California unemployment claims climb slower, still high overall
The numbers remain staggering: More than 30 million people have filed for unemployment insurance in the United States since the coronavirus pandemic began. Claims increased by more than 3.8 million, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday in its weekly report. The figure is seasonally adjusted.
California reported just over 328,000 new unemployment filings in the week ending April 25, down by 200,000 from the week before, but still adding to a total that is creeping near 4 million total unemployed statewide. The state numbers are not seasonally adjusted, according to the Department of Labor.
Though the U.S. and California seem to have passed the “peak” in initial claims, as employers in a variety of sectors were forced to lay off or furlough staff members in droves, the numbers still reflect a deep and sudden economic recession that one California economist said could take years to recover from.
The recession may also prove a test to the public pension system, with the state Supreme Court scheduled to hear oral arguments Tuesday in Alameda County Deputy Sheriff’s Association v. Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association. Unions and associations representing employees and retirees have joined the case to try to protect pensions, while local governments and organizations representing employers have joined with the state to argue pensions may under certain circumstances be reduced for workers who haven’t yet retired.
The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a crushing blow to local and state budgets, and former Gov. Jerry Brown predicted in 2018 that public pensions would be “on the chopping block” during the next economic downturn.
Placer County to let local shelter-in-place order expire
Two days after El Dorado County became the first jurisdiction in the state to let its local stay-at-home order expire without extending it, Placer County announced Wednesday evening that it will let its own shelter-in-place order end this weekend.
The two neighboring counties, whose southern reaches border Sacramento County while stretching northeast through the foothills and up to the Lake Tahoe area, are both placing an emphasis on transitioning toward “phased reopening,” Placer County said in a news release.
“The local order was intended to complement the indefinite statewide shelter-in-place order issued by Governor Gavin Newsom on March 19,” the news release said. “The current numbers demonstrate that sheltering in place has helped slow the spread of COVID-19 in Placer County.”
El Dorado County, including its county seat of Placerville, as well as the Placer County city of Roseville, are among local governments that have urged the governor to allow them to begin to relax their stay-at-home orders.
Placer County public health officer Dr. Aimee Sisson says the jurisdiction will continue to adhere to Newsom’s statewide order, but that local leaders are focusing their attention on reopening.
“It is of critical importance that our residents understand the necessity to shelter in place and our local order was a tool to underscore this,” Sisson said in a prepared statement and video message. “I am grateful that our community has shown this understanding, and I recognize the deep sacrifices made to adhere to orders. With this awareness built, we will move forward under the statewide order and turn our local attention to planning for a phased reopening.”
Sacramento County, meanwhile, on Wednesday announced a modified version of its stay-at-home order will be extended through May 22. Some restrictions will be lifted as of Friday: tennis courts and dog parks can reopen and food trucks can resume business, as long as people follow the six-foot social distancing rule. Dental offices also can reopen for preventive care or chronic conditions, though county officials say dental employees are to wear masks and face shields or visors, as well as gloves and scrubs.
Yolo County announced Thursday it was extending its shelter-in-place order through May 31. County health officials said starting May 4 drive-in religious services and all construction would be allowed, provided social distancing protocols were followed.
There’s a rural-urban divide in California’s coronavirus infection rates. Here’s the data
Free testing in Los Angeles, followed by spike in positive cases
All residents of Los Angeles can now get a free coronavirus test, even those who are asymptomatic, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Wednesday.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in a Wednesday update reported its highest one-day increase in confirmed cases, more than 1,500 for a new total of 22,485. An additional 56 fatalities were reported.
Los Angeles County had reported only about 560 positive cases one day earlier, and had been trending downward in terms of new cases per day. The county cites an increase in testing capacity, in part, with the increase in confirmed cases.
Los Angeles County accounts for more than 55 percent of all of California’s deaths, with more than 1,050 having died. The county has a population of about 10 million people, roughly one-quarter of the state’s population.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers: 67 dead, more than 1,400 infected
As of Thursday morning, the four-county Sacramento region reported a total of 67 COVID-19 fatalities and more than 1,400 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Sacramento County reported a total of 43 deaths among 1,077 confirmed coronavirus cases as of 10 a.m. Thursday. That added one person to the overall fatalities after the first death in the city of Folsom was disclosed Wednesday. The county last Thursday announced five additional fatalities, representing the second-deadliest day of the pandemic. The death announced Thursday was the second fatality reported since then. The infection total increased by just nine cases from Wednesday’s figures and came after Monday and Tuesday’s increases of eight cases each.
Yolo County reported another person had been infected with the virus Thursday afternoon, raising the total to 164. No new deaths were reported Thursday, after two deaths were reported Monday afternoon and an additional one Tuesday afternoon. Sixteen people have died in the county, 11 of them stemming from a Woodland skilled nursing facility, county health officials say.
Placer County stands at eight deaths and has reported 147 total cases, last updated 11 a.m. Thursday. The county has not reported a death since April 16, and has reported just 13 new infections since then.
El Dorado County reported no additional cases Thursday afternoon, with the total number of people infected there at 44. Most of those cases originated from the Lake Tahoe region and El Dorado Hills. There have been no deaths reported.
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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 CDC 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 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 Rosalio Ahumada, Tony Bizjak, Sophia Bollag, Wes Venteicher, Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Listen to our daily briefing:
