Coronavirus updates: Rent, unemployment woes loom over Californians amid pandemic

California set a new record Wednesday for its highest reported COVID-19 death toll in a single day with 197 dead.

Though some of those deaths may have occurred several days or weeks ago because of the verification process used by local health officials, the new numbers underline the ongoing severity of the pandemic.

Though new infections are not growing with the alarming speed they did in late June and early July, parts of California are still experiencing COVID-19 surges.

The Central Valley, as well as parts of Southern California like Imperial County, are seeing a dramatic increase in COVID-19 patients entering local hospitals. In the Sacramento region, Placer and Yolo counties reported fewer than 10 adult ICU beds available.

California reported nearly 10,200 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday morning, bringing the state total now to more than 485,000 infections, according to the latest state public health data. Another 194 deaths were reported Thursday, bringing the death toll in the state to 8,909.

Deaths have dramatically increased from the flat-line levels in May and June: As of Wednesday, an average of 109 people died from the virus in California every day over the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, about 83 people died every day on average over a two-week period.

For the last two weeks, the positivity rate — the portion of tests returning positive — has remained around 7.5%. That suggests that coronavirus cases are still steadily increasing across the state.

But some parts of the state are seeing a worrying number of positive results returning, particularly in the Central Valley, with Fresno at over 10.7% and Tulare over 17.7%.

The World Health Organizations suggests a rate of lower than 5% before reopening the economy, and California puts individual counties on notice when they hit 8% or higher.

At least 6,700 people are in hospital beds with COVID-19 and about 30% of them are in intensive care units, according to state public health data released Thursday morning. The number of people hospitalized with the virus is likely higher than that, because historical data from some facilities was not included in the state’s daily release because of a reporting issue.

The continued growth in new infections and hospitalizations comes as thousands of Californians still struggle to secure unemployment benefits, and renters worry about looming rent payments Aug. 1.

Black, Latino Californians worry about making rent payments amid pandemic

Latino and Black tenants in California are much more worried than their white and Asian counterparts about paying their rent in the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to data taken by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The fears reflect the disproportionate economic impact of the pandemic Latino and Black communities. The Black and Latino unemployment rates have been significantly higher the white unemployment rate, and those groups have also had higher COVID-19 infection rates.

For now, many Californians at risk of missing rent cannot be evicted. Gov. Gavin Newsom has extended local governments’ ability to ban evictions until Sept. 30. The California Legislature is also considering multiple bills to extend that ban on evictions further.

But eviction bans don’t ease the burden of owing rent payments eventually, meaning debts can pile up. And not all cities are taking up Newsom’s call to extend local eviction moratoriums.

Congress is currently negotiating a coronavirus relief package that seems likely to include another $1,200 stimulus payment to single people making less than $75,000 and $2,400 to couples making less than $150,000.

In March, Congress increased unemployment payments by $600 weekly, but that has expired.

California unemployment backlog to take months to process

Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn’t expect California to work through a backlog of unemployment insurance claims for two more months, despite a push to hire thousands of temporary workers and improve state technology.

Newsom announced new efforts Wednesday aimed at speeding up the process within the Employment Development Department, which has struggled to keep up with a surge of claims since the coronavirus outbreak arrived in March.

The department has processed 8 million unemployment insurance claims since then and distributed about $49 billion in benefits, according to a state press release Wednesday.

Yet nearly 1 million claims that might be eligible for payment are sitting in a backlog. The state’s efforts will focus on eliminating the backlog of those “actionable” claims by the end of September, according to the release.

The department is hiring 5,300 temporary employees, according to the release. The state has redirected 1,300 state workers from within EDD and from other departments to help, along with paying consultant Deloitte to augment a call center.

Dozens infected with COVID-19 at California youth prisons

The state adult prison system has seen thousands of inmates released early as the coronavirus has surged through those institutions.

That’s led some families and advocates to wondering why California isn’t willing to do the same for incarcerated youth offenders. There are around 775 teens and young adults in the facilities. Forty-seven inmates infected with COVID-19 represent 6% of the population.

“Why not the youth?” Jane Faalataina, whose son tested positive for COVID-19. “The youth are as important as adults. If you’re releasing adults … with COVID, why not for all?”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has not commented on releasing the state’s youth offenders early. Officials with the Department of Juvenile Justice deferred questions about releasing inmates to Newsom’s office, which didn’t comment Wednesday.

Federal funds withheld for Central Valley cities defying state health orders

Two Central Valley cities that have defied state health orders by allowing all businesses to operate during the pandemic will not receive a portion of federal funds, the Associated Press reports.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is withholding nearly $65,000 from Atwater in Merced County and more than $35,000 from Coalinga in Fresno County — the first installments of $2.5 billion in federal funds — for failing to follow state health orders.

The new powers were granted to Newsom when the new state budget took effect earlier this month. Atwater and Coalinga lost the first one-sixth of their money but can get the rest if they back down, Office of Emergency Services spokesman Brian Ferguson told the AP.

Both cities have opted to stick with their resolutions defying state health orders.

Coronavirus death toll tops 150,000 in US

Coronavirus has killed more than 150,000 people in the United States, Johns Hopkins University reports.

The U.S. reached the grim milestone Wednesday, six months after the first COVID-19 case was reported in the country.

Coronavirus has killed more Americans than every war since the start of the Korean War combined, Time reports. It also has killed more Americans than World War I and every previous flu pandemic in the 20th century except the 1918 pandemic, which killed 675,000 in the U.S.

“COVID-19 has changed our world,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, BBC News reported. “It has brought people, communities and nations together, and driven them apart.”

Positive COVID-19 test delays Sac Republic game

Thirty minutes before Sacramento Republic FC’s match against Orange County SC on Wednesday night, it was canceled due to a positive COVID-19 test from a previous opponent.

Officials didn’t identify which which team had tested positive, but it appears one or multiple LA Galaxy ll players tested positive.

Galaxy II was also supposed to play Wednesday night against San Diego Loyal SC, but their game was also canceled. Republic FC last played LA Galaxy ll on Saturday, and Orange County last played Phoenix Rising FC on the same day.

Sac Republic said in a news release Wednesday all its players tested negative for the virus after their game with Galaxy II.

Latest Sacramento-area COVID-19 cases and deaths

The six-county region of Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Sutter and Yuba has seen 14,694 cases of the coronavirus as of Thursday morning. The virus has killed a total of 194 in the region.

Sacramento County reported 150 new cases Thursday morning. The total number of infections in the county is now 9,664. The death toll in the county is currently 127. At least 277 patients with COVID-19 are in hospitals, and 83 of them are receiving intensive care.

Yolo County has reported 1,477 cases and 41 deaths. On Wednesday afternoon, the county reported 29 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths due to the virus. As of Thursday morning, there were 11 patients in hospitals in Yolo County, five of whom were in intensive care. The county had four ICU beds remaining, according to state data.

Placer County has reported 1,790 cases and 15 deaths, including 37 more infections Wednesday. There are 61 people hospitalized in the county because of the virus and 13 are being treated in ICUs. The county has two more adult ICU beds available.

El Dorado County has reported a total of 589 cases and one death from COVID-19. On Wednesday, the county reported 10 new cases and no new deaths. One infected person in the county was hospitalized Tuesday; that person was in intensive care. Nearly half of the total number of cases have been reported in the Lake Tahoe region.

Sutter County has reported a total of 733 COVID-19 cases and six deaths due to the virus. The county added 32 cases to its total Wednesday evening, but no new deaths. The county reported 34 new cases Tuesday and two new deaths this week. Eleven infected people in the county were hospitalized Wednesday and seven of them were in intensive care.

Yuba County has reported a total of 441 COVID-19 cases and four deaths due to the virus. On Wednesday evening, the county reported 26 new cases, a new daily record after reporting 20 new cases on July 21. The county also reported one new death Wednesday. Six infected people in the county were hospitalized Wednesday; one of them were in intensive care.

Latest coronavirus numbers worldwide

Worldwide, more than 17 million people have been infected with the coronavirus and over 667,000 people have died as of Thursday morning, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

The United States accounts for the largest share of infections for any country, with over 4.4 million cases and more than 150,000 deaths.

Brazil follows, with more than 2.5 million infections and over 90,000 deaths. India is third in cases at 1.5 million and sixth in deaths with more than 34,000. More than 46,000 have died in the United Kingdom, more than 44,000 in Mexico and over 35,000 in Italy.

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.

The Bee’s Kate Irby, Cameron Salerno, Don Sweeney and Wes Venteicher contributed to this story.