California reached another grim milestone amid the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday, reporting the highest number of deaths in a single day — 118 new fatalities — bringing the statewide toll to more than 1,400.
Sixty-six of those deaths were in Los Angeles County, which has seen a surge in fatalities in recent weeks, bringing the countywide total to 732 since the outbreak began. Barbara Ferrer, the county’s public health director, also confirmed nearly 1,300 new COVID-19 cases — pushing the cumulative total to 16,449.
Public health officials say while hospitals are not being overwhelmed, they continue to see a steady flow of patients. As of Wednesday, there were 1,791 COVID-19 patients hospitalized countywide — with 30% of them in intensive care and 19% on ventilators, according to Ferrer.
Models unveiled this week project that, should residents continue to abide by stay-at-home orders and maintain social distancing when they do venture outside, the county should have enough hospital and ICU beds, as well as respirators, to accommodate the expected number of coronavirus patients.
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“We continue to make progress, and the spread of COVID-19 has leveled out, but relaxing physical distancing measures very suddenly would negate and reverse all of that progress we’ve made to date,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the county Department of Health Services.
The surge in fatalities statewide comes amid a push from some members of the public to loosen regulations that have kept Californians inside for weeks.
A group of protesters on Wednesday drove around City Hall in downtown L.A., honking and waving signs reading “Open Cali Now” and “Freedom is Contagious.” Some held signs supporting President Trump. It was the latest of several protests across the country. In the past several days, similar uprisings were held in San Diego, Newport Beach, Sacramento, Huntington Beach and San Clemente.
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Orange, Riverside and Ventura counties have started to pull back on some of their coronavirus-related restrictions — reopening golf courses, parks, beaches and other outdoor areas — as health officials in L.A. County urge residents and public officials to stay the course.
Gov. Gavin Newsom reemphasized this week that there are six key indicators for potentially modifying the stay-at-home order. Among those is increasing testing capacity, which he said “may be among the most important.”
Currently, the state can provide about 16,000 tests a day, he said, and the goal is to boost that to 25,000 a day by the end of the month.
Counties across the state have also started boosting their testing capacities in recent weeks. Los Angeles County expanded coronavirus testing this month to include any resident who has symptoms and wants to be tested for the virus.
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Orange County this week launched a network of six clinics that officials say will have the ability to test an additional 600 people per day. The tests will be done by appointment for anyone showing symptoms of the virus.
Between 350 and 1,100 people were previously being tested for COVID-19 per day countywide. Eventually, county health officials hope to be conducting 2,000 tests per day through the network.
Newsom and others have said that California and the nation have not necessarily seen the worst of the coronavirus and that lifting stay-at-home rules too early could be disastrous.
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“I wish I could prescribe a specific date to say, well, we can turn up the light switch and go back to normalcy,” Newsom said. “We have tried to make it crystal clear that there is no light switch. And there is no date in terms of our capacity to provide the kind of clarity that I know so many of you demand and deserve.”
