As many counties look forward to entering Phase 2 of plans to reopen parts of California’s economy, the state continues to log hundreds of new COVID-19 cases daily, reaching the grim milestone Wednesday of more than 60,000 confirmed infections since the outbreak began.
Data compiled by this news organization shows there were 1,910 new cases reported Wednesday for a total of 60,567. On Tuesday, the state counted 2,546 new cases, the largest number of new cases that have thus far been counted in a single day. There also were 83 new fatalities reported Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths to 2,459.
As usual, Los Angeles County represented the majority of new cases Wednesday, as well as of deaths related to COVID-19, the data shows. Of the new cases reported statewide Wednesday, Los Angeles had 829, or 70%. The hard-hit county reached a total of 28,644 cases, or 47% of the state total.
Similarly, of the 83 new deaths reported statewide Wednesday, 54 — or 65% — were in Los Angeles. No other county came close to such grim numbers. San Diego reported the second highest number of deaths Wednesday, but it was significantly less: 8.
In the 10 Bay Area counties, there were 165 new reported cases, bringing the region’s total to 9,283, according to the data. The number of new cases in the Bay Area has fluctuated over the past couple weeks but is lower than April 20, when the region recorded 253 new cases.
The counties also reported six new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the region’s total number of fatalities to 336. Five of those new deaths were in Santa Clara County and one was in Solano County.
Meanwhile, the number of tests reported statewide continues to rise, with 25,530 new tests reported Wednesday, bringing the total number of tests to 564,451, a 4.7% increase from the day before.
Hospitalizations for the number of confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 also have leveled off statewide, totaling 4,681 on Tuesday, down 6.5% from a week earlier and a 19% decline from April 7, when a daily high of 5,792 people were hospitalized.
There has been an even more notable decrease in the number of hospitalizations in the Bay Area. The 554 patients hospitalized Tuesday represents a 34% decline from April 7, when a daily high of 839 people were hospitalized.
State and county public health officials are looking at several key metrics to determine when to reopen businesses and relax shelter-in-place orders.
Officials want to see the number of new reported cases per day “flatten” or decrease over a period of time. They also want to see decreases in the number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. Other important metrics include the ability to carry out sufficient testing and to identify and isolate people with coronavirus, as well as those who have been exposed.
Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to modify orders Friday to allow the state to move into Phase 2, which will allow certain businesses — bookstores, florists, clothing and sporting goods stores — to reopen for curbside transactions. Individual counties, though, have the discretion to maintain more restrictive orders.
Officials with Newsom’s administration declined to comment on the growing number of cases or on the startling number of new cases reported Tuesday, indicating a need to see several more days worth of data before drawing conclusions.
But Dr. Robert Siegel, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, told this news organization that increased testing and other factors could have played a role in the spike in new cases.
At his press briefing, Newsroom also cited other encouraging numbers for why the state is ready to move to Phase 2. The daily number of COVID-19 fatalities has been trending downward, from a high of 118 on April 22. He also noted that hospitalizations have leveled off statewide.
But officials in seven Bay Area counties have said they don’t believe their counties are ready to move to Phase 2 this week. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said at her press briefing Wednesday: “The numbers are still going up, the number of deaths are still going up, and we have not lowered the curves.”
Alameda County spokesperson Neetu Balram told ABC7 News that mid-May would probably be the earliest the county could enter Phase 2.
“Ongoing favorable results will be the deciding factors to further relaxation, and we are cautiously optimistic that we’re making progress toward safely opening up to the State’s allowed activities in mid-May,” Balram said in an email to ABC7.
