Coronavirus cases approach 10,000 as California braces for worsening conditions
Coronavirus cases across California barreled toward 10,000 Wednesday — with the death toll topping 200 — as officials desperately tried to keep unprecedented social distancing orders enforced while also trying to get more supplies to hospitals as patient numbers surged.
The rapid spread of the virus brought new concerns about whether the state’s healthcare system could handle the flow of patients. Many California hospitals are grappling with shortages of supplies while rushing to prepare for what is expected to be a deluge of patients in the coming weeks.
As bad as the numbers are, health officials warned it could get much worse if Californians don’t adhere to the stay-at-home orders, which now could last well into May.
California faces 5,000 coronavirus deaths a week if the state’s stay-at-home policies are relaxed too early, according to one Bay Area health officer.
Advertisement
“Some of the modeling is predicting — at the peak — up to 5,000 deaths a week throughout California,” Dr. Chris Farnitano, health officer for Contra Costa County, told his Board of Supervisors. That would mean 600 deaths a week from the disease known as COVID-19 in the central Bay Area and 100 to 200 deaths a week in Contra Costa County, he said.
“We are still hopeful we can avoid [this scenario] if we don’t relax our efforts to flatten the curve,” said Farnitano, who shared the possible epidemic outcomes on the same day that six Bay Area counties extended and strengthened the nation’s first coronavirus shelter-in-place order.
Price & Product Availability Tracker
Discover where products are available & compare prices
The news came as local health officials across the state began revealing estimates of potential coronavirus death tolls. There could be 2,000 to 14,000 deaths in Contra Costa County, and perhaps 1,000 deaths in Ventura County, health officers for both counties said.
Advertisement
Last week, the city of San Jose released an estimate saying there could be 2,000 to 16,000 coronavirus deaths in Santa Clara County.
Dr. Robert Levin, health officer for Ventura County, said the number of coronavirus cases coming into hospitals could be like a tsunami. In the last 21 years he’s been tracking the data, the worst year for flu deaths came two years ago, with 49 fatalities — a small fraction of the 1,000 deaths the coronavirus could bring to Ventura County.
“This is not influenza. This is much more serious,” Levin said at a Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. But he added that he hopes the stay-at-home order will significantly curtail the projected death toll.
Some health officers in California said there are early signs that the order is working. Farnitano noted that California’s coronavirus death toll has been about 10% of New York’s.
Santa Clara County health officer Dr. Sara Cody said that she is seeing a bit of slowing in the number of COVID-19 cases, although she added that she was speaking cautiously.
“The sacrifice that everyone has made, I believe it is starting to bend the curve. But it’s not enough, and it hasn’t been in place for long enough,” Cody said. “So we need to keep at it. We just need to keep at it. I believe it’s beginning to make a difference, and it’s giving our hospitals more time.”
Coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County rose dramatically Wednesday as officials reported more than 500 new cases, bringing the total number of people infected by the virus in the region to 3,528.
Advertisement
County officials also reported 12 additional deaths, bringing the toll to 66. Nine of the 11 people who most recently died were older than 65, and seven had underlying health conditions. One person was between 18 and 40 years old, and another was between 41 and 65 years old, said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
The coronavirus has also spread to the most vulnerable populations in the county, with five homeless people testing positive for COVID-19, Ferrer said.
Orange County saw its biggest single-day increase in coronavirus infections to date Wednesday, as officials announced 107 new cases and three additional deaths. In all, 606 COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths have been confirmed countywide.
Newsletter
Get our free Coronavirus Today newsletter
Sign up for the latest news, best stories and what they mean for you, plus answers to your questions.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Another focus of concern was California’s elderly population, who are at high risk of death from the virus.
The order comes amid a fierce debate among healthcare providers. Hospitals are desperate to clear space for an expected wave of COVID-19 patients, so they are discharging as many patients as possible, including nursing home residents.
Many nursing home administrators are equally desperate to keep those residents out until they are proven virus-free, fearing a catastrophic result if the deadly pathogen gains a foothold in their institutions.
Advertisement
The directive, in a letter this week to facilities from California Department of Public Health Deputy Director Heidi Steinecker, appears to side squarely with the hospitals. It says skilled nursing facilities “shall not refuse to admit or readmit a resident based on their status as a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case.”
Amid the preparations, federal prosecutors were dealing with a bizarre incident in San Pedro.
1/40
People wearing personal protective equipment shop at the Santa Monica Farmers Market in Santa Monica.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
2/40
A medical staff member carries a digital inverter generator into Cedar Mountain Post Acute nursing home after 51 residents and 6 staff members have tested positive for coronavirus in Yucaipa. Two residents have died. The city of Yucaipa has the most positive cases of any city in San Bernardino County.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
3/40
With businesses closed to walk-in customers due to the coronavirus, , some places like the Iron City Tavern in San Pedro are trying to get take-out business by offering a free role of free toilet paper.
(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
4/40
The streets of San Pedro are quiet as people remain in their homes due to the coronavirus.
(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
5/40
Healthcare workers gather outside UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center to call for further action from the federal government in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
6/40
Kristen Edgerle of Victorville collects information from a blood donor before drawing blood at The Richard Nixon Presidential Library blood drive during the coronavirus pandemic in Yorba Linda.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
7/40
Jonathan Sanchez, manager of Choppy’s Produce Company at the LA Wholesale Produce Market, stands with an excess of inventory in the wake of the coronavirus Covid19 shutdown as LA’s produce wholesalers are seeing their business decline over 80%.
(Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
8/40
A woman has the sidewalk all to herself while walking along California St. in downtown Ventura. Foot traffic is very light as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
9/40
A city worker, wearing a protective suit and mask, sweeps around the Echo Park Community Center that is one of several recreation centers in Los Angeles that has been converted for homeless housing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The center is filled to capacity with over 30 beds available to the homeless.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
10/40
Shauna Jin of Los Angeles, with her dog, Bodhi, practices social distancing with John Kiss of Los Angeles at the entrance of Runyon Canyon Park in Los Angeles.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
11/40
A maintenance worker cleans the entrance of Runyon Canyon Park in Los Angeles. The park is closed to the public because of the coronavirus.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
12/40
A lending library had some additional useful items, including a roll of toilet paper and cans of beans and corn, in a Hermosa Beach neighborhood.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
13/40
Protesters drive by the Getty House, the home of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, in Hancock Park. Tenant advocates are demanding a total moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus crisis.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
14/40
Security guard Marcos Ayala of East Los Angeles helps the Hermosa Beach Police Department close off the Strand and a two-mile stretch of Hermosa Beach.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
15/40
The Strand and oceanfront of Hermosa Beach are closed in an effort to prevent crowds and slow the spread of the coronavirus.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
16/40
Mong Noiboonsok, left, and Rena Chastan have lunch at Crystal Springs picnic area in Griffith Park.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
17/40
Manuel Acosta, a security officer with Los Angeles Recreation and Parks, informs two passersby that Lake Hollywood Park is open but the surrounding trails are not.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
18/40
Venice residents Emily Berry and Gavin Kelley take a break at Venice Beach. Berry, a cocktail waitress at Enterprise Fish Co., lost her job due to the coronavirus outbreak, and Kelley, a manager at a performing arts school with a focus on music, said that he still has a job and that classes at the school will resume online this coming Monday.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
19/40
Israel Torres touches up a new sign at a closed store along the boardwalk in Venice Beach.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
20/40
The JW Marriott at L.A. Live is sharing a message of hope with red lights in 34 windows, creating a 19-story display on the hotel’s north side.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
21/40
A Playa del Rey beach is nearly empty after L.A. County announced the closure of all beaches and trails in an effort to reduce crowds and slow the spread of the coronavirus.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
22/40
The Manhattan Beach Pier is locked, and a city sign explains why in three repeated messages: “Lot closed,” “COVID-19” and “Social Distancing.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
23/40
Juan Diaz Jr., a lifelong Dodgers fan, prays that the season will start by May in front of Dodger Stadium on what would have been opening day.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
24/40
Hayley, CEO and founder of Love My Neighbor Foundation, right, dances with Crystal Armster, 51, while she and her colleagues continue to feed the homeless on skid row amid the pandemic.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
25/40
A masked passenger on a Metro bus in downtown Los Angeles.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
26/40
Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department wear protective gear while handing out coronavirus test kits at a parking lot on Stadium Way near Dodger Stadium.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
27/40
Dede Oneal waits for a coronavirus test at the Crenshaw Christian Center in South Los Angeles.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
28/40
A man in a mask passes a closed restaurant along Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
29/40
The Westfield Topanga mall parking lot in Canoga Park is empty amid coronavirus closure rules.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
30/40
Artist Corie Mattie paints a mural on the side of a pop-up store as a man takes a picture in West Hollywood.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
31/40
Medical assistant Zoila Villalta works with Rosie Boston, 32, of Glendale, who is donating blood for her first time at L.A. Care Health Plan downtown.
(Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
32/40
A bus plies a route on the empty streets of downtown Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
33/40
The lights are on, but the Santa Monica Pier is closed.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
34/40
A couple wait for a bus outside the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
35/40
With all Los Angeles schools closed until further notice, LAUSD buses sit idle in Gardena.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
36/40
A lone traveler makes his way to catch a flight in Tom Bradley International Terminal.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
37/40
Chandly Burres looks for items on the sidewalk at a deserted Venice Boardwalk.
(Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
38/40
Denise Young looks on as her daughter, Allison, 9, a fourth-grader at EARThS (Environmental Academy of Research Technology and Earth Sciences) Magnet School in Newbury Park, receives a Chromebook.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
39/40
Hollywood Boulevard is devoid of the usual crowds.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
40/40
Michael Ray, 11, plays before a movie at the Paramount Drive-In.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Federal prosecutors Wednesday charged a locomotive driver at the Port of Los Angeles with intentionally derailing a train near the U.S. Navy’s hospital ship Mercy because he suspected it was not there to help with the coronavirus crisis.
Eduardo Moreno, 44, of San Pedro, was charged with deliberately wrecking a train during the incident Tuesday, which led to a derailment and fuel leak, according to the charges.
Prosecutors allege that Moreno derailed the train and deliberately crashed through barriers designed to stop engines before grinding to a halt 250 yards from the Mercy.
Moreno reportedly said, “You only get this chance once. The whole world is watching. I had to. People don’t know what’s going on here. Now they will.”
Times staff writers Melissa Gomez, Matt Hamilton, Jack Dolan, Joseph Serna and Taryn Luna contributed to this report.
