California Governor Gavin Newsom is giving an update Monday on the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. As of Sunday, the state had recorded more than 31,000 confirmed cases and more than 1,175 deaths, according to John Hopkins University, and Los Angeles County has 600 – more than half the statewide deaths.
There are concerns the virus could sweep through the state’s 150,000 homeless people, many of whom have chronic health conditions and lack safe places to quarantine themselves. San Francisco reported a large-scale outbreak at a homeless shelter after more than 100 people tested positive, including 10 staff members.
The state is on its way to acquiring nearly 16,000 hotel rooms to house the homeless during the pandemic, and already more than 4,200 people have been moved out of shelters or off the streets into hotel rooms, Newsom said Saturday.
“We’ve certainly flattened the curve. The question is when are we going to see those numbers start to decline on a consistent basis as opposed to an episodic basis,” he said.
How to watch Newsom’s briefing today
Meanwhile, California reported the first prison inmate death from COVID-19 on Sunday. The inmate died at a hospital after contracting the coronavirus at the California Institution for Men in San Bernardino County, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement.
