Tag: California

Some California hospitals are close to reaching their breaking point, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to bring in hundreds of hospital staff from outside the state and to prepare to re-start emergency hospitals that were created but barely used when the coronavirus surged last spring. California officials paint a dire picture of overwhelmed hospitals and exhausted health workers as the state records an average of 22,000 new cases a day.

Thirteen counties in Northern California will be placed under the state's most restrictive coronavirus rules this week because capacity in intensive care units has fallen below 15%, and officials warned Wednesday that hospitals across the state are filling up with COVID-19 patients.

The governor announced regional stay-at-home restrictions for all Southern California, including Riverside County, for a minimum of three weeks. The stay-at-home order will go into effect on Sunday evening at 11:59 p.m. The regional restrictions are in response to weeks-long surge in cases, hospitalizations, positivity rates and coronavirus-related deaths throughout the state.

A staggering rise in coronavirus cases could overwhelm California’s health system within weeks and “drastic” action such as a widespread stay-at-home order may be needed to combat the threat, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 have increased nearly 90% and could triple by Christmas, officials said Monday.

California expects the first batch of coronavirus vaccine to arrive in the state in weeks but it's not yet clear who will get the first shots and when those inoculations begin. Gov. Gavin Newsom said 327,000 doses of Pfizer's vaccine should arrive in mid-December.