Sacramento – California is considering renewed shelter orders for districts where corona virus cases and hospital admissions rates are rising rapidly.
As the state enjoys more cassocks than the summer uprising, the government’s Gavin Newsom on Monday said it would assess whether it could impose new restrictions similar to the March lockout that barred Californians from leaving their homes, essential activities and exercise.
“Red flags are flying along the path in our growth forecasts,” Newsom said at a news conference. “If these trends continue, we will have to take dramatic, arguably drastic, action.”
The seven-day average of new corona virus cases rose to 14,657, with Newsom reporting a much higher average of 9,881 new cases per day a week in July than the peak of the summer upsurge.
The number of coronavirus patients hospitalized has increased by 89% to 7,787 in the last two weeks, the governor said. At current rates, that number could double or triple next month.
Newsom reports that the rise is putting particular pressure on intensive care units. Without reducing the spread of the virus, ICU beds across the country could be filled by Christmas, forcing hospitals to set up additional capacity.
“It’s not about making the best decisions,” he said. “I want everyone to know that we want to bend this proverbial curve.”
Newsom said it will decide in the coming days whether to issue another home stay order for California districts in the purple layer where restrictions on the public life where the corona virus spreads most rapidly are most severe. All but seven of the state’s 58 districts are now in the purple layer. Marine County is the only district in the Bay Area that is not purple.
The governor noted the possible order was a “deep purple” move. He said this may have included unspecified changes to the way businesses continue to operate, which he declined to elaborate on, as there are many outsiders.
Mark Galli, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Organization, initially suggested that ICUs could only target districts where there are state programs where capacity is declining and length is short.
“We see intensive care unit capacity as the primary trigger for deeper, more controlled action,” Galle said. “We see the second half of December increasing the limits in some areas. We want to act faster than that so we can reduce transfers and we can handle those high ICU surges.”
Alexei Kozef is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: oseakoseff
