California warns of region-by-region shutdown as COVID-19 surges overwhelm hospitals
SACRAMENTO – The number of US COVID-19 hospitalizations topped 100,000 for the first time, as California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday said he was likely to impose stay-at-home orders on every region of the state except the San Francisco Bay Area later this week. California’s new policy will take effect in any of five designated geographic regions 48 hours after the capacity of the intensive care units of their local hospitals falls to 15% or less, Newsom told reporters on Thursday. « If we don’t act now, our hospital system will be overwhelmed, » Newsom told reporters. In affected regions, bars, wineries, personal services and salons will be closed, while restaurants will be relegated to takeout and delivery and retail capacity will be limited to 20%, Newsom said. Schools will remain open. It is one of the most restrictive of a series of state initiatives to curb the next wave of the disease, which threatens to take 3,000 lives a day in the United States over the next two months. Globally, the death toll on Thursday from COVID-19 was 10,000 people every day on average over the past week, amounting to a total of 1.5 million lives lost since the start of the pandemic, according to Reuters’ count. Meanwhile, the US daily toll from COVID-19 reached its second-highest level ever on Wednesday with 2,811 lives lost, according to a Reuters tally, one short of the record set April 15. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Wednesday warned that December, January and February were likely to be « the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation.
