California coronavirus deaths exceed 70,000 as cases decrease

Sacramento, CA-California coronavirus Deaths reached an once immeasurable milestone of 70,000 on Monday as the state emerged from the latest infectious disease surge and the incidence of new cases was the lowest of all states.

During this time last year, cases in the state began to increase, and by January California was on the verge of the worst pandemic surge and was the epicenter of the virus. The daily death toll has approached 700.

The latest surge began in the summer and was caused primarily by delta variants targeting unvaccinated. In the worst case of this surge, California’s average daily death toll was less than 100.

Data collected by Johns Hopkins University show states where 70,132 people had died by noon on Monday. This is the highest in the United States, about 3,000 more than Texas and 13,000 more than Florida, but California has a per capita case fatality rate of 177 per 100,000, ranking in the bottom third of the United States. It has been.

“There is little comparison to this,” said Dr. Mark Garry, California’s Secretary of Health.

“Take a moment of silence and remorse about what that means for Californians,” he said. “Family who lost multiple families, major earners, people who could not protect themselves.”

The most populous states are in much better shape as this year enters the colder months. Others who have survived the virus and are national leaders in vaccination have acquired innate immunity that also helps prevent severe illness and death.

“This time, the level of life-changing behavior may be different from what we saw last winter,” Garry told The Associated Press, even if there were new surges.

He doesn’t expect California to lock down with business closures, social distance requirements, and capacity limits like last year.

“That’s not what we’re talking about. I think vaccines and masks in certain (indoor) settings will be an important support for overcoming what COVID will throw at us in the future.”

“There was a debate about whether there should be Halloween or not,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco, a year ago. “I think this winter will be much better than last winter, especially in California.”

Currently, more than 70% of Californians are fully vaccinated, and an additional 8% are partially vaccinated, she said. This is comparable to about one-third of having antibodies to the coronavirus before the vaccine was launched and in February when California was recovering from the surge that strained hospitals to the limit.

Marm Kilpatrick, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, Santa Cruz, predicts that current immunity levels are still too low to avoid another surge, especially because people are fed up with safety measures.

Still, “people who have never been infected and those who have not been vaccinated will be most affected,” Kilpatrick said.

California was the first person to impose a state-wide stay-at-home order in March 2020, and its aggressive action by Governor Gavin Newsom saved the state from the sort of surge that devastated New York City in the early days of the pandemic. It was recognized by many people. ..

But later Newsom faced criticism that it was too late to remove restrictions on business and activities. He eventually faced a call last month, and voters overwhelmingly chose to keep him in power.

Even though the number of cases has diminished, Newsom recently announced the country’s first plan to require all qualified school children to be vaccinated. The state also needs a mask at school.

However, state municipalities have imposed and lifted their own requirements, creating confusing regulatory patchwork.

In Los Angeles County, vaccine requirements have come into effect for customers in indoor bars, wineries, and a few other companies. However, in the city of Los Angeles, a much more aggressive vaccine obligation that applies to virtually all indoor businesses is expected to come into effect next month. No county around Los Angeles County has such an obligation.

In Northern California, San Francisco and several neighboring counties have announced plans to begin easing masking requirements as the situation improves. On Friday, Newsom called it a “sign of encouragement,” but he also noted that it was moving too fast.

“I didn’t experience the same optimism this time last year, but only the winter surge,” he said.

California has the lowest per capita rate of new coronavirus cases in the country. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rates one of two states as having a “substantial” infection rate, one step lower than the “high” rate that all other states have. It is one.

California recorded 67 cases per 100,000 people last week. The national average is 195. And while the state positive rate for the past seven days was 2.5%, the national average was 6.1%.

The rate at which each infected person spreads the disease, known as R-effective, has been steadily declining in California since mid-July and is now 0.78 across the state. If it is less than 1, it means that the number of infected people will decrease.

In the state as a whole, hospitalizations in January reached nearly 22,200 and ICU admissions reached nearly 5,000. Currently, there are about 4,100 hospitalizations and 1,100 intensive care units, down from 8,220 and 2,100 a month ago, respectively.

Gandhi accepts that California has lifted most precautions and will not go away, but will live with a virus that is unlikely to kill or seriously injure most vaccinated people. I think we are approaching the level we can do. She said California is unlikely to lift restrictions until children aged 5 to 11 are widely vaccinated and improvements are seen in the rest of the country.

In the meantime, the next flu season will present its own challenges as healthcare providers test patients to classify common symptoms from the coronavirus.

According to Garry, the state is preparing for a large number of tests. Dr. Lee Riley, chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, anticipates the problem.

“We will probably overwhelm the test service,” Riley said. In addition, influenza can make even vaccinated people more susceptible to lung damage and other serious symptoms, he said.

With that attention, Ghaly said while perhaps masked this winter, the vaccination “if you do, keep moving around the cabin and some that we couldn’t enjoy last year. You can enjoy things. “