California becomes the first state to surpass 2 million COVID-19 cases

California became the first state to cross the harsh mark of 2 million COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) (# If there is no character limit, add parentheses when it first appears According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the case was only 6 weeks after reaching 1 million points on Wednesday. California’s prevalence is lower than the US average in terms of cases per 100,000, but far higher than other states due to its 40 million inhabitants.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, more than 23,500 Californians have died from the virus.

In the state, the number of cases has skyrocketed in recent weeks, followed by a surge in hospitalization and mortality rates, overwhelming the intensive care unit, hospitals tenting patients in the emergency room and offices for others I started to treat in the auditorium.

The plea to avoid a holiday social gathering rang in Southern California with special despair. Los Angeles County is leading the surge, accounting for one-third of COVID-19 cases in the state and nearly 40% of deaths.

“We know that this emergency is our darkest day and probably the darkest day in the history of our city,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told people on a holiday. Prompted to cancel the gathering plan.

On Wednesday, the county reported the highest number of deaths and hospitalizations in a day since the pandemic began, killing 145 people and admitting more than 6,000 to hospitals. More than 9,000 people have died in COVID-19 in the county.

Orange County again set a hospitalization record for 1,854 people on Wednesday. Report CBS Los Angeles.. The county also reported 4,406 new cases of coronavirus and two additional deaths.

Dozens of nurses Picketing Wednesday morning throughout Orange CountyThe agency said it was protesting the worsening condition in the hospital that had reached its limit due to the exponential growth of coronavirus cases.

Thanksgiving rallies in California, where people ignored the rules of masking and social distance, have been accused of spreading the infection, and another surge from Christmas holidays puts the stressed health system at stake. Authorities have warned that it is possible.

Healthcare workers are disappointed and resentful at the crowded outdoor malls, packed parking lots, and the scene of parents and children walking around without masks, said Dr. Christina Garry, director of county health services.

If Los Angeles County continues to see the same increase in COVID-19 infections over the next two weeks, Garsetti said hospitals may find that they must provide ration care due to a shortage of medical staff. “That is, doctors will be forced to decide who will live and who will die,” he said.

Santa Clara County, near San Francisco, has reduced the number of beds in the ICU to 35, bringing hospitals dangerously close to rations, said Dr. Ahmad Kamal, the county’s head of health care.

Overall, California recorded the second highest number of deaths at 361 on Wednesday. The number of coronavirus patients in the intensive care unit almost doubled to 3,827 in just three weeks, but the state’s ICU capacity decreased from 2.5 to 1.1%. % Just 2 days ago. The number of inpatients surged to 18,828, more than doubling from December 1, with 605 new cases per day.

Still, there were a few but encouraging signs of hope.

The infection rate (the number of people infected in turn by one infected person) has slowed by nearly two weeks. The percentage of positive cases reached a high of 12.3% in two weeks, but has begun to decline from a peak of 13.3% to 12.6% in the last seven days.

Given that California averages nearly 44,000 newly identified cases per day, the number of new positive cases has dropped to a relatively modest 39,069.

The state also has nearly 1,000 healthcare workers in 91 facilities in 25 of the 58 counties of the state, and has opened a fifth alternative medicine facility in San Diego County.

California National Guard had installed about 200 beds on an empty floor at the Palomar Health Center near San Diego in an existing hospital complex, said Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the Governor’s Emergency Services Department. You can start accepting patients on Christmas Day and rescue overweight hospitals, especially in the nearby Imperial County.

California expects more federal health workers to arrive by the weekend, and Governor Gavin Newsom expects more of the 3,000 contract health workers the state is about to arrive after vacation. He said he was doing it.

The governor also said that as of Tuesday, more than 128,000 vaccines had been given. This is another promising sign beyond the slight drop in infection rates.

But Newsom also says that if people don’t listen to the phone to avoid holiday gatherings, progress quickly disappears, especially indoors, and some models lead to nearly 100,000 hospitalizations in a month. I warned that it might be possible.

“This virus loves social events,” Newsom said. “This virus propagates in that atmosphere.”