California coronavirus cases hit records twice in a week

by Zaid Aleem

As the novel coronavirus continues to rampage across the country with new records every week, some of the densely populated states are bearing the brunt of it. The COVID cases are going through the roof in California at a record rate, prompting the state to reimpose restrictions yet again in an attempt to slow down this surge, similar to those that the state had witnessed during the early days of the pandemic this year. 

According to LA Times, 13,422 new coronavirus cases were reported Thursday statewide — breaking the single-day record for the second time this week. The previous high-water mark — 13,412 — was set Monday, according to an independent county-by-county tally conducted by The Times. With these numbers, California has now recorded four consecutive days with at least 10,600 newly confirmed coronavirus cases, a stretch unlike any in the pandemic. This is a drastic increase in the number of cases. Just this past week, the state has averaged 10,529 new cases per day, a 117% increase from two weeks ago. What is more troubling is that authorities anticipate that roughly 12% of those who test positive will end up in hospitals two to three weeks later.

LA times further reports that COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen by 63.6% over the last 14 days, hitting 4,523, according to Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s health and human services secretary. The number of patients in intensive care — 1,155 — is 40.5% higher than two weeks ago.

Amid this surge in cases, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered a curfew for all California counties in the purple tier amid climbing coronavirus cases. The curfew will affect 41 of the state’s 58 counties — and more than 94 percent of the state’s population and limits all non-essential work and gatherings in the affected counties from 10pm to 5pm. This curfew is set to go in to effect on Saturday until Dec 21.