Coronavirus updates: Record 1-day jump puts California hospitalized total near 6,000
California enters Thanksgiving at a critical point in the pandemic, with coronavirus cases and hospitalizations still surging as they have for essentially all of November.
The state in the last two weeks has averaged more than 10,600 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 per day, with 5.6% of diagnostic tests returning positive. The daily case rate has nearly tripled, and statewide test positivity has almost doubled, in the past month. California reported 15,329 new cases Tuesday morning, less than 150 shy of the one-day record set Saturday.
As one may expect based on this rapid case growth, California’s total for hospitalized patients with confirmed virus cases has surged dramatically in the first three weeks of November, from just over 2,500 at the start of the month to more than 5,800 by Tuesday.
The hospitalized COVID-19 total increased by a net of 385 patients between Monday and Tuesday, a new single-day record for the pandemic.
Concern is mounting, particularly in rural parts of the state, where small hospitals are scrambling to meet bed capacity and staffing needs as they fill with coronavirus patients.
None of those three metrics — infections, test positivity and hospitalizations — show any signs of slowing down. And all of them have increased broadly, in numerous parts of the state, data from the state and from local health offices show.
State health leaders, as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have in recent days and weeks urged against traveling for Thanksgiving gatherings. They note the danger of spreading the highly contagious virus among family and other loved ones.
But for many, the decision has already been made. Federal air travel data showed that Friday and Sunday were the first two days with more than 1 million passengers flying since March.
Sacramento International Airport had a moderate number of fliers Sunday and Monday. Some shared their reasoning for the choice to convene with family.
“The older you get, the more these things matter,” Sid Baysinger, 61, told The Sacramento Bee on Monday after flying in from Phoenix. “You never know when it’s the last time you’ll see your family.”
More than eight months into the pandemic, the state has reported more than 1.12 million lab-confirmed infections and close to 19,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Tier list data shows COVID-19 erupting in Sutter County
Entering this week with 41 of 58 counties already in the most-restrictive purple tier, CDPH on Tuesday demoted four more from the northern reaches of the state to that classification: Colusa, Del Norte, Humboldt and Lassen.
The state released data on new case rates and test positivity for all counties, using data from the survey week of Nov. 12 through Nov. 18 for this week’s update.
One major standout was Sutter County, whose test positivity rate of 16.6% ranked highest among all 58 counties.
That percentage has grown exponentially. For the survey week ending Oct. 10, it was 1.9%. The week after, it grew to 2.7%. Then 3.8%, then 5.3% and then 10.9% last week as it was moved to purple.
Likewise, case rates are up substantially. Sutter had an average of about 40 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, which is nearly six times higher than the purple-to-red tier threshold of seven. The county had a reported average of just under 22 daily cases per 100,000 in the previous week’s tier list update, according to CDPH.
Capital region: Sacramento County shatters daily case record
The six-county Sacramento area has combined for at least 727 deaths and more than 52,000 total confirmed infections during the health crisis. As of Tuesday, hospitals in those six counties were treating more than 420 patients with COVID-19.
Sacramento County has recorded 35,143 lab-positive coronavirus cases and 557 resident deaths from the virus.
The local health office on Tuesday morning reported 957 new cases, an apparent shattering of the previous record-high 559 set last Thursday. Health officials reported 454 infections on Friday, then 1,321 on Monday for a period including the weekend, equating to about 440 apiece for those three days.
Hospitalizations continue to surge and are quickly approaching the peak from summer of 281 concurrent patients. On Tuesday, Sacramento County had 253 hospitalized virus patients including 49 in ICUs, down two and three, respectively, from Monday.
At least 31 Sacramento County residents died of the virus between Nov. 1 and Nov. 17, health officials said Monday.
Within the county, the city of Sacramento is less than 200 away from 20,000 cases — a total that would work out to about one in every 25 people testing positive for the disease. At least 309 city residents have died of the virus.
Yolo County has reported 4,257 total lab-confirmed cases during the pandemic, adding 58 Monday after 61 Sunday and 89 Saturday. At least 74 Yolo residents have died of COVID-19.
Yolo has a record-high 20 patients in hospitals with confirmed cases Tuesday, with seven in ICUs, state data showed.
Placer County has reported 6,148 cases during the pandemic, adding 384 on Monday for a period including the weekend for an average of 128 a day — which would be a daily record. Placer reported another 77 on Tuesday.
The countywide death toll is 68. That figure decreased by two from 67 to 65 between Friday and Monday, then rose by three on Tuesday. A reduction to a county’s death toll is most often due to a correction in place of residence, which leads to the fatality being moved to another county’s jurisdiction. It can also simply be a data error.
Placer’s spike in hospitalized cases continues to break records on a daily basis, and on Monday it hit triple-digits for the first time. The county reported having 106 patients in hospital beds with confirmed coronavirus as of Tuesday, up from 31 at the end of October, with 92 (87%) in hospitals specifically “because of COVID.” The county says 10 are now in ICUs, eight of whom are being treated specifically for the disease.
Placer has experienced some of the fastest case growth in Northern California. Its test positivity rate is now more than a full percentage point above the statewide average and it doubled in the span of just over three weeks, going from 3.4% during the week ending Oct. 24 to 6.8% for the week ending Nov. 15, which is the most recent period with data available.
El Dorado County is one of a few California counties with a single-digit death toll, with just four fatalities since the start of the pandemic. But new cases are coming at an accelerated pace and hospitalizations are rising fast as well.
The county on Monday added 78 cases covering the weekend (an average of 26 per day, including Monday) for a cumulative total of 2,018 confirmed infections.
El Dorado had 11 hospitalized COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday, up by one since Monday, with five still in ICUs, state data show.
Sutter County health officials have reported a total of 2,806 people positive for coronavirus and 14 deaths. The county added 111 new cases Sunday and 143 more on Monday, the two highest tallies of the pandemic.
Yuba County officials have reported a total of 1,866 COVID-19 infections and 10 deaths. The county reported 78 new infections Monday, shattering the previous one-day record of 46 set in August.
Sutter and Yuba, sister counties that share a public health office and have just one general acute hospital between the two of them, have seen the COVID-19 patient total at that hospital shoot up very quickly.
Adventist Health/Rideout in Marysville was treating 36 virus patients as of Monday, up from 27 on Friday, the local health office said, with six in ICUs. The hospital has exceeded its summer peak of 30 patients.
Officials say 23 of the currently hospitalized cases and five of the ICU patients are Sutter residents; the remaining 13 patients, including one in the ICU, are from Yuba County.
The hospital’s president, Rick Rawson, put out a video message last week, on Nov. 17, pleading for people to adhere to state-issued health restrictions so that Rideout was not overrun. Rideout was treating 20 coronavirus patients at that time, he said.
This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 8:04 AM with the headline "Coronavirus updates: Record 1-day jump puts California hospitalized total near 6,000."
