More than half of Californians could be infected by coronavirus in 2 months, Newsom projects

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office projects that more than half of all Californians will be infected with coronavirus in two months, according to a letter Newsom sent President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

“We project that roughly 56 percent of our population - 25.5 million people - will be infected with the virus over an eight-week period,” Newsom wrote.

After releasing the letter on Thursday, the Newsom administration quickly sought to clarify its projection, saying that the number did not account for aggressive measures the state is taking to slow the spread of the virus.

“This projection shows why it’s so critical that Californians take action to slow the spread of the disease – and those mitigation efforts aren’t taken into account in that number,” Newsom spokesman Nathan Click wrote in an email. “The state is deploying every resource at its disposal to meet this challenge, and we continue to ask for the federal government’s assistance in this fight.”

State and local officials are urging people to stay inside and avoid contact with others to slow transmission of the virus. At least a quarter of the state’s residents are under some type of shelter in place or stay at home orders, including in Sacramento County. If successful, officials hope to spread the effect on the hospital system over time, a tactic that’s known as “flattening the curve.”

The letter requests that the federal government immediately deploy the Navy Mercy Hospital Ship to the port of Los Angeles to help the state deal with a surge of COVID-19 patients that could overwhelm the state’s hospitals.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in California has ticked up quickly as testing becomes more widespread, although the number of tests available is still limited. On Wednesday evening, 675 people in California had tested positive and 16 had died, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Worldwide, the virus has killed more than 9,800 people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Newsom has warned that the state’s current hospital surge capacity of about 90,000 falls thousands of beds short of what may be needed, although officials are working to secure more facilities and equipment to meet the demand.

The Mercy would provide an additional 1,000 hospital beds, Newsom said during a news conference Wednesday. He’s also asked the federal government for two mobile hospitals that can hold roughly 500 patients each.

The Newsom administration is also securing two additional hospitals on its own, one in Northern California and one in Southern California, to help handle the surge.

In the meantime, hospitals are running short on supplies.

On Wednesday, Newsom described desperate hospital officials asking seamstresses in Los Angeles’ garment district to sew more masks, buying swimming goggles for medical workers and running to hardware stores for more gloves.

In the letter, Newsom says that the densely populated Los Angeles area needs the Mercy ship to reduce pressure on its hospital system. That will allow the medical system to continue handling emergency cases like heart attacks and vehicle accident injuries, in addition to the influx of COVID-19 patients.

The coronavirus has forced Newsom and Trump, once insult-slinging political rivals, to work closely together. Newsom’s government is relying on the Trump administration to supply more protective gear for medical workers and equipment to run tests.

In handwriting at the bottom of the typed letter, Newsom added a personal note for Trump: “Thank you.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 2:31 PM with the headline "More than half of Californians could be infected by coronavirus in 2 months, Newsom projects."