California hit several grim milestones Saturday in the coronavirus pandemic, surging past 5,000 positive cases and surpassing 100 deaths even as people remained sheltered at home in a desperate bid to stem the spread.
Continuing a steady march upward over the weekend, the number of positive COVID-19 cases in California reached 5,446 and deaths soared to 118 by the afternoon, according to data compiled by the Bay Area News Group.
And, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced during a visit to Sunnyvale earlier in the day, the number of people in intensive care beds across the state because of the virus doubled overnight to 410 from 200 on Friday.
Still, officials said they hoped the weekend’s rainy weather would prompt more people to remain indoors and stick to California’s shelter-in-place order, with social distancing being the best tool to fight COVID-19.
Data compiled by this news organization showed there were 1,801 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the 10-county Bay Area as of Saturday afternoon, up from 1,648 on Friday, and 46 deaths, up from 36.
Santa Clara County alone recorded 17 new cases Saturday for a total of 591 and five new deaths for a total of 25. But there was a spot of good news — the county, which has been the hardest hit locally, saw the fewest new cases since March 20.
Still, epidemiologists and other medical experts have said they expect the number of positive cases and deaths to continue rising — perhaps significantly — in the coming days.
According to the Washington Post, the United States recorded its first 1,000 deaths from the coronavirus over a month, but it took just two days to hit the 2,000 mark Saturday evening. New York City has been particularly hard hit, with doctors and nurses reporting hospitals stretched to the limit and short on vital supplies, like ventilators and masks.
Locally, officials have also been scrambling to find personal protective equipment, known as PPE, for healthcare workers, and to secure more of the ventilators that gravely ill patients need to breathe.
On Saturday, Newsom joined San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo at a Bloom Energy facility in Sunnyvale. Although the company typically makes fuel cells, it has shifted gears and will fix 170 broken ventilators it received from a national emergency stockpile and send them to Los Angeles, a West Coast hotspot, according to the governor’s office.
“This is exactly the kind of spirit that defines the best of California, the best of the Valley, the best of the American spirit as well,” Newsom said.
But the governor also acknowledged he was concerned by the rising number of people being admitted to hospitals with the virus.
“If trends continue along those lines, then we will start to manifest conditions that are very familiar to people on the East Coast,” Newsom said.
Earlier in the day, San Jose State University said a second person with ties to the campus — a student who had been in the college’s student union — had tested positive for the coronavirus.
“SJSU has started to notify members of the campus community that may have been in contact with the individual and are identified as having a possible risk of exposure,” Barbara Fu, acting medical director of the Health and Wellness Center, and Patrick Day, vice president for student affairs, said in a written statement.
Another person affiliated with the university tested positive March 17.
“We realize news of this kind can create concerns and anxiety in a time of ongoing change,” Fu and Day said. “SJSU leadership is diligently working with the Santa Clara Public Health Department and following guidelines from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, and (the) American College Health Association. This is a challenging time for our university and our world.”
The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday confirmed that a deputy there had tested positive as well. The deputy, according to Assistant Sheriff Matt Schuler, works at the West County Detention Facility in Richmond.
The spread of the virus has been particularly troubling for homeless residents, especially those sleeping outdoors who generally don’t have the ability to practice the good hygiene public health officials say is so crucial to fighting COVID-19.
Officials and homelessness advocates have been scrambling to secure hotel rooms and other safer sleeping quarters for thousands of homeless people in the region. On Saturday, Santa Clara County officials said they would allow people to stay in San Jose’s Parkside Hall and South Hall, along with the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.
Meteorologists said Saturday they expect the rainy weather to continue through Sunday, welcome news for health officials who have urged people to remain at home in a bid to stem the tide of illness.
“It’s ‘stay inside’ weather,” National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Walbrun said.
Rick Hurd, Harriet Rowan, Leonardo Castañeda and Annie Sciacca contributed reporting.
