“We are not at the finish yet,” said Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday.
California has ordered an additional 5,000 body bags and has dozens of refrigerated trucks on standby as the state experiences its “most intense” COVID-19 surge to date, Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday.
The state reported 32,326 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, amid “historically high” case numbers, the governor said. The 14-day mean positivity rate is 10.7% – the highest since the start of the pandemic. Two weeks ago this was 6.9%.
142 new deaths were reported Tuesday, with a seven-day average of 163 per day from Monday. That number was 41 a month ago.
Amid the increase in deaths, the state has distributed 5,000 newly purchased body bags to San Diego, Los Angeles and Inyo counties, and has 60-foot refrigerated storage units on standby in counties and hospitals, he said. California is also activating its mutual aid program for coroners and mass deaths, Newsom said, to coordinate response from coroners and morgues.
“This is a deadly disease, and we need to be aware of where we are,” Newsom said. “We’re not at the finish yet.”
The number of hospital admissions is also alarming, with 68% in the past two weeks, he said. Intensive care admissions have also increased by 54% in the past two weeks.
Statewide, ICU capacity is 5.7%. The San Joaquin Valley and Southern California regions have less than 2% ICU availability. When a region reaches 0% ICU capacity, surge personnel and surge management take effect, Newsom said.
San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, as well as Greater Sacramento, have been shut down by the state, triggered when ICU availability drops below 15%. Under the door-to-door order, non-essential businesses such as hair salons, bars and movie theaters must close, restaurants can only open for takeout, and retail capacity is limited to 20% for at least three weeks.
Los Angeles County, in particular, has been hit hard by the pandemic, with the average daily hospital admissions of people with COVID-19 increasing by 312% from Nov. 9 to Dec. 10, officials said. Nearly half of the county’s ICU beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, officials said Monday. By the weekend, that could be more than half as health officials begged residents to stay home.
“Our reality is terrifying right now,” said Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s director of health.
The governor’s briefing comes a day after the state delivers its first COVID-19 vaccine dose in Los Angeles County, and thousands of doses are being rolled out across the state. Twenty-four locations expect doses to arrive on Tuesday and 33 hospitals should have the vaccine by Wednesday, officials said.
“There is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Newsom said. “But we are still in the tunnel going through the most challenging and difficult wave we have experienced since the start of this pandemic.”
Newsom has been criticized for the state’s COVID-19 response, especially around restrictions. A recall has garnered more than half of the nearly 1.5 million petition signatures it took in mid-March to get it on the ballot.
Organizers told The Associated Press this week that the effort was gaining momentum after the Democratic leader dined with friends at a restaurant last month while urging voters to stay home. Newsom has since apologized for attending the event.
ABC News’ Alex Stone and Cammeron Parrish contributed to this report.