California's sobering COVID-19 numbers continue to worsen as the country and state enter a holiday season unlike any celebrated before.
The governor, who announced late Sunday he and his family have entered a 14-day quarantine because of possible exposure to COVID-19, spoke to the media remotely Monday afternoon, saying public health officials have seen an "unprecedented number" of new cases in California over the last week.
"Anyone that's grown to be with their kids, isolated or quarantined, for many, many days, it is a very challenging and trying time," Gov. Gavin Newsom said. "It's certainly something that's been brought home quite literally in terms of my own experience just over the course of the last couple of days."
He expressed "deep empathy and respect for people that don't have the support like people in my position, the resources of people in my position" as they deal with similar circumstances.
After learning of his three kids' exposure to a California Highway Patrol officer, Gov. Newsom explained that his family waited 48 hours before being tested Sunday, and will continued to be tested throughout the two-week quarantine as he works from a home office. He did not, however, shed more light on how his children came into contact with the CHP officer.
"I feel perfectly healthy," he added.
Again, the governor was asked about and apologized for his controversial appearance at a birthday party in Napa earlier this month.
The state’s seven-day average is closing in on 12,000 cases.
"We’ve simply not seen this since the beginning of the pandemic," Gov. Newsom said of the new numbers, urging people to consider that the number of daily tests - almost 200,000 per day now - is also increasing across California.
Roughly 60% of the state’s new coronavirus cases are found in the 18-49 age group, "a vast majorty" according to Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. However, older adults in California and worldwide continue to be the most susceptible to the virus' deadly consequences.
The state’s 14-day positivity rate is at 5.5%, well up from 3.7% on November 9. Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 complications are up 77% over the last two weeks, with ICU admissions also up 55% over that same time period.
Over the weekend, the state enacted a limited overnight curfew for counties in the purple tier. Much of the Bay Area is covered in that order.
The governor also touched on yet another Monday with positive coronavirus vaccine news, as AstraZeneca said its vaccine trials have yielded a promising 90% effectiveness rate.
"I would remind everybody that mass vaccination and the distribution…is unlikely to occur anytime soon," Gov. Newsom said. He pointed to March, April, May, June and July as possible months where vaccine scaling could begin, enabling larger swaths of the population to get it.
The Pfizer in particular vaccine requires tremendously cold temperatures for transport in the days before it is given to patients, making proper distribution extremely difficult to ensure. Gov. Newsom said Monday that his staff as "identified regions and locations across the state" as destinations for a number of specialized freezers, both large and small, to make transport and storage possible.
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