California continues to see "record breaking" ICU capacity across the state as thousands of doses of new coronavirus vaccines are out for distribution.
Speaking from a new 10-day home quarantine, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday almost 38,000 new cases in the latest reporting period, bringing California's seven-day average down to 43,901. The governor described it as "a modest" overall decrease, but cautioned optimism as the pandemic goes on.
The state’s 14-day positivity rate has moved to 12%.
"It is true that some counties or some regions may begin to exceed their existing stated hospital capacity, not just ICU capacity, by the end of the month or early in January," Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said in a grim warning for the coming weeks. "We don't see that across the entire state quite at that time, but we're watching it very closely."
As of Monday, over 17,000 Californians are hospitalized with coronavirus-related symptoms. An average of 233 people have died over the last seven days, with the state twice breaking single-day death records in that period.
While the Bay Area’s ICU capacity is at 13.7%, both the Southern California and San Joaquin Valley regions sit at 0.0% capacity. As expected, the governor said regional stay-at-home orders around California will "likely" be extended, "based upon all the data and based upon these trend lines."
Any regional extension could be announced later this week or early next week, according to Dr. Ghaly.
The governor also discussed the federal government's $900 billion relief package, announced Sunday, adding specifics to funds and how they'll be distributed within California. The package includes $600 stimulus checks for most Americans, enhanced unemployment benefits of $300 per week and subsidies for businesses hit hard by the pandemic.
Dr. Ghaly said state health officials are monitoring for the reported new strain of coronavirus detected in Europe. "We're watching this very closely and we'll be keeping everyone updated as our plans and decisions move forward," he said.
With the Pfizer vaccine already on the market, the Moderna vaccine was officially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over the weekend. Gov. Newsom said Monday that over 100,000 doses of the state’s order of 600,000 doses have already arrived for distribution.
He added 70,258 people got the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine last week.
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