SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Governor Newsom gave a general update on Wednesday with new coronavirus numbers across the state. He also requested Californians on staying home and not going out even though others are not adhering to the rules.
Newsom gave new COVID-19 numbers in the state over the last few days. He said the number of positive cases on Sunday was 4,230, it jumped to over 5,000 positives on Monday and on Tuesday there were 7,149 positive cases in the state. The governor said he expects the positive numbers are in part due to people celebrating Memorial Day even though it was nearly four weeks ago.
When it comes to hospitalizations, the numbers have gone up 29% over the last 14 days. However, the governor says the state is in a good spot when it comes to hospitalizations. Currently, there are 73,867 hospital beds in the state of California and only 4,095 are being used by COVID-19 patients. That represents only 8% of hospital beds.
ICU admissions are a little higher in California. Over the last 14 days, ICU admissions have risen 18 percent. There are currently 1,268 COVID patients in ICE which represents 30% of ICU beds.
Newsom also addressed contract tracers in California. He said they are on track to have 10,000 trained and ready by July 1. There are 31 counties currently on board with another 5 onboarding on Wednesday and another 15 counties in the process. That represents 51 of the 58 total counties in California.
Governor Newsom spent the majority of the address talking to Californians about wearing masks and not going outside if you are unable to socially distance from others. He said his goal is not to see people wearing masks get fined, but for them to start wearing masks.
He also touched on the 11 counties that are receiving technical assistance from the state. As part of the new state budget, counties that do not pay attention and implement the governor's requests will lose funding to help combat the virus in their county.
The address came after the governor signed an executive order on Monday making wearing masks mandatory across the state. The order includes the wearing of masks in most indoor settings and outdoors when distancing isn’t possible.
On Monday, Newsom urged Californians to take COVID-19 seriously.
"We are not out of the first wave of this virus," said Newsom.
California Health & Human Services Agency Secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly, also attended the briefing on Monday. He said that there are 11 counties out of the 58 counties in California that the state is providing “technical assistance” to.
Ghaly said Riverside and San Bernadino Counties are of concern because they’re seeing more community spread, not just congregate spread in places like nursing homes.
Gov. Gavin Newsom had previously allowed local governments to decide whether to mandate masks, but he has since changed his course. The new order requires all people to wear masks when inside or in line for any indoor public spaces, in healthcare settings, while waiting for or riding public transportation and in outdoor spaces where its not possible to stay six feet apart from others. It exempts outdoor recreation where people can stay distanced.
