California just reported a record number of new coronavirus cases — and it could roll back its reopening if the surge continues
- California reported a record number of new confirmed coronavirus cases overnight, shattering its own record for a single-day count.
- The increase was 69% over two days.
- The state was the first in the US to implement a stay-at-home order.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom said he's prepared to roll back reopening measures if the surge continues.
California reported a record number of new confirmed coronavirus cases overnight — 7, 149, according to Kron4.
That means that California shattered its own record for a single-day count, dating back just to Monday, when it reported over 6,000 new infections, according to the LA Times.
In fact, ABC7News reports, that's a 69% increase in cases in two days. ICU hospitalizations rose by 18% in the past 14 days.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press conference that California has completed over 1 million tests in the past two weeks, with a current positivity rate of 5.1%. Last week, according to ABC7News, the positivity rate was 4.6%.
Bars, restaurants, schools, gyms, and film and television studios were allowed to reopen in California on June 12. although the Bay Area has been taking reopening a little bit slower. However, according to NPR, the state hadn't flattened the curve by the first week of June — in fact, cases jumped 40% that week.
In his press conference, Newsom noted that cases were increasing in younger people. In Arizona, Texas, and Florida, infections in young adults are driving infection rates up — and, in Florida, the median age of those infected down.
"There is a sense that a lot of young people are, well, you're young, and so you feel a little bit more invincible," Newsom said in his press conference. "But respectfully, often that can be a selfish mindset.'"
California had been the first state in the US to implement a stay-at-home order. Those early lockdown measures may have helped prevent 1.7 million cases of COVID-19, researchers have found.
On Monday, Newsom said at a press briefing that he was ready to roll back reopening measures if cases kept surging.
"We are still in the first wave," Newsom said, according to Kron4. "We are not in the second wave. This is still the first wave."
And it's not just a record number of new cases that California is seeing. As Bloomberg's Steven Dennis reported, the state also reported a record number of confirmed COVID-19 patients in hospital beds.