With nearly 9 million Californians living under orders to stay home as much as possible, state and county leaders are preparing for what could be next in the coronavirus pandemic.
That's only one of many scenarios — some modest, some more extreme — that state emergency officials are running to increase the number of available beds should COVID-19 cases and a need for hospitalization rapidly increase in the coming days. The state estimates that surge capacity in California's existing hospital system could accommodate 10,000 patients.
The hospital ships, however, will not accept coronavirus patients, he said. Instead, they will accept patients with other illnesses, freeing up capacity in medical centers. The number of those who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 is expected to increase over the next several weeks, health officials warned.
The extraordinary measures were designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. California has seen the number of confirmed cases continue to rise: at least 836 cases and 17 deaths as of Wednesday, compared with 157 cases and three deaths the week before. Nearly 12,000 people in the state are self-monitoring for symptoms.
San Joaquin County reported its first two deaths, and Long Beach confirmed two new cases, bringing the city's total to 10 cases, according to health officials. That tally does not include a patient at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital who also tested positive, because that person is not a Long Beach resident, a city spokesman said.
In Ventura County, health officials announced a shelter-in-place order Tuesday that applies only to older residents.Such orders direct the public to stay at home as much as possible, with exceptions such as going out to get food, picking up prescriptions, buying gas, going to the bank or checking on relatives.
After Tuesday's order was released, many residents and members of the media read it as a shelter-in-place order. The county reissued its order Wednesday, rewritten to make it more clear which businesses fell under the mandate. Local leaders stressed that it was not a shelter-in-place order but rather that residents are asked to avoid large gatherings and practice social distancing and good hand hygiene.
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