California officials are working to impose the latest coronavirus restrictions and one county official believes that travel and indoor gatherings are the driving force behind the surge in cases.
According to Governor Gavin Newsom, in the last 10 days, the number of daily cases has doubled resulting in “the fastest increase California has seen since the beginning of this pandemic. Last week the state passed one million coronavirus cases.
Newsom’s latest restrictions that were put into effect on Tuesday put 41 of the state’s counties in the strictest of the four-tier system for reopening which is based on the number of virus cases and infection rates. Newsom said that’s up 28 counties since last week.
Despite the newly enforced restrictions some of these counties even moved up multiple tiers as cases surged.
#COVID19 update:
– Average daily tests: 164,345
– Average test positivity rate: 4.6%
– Daily case average: 8,198
– Hospitalizations: 48% increase over last 2 weeks
– ICU: 39% increase over last 2 weeks
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 16, 2020
Health officer for Humbolt Country, Dr. Teresa Frankovich, detailed the new restrictions to county residents on Monday, blaming the recent increases on travel and gatherings of crowds.
“This is travel where you’re going to visit friends and family, staying in households, having close contact unmasked, sharing vehicles,” said Frankovich. “I really want to be clear to people that if we want to be able to keep our schools operational, to keep our business community operational, we have to stop the gathering.”
“That’s a particularly difficult challenge at the holiday season but it’s essential to protect our families and our community,” she added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented evidence that supports the idea that transmission of the virus at home is common. According to a recent report, the CDC assessed over 100 households in Nashville, Tennesse, and Marshfield, Wisconson, for five months beginning in April. The agency reported that more than half of all household contacts were infected and “secondary infections occurred rapidly, with approximately 75% of infections identified within five days of the primary patient’s getting sick.”
Leave a Reply