- Officials in the most populous US state rush to prepare for a further onslaught while dealing with a spike in confirmed infections
- ‘There is no projection in which a couple weeks from now we’re doing fine,’ says the mayor of Los Angeles
Coronavirus cases in California continue to surge, one week after the state's residents were told to stay at home.
On Friday, the state confirmed 4,598 cases and 93 deaths, a staggering 41.8 per cent increase in the number of infections from the previous day.
"Things on the ground are anxious," said Dr Peter Chin-Hong, professor of medicine and an infectious disease specialist at the University of California San Francisco. "Covid-19 is becoming very personal. Health providers are beginning to know people they are close to with the virus."
Among the hardest-hit areas are Los Angeles, the second largest US city, which saw confirmed cases rise by more than half in just 24 hours, and Silicon Valley, the state's economic powerhouse.
"Disturbingly, we see that if this rate of increase continues, in six days we will be where New York is today," said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, whose city's medical system has been overrun with coronavirus cases. "There is no projection in which a couple weeks from now we're doing fine."
His comments were seen as a response to US President Donald Trump, who has expressed his desire for the country to get back to work as soon as possible. He said this week that he hoped to lift restrictions as soon as Easter, on April 12 " a move widely condemned by health experts.
As a state with an entrenched Democratic Party majority, California has long been at odds with the administration in Washington, but its leaders have been even more strident in their defiance of Trump as the coronavirus crisis has deepened.
During a television interview on Thursday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed had harsh words for the federal government.
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"I think sadly what the president is asking for is ridiculous," she said. "We have had to basically go around the federal government in getting our own materials from other countries … This is something the federal government should be leading on, and you have cities partnering with the private sector so we can protect our nurses and doctors and people on the front lines."
She added: "We have people who are dying, we have people who cannot even be tested, we have folks who are infecting people who don't even understand they are walking around with the virus as we speak."
On Friday, Breed announced plans to expand homeless housing in hotels and to prioritise testing for frontline responders.
"I want to be clear, social distancing will save lives. If we continue to practice social distancing every single day … we will get to a better place," she said.
But she cautioned: "We still have a lot more time ahead of us than we do behind us."
San Francisco's public health director, Dr Grant Colfax, said on Friday that the number of daily tests had increased to 150, compared with 50 a day when they began. But he warned of continuing shortages.
"Supplies nationwide are becoming a severe bottleneck to increased testing," he said, clearly frustrated. "I'm sad to say that from swabs to (personal protective equipment), the lack of testing supplies across the nation means we must prioritise testing for those who need it most."
California Governor Gavin Newsom was the first US governor to order his entire state to stay home as the virus spread. He has emerged as a prominent voice during the pandemic, a rare public figure in an increasingly fractious country who enjoys approval from across the political spectrum. His regular online briefings draw hundreds of thousands of viewers.
"Let's meet this moment. Let's follow through. Halfway is no way," he said this week.
Hoping to add 20,000 hospital beds, Newsom has asked the US Department of Defence to send his state two mobile hospitals as well as the 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship Mercy, which arrived offshore in Los Angeles on Friday morning.
Also on Friday, the governor announced a statewide ban on evictions for renters affected by the coronavirus through May 31.
Across California, officials are rushing to prepare for an onslaught. Two federal medical stations will soon open in Riverside County in Southern California to take on overflow if local hospitals become overwhelmed.
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On Wednesday, the National Guard broke ground in Indio in central California to convert a county fairgrounds into a temporary medical facility.
"Frontline staff are demoralised by the lack of PPE and scared about lack of ventilators and beds," said Chin-Hong. "There's dismay with the national leadership and lack of … central guidance. California is just waiting."
One week into the practical statewide lockdown, the effects of the virus have been devastating and felt dearly across every part of the state's economy and daily life.
More than 1 million Californians had filed for unemployment insurance in less than two weeks as of Wednesday. The number of last week's claims was 363 per cent higher than during the same week last year " an unheard-of increase.
Newsom has announced that during the pandemic California will do away with its standard one-week waiting period so that those who lose their jobs or have their hours reduced can apply for benefits right away.
This week, the state's largest banks announced that they would be offering relief for California homeowners, deferring mortgage payments for at least three months " longer if they suffer hardship because of the pandemic and not reporting late payments to credit agencies.
With nearly everyone sheltering at home, public transport has fallen off precipitously, with rail ridership in Southern California dropping by as much as 85 per cent.
Service on public transit is being slashed across the state, while those few buses and trains that are still running are mostly vacant. Transport workers have found themselves on the front lines, bearing a high risk of infection. This week, three workers linked to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority tested positive for the virus.
In San Francisco, the city's iconic cable cars sit empty and still.
Tourism has dried up almost completely. At Los Angeles International Airport, air passenger traffic is down 85 per cent.
Hollywood, a potent symbol of California culture as well as an economic engine for the state, has ground to an effective halt, its famed movie lots shuttered. Disneyland is closed indefinitely.
Farther north, another of the state's financial powerhouses is being hit hard. Cases and deaths continue to mount Silicon Valley, where official confusion has contributed to a sense of panic among the population.
San Jose Deputy City Manager Kip Harkness said on Thursday that "even in a best-case scenario", 2,000 people in Santa Clara County would die from coronavirus, nearly double the current Covid-19 death toll for the entire country.
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He also said there were 9,000 to 19,000 cases currently active in the county, an extreme uptick from the 542 positive tests and 19 deaths currently reported there.
But by Thursday evening, the Santa Clara public health department distanced itself from those numbers, saying: "The model shared by the city of San Jose projecting deaths and future case counts of Covid-19 was not produced, reviewed or vetted by the county of Santa Clara."
The virus could be especially devastating to California's homeless population. Even before the outbreak, the state was in the throes of a historic crisis, with 151,278 people experiencing homelessness on any given day, according to the state government.
Not only are homeless people at higher risk because of lack of hygiene and basic medical services, but they also pose a large roadblock to getting the virus' spread under control. Stay-at-home directives are not effective for those without a home to stay in.
In a report published on Wednesday, experts from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California Los Angeles and Boston University forecast that 2,600 homeless people in the Los Angeles area alone would need to be hospitalised for health complications related to the virus and that as many as 900 would require intensive care.
The state has responded by adding more beds and opening more shelters, almost all of which are at capacity. But this approach is at odds with guidance that people keep more than six feet away from each other.
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Finding single occupancy rooms that would more effectively control the spread of the disease is more difficult than ever as the state searches for properties, including hotels, to convert into medical facilities. There is a growing potential for fierce competition over beds, and not just of the hospital variety.
Officials announced on Friday that Los Angeles County would be closing all beaches along its 27 miles of coast. They also said that 15 Los Angeles police employees had tested positive for the virus, and that the number of infected on the force could continue to grow by as many as three a day.
The stay-at-home directive has had a helpful effect on at least some statistics: according to the Los Angeles Police Department, violent crime in the city fell 14 per cent and property crime 12 per cent through March 25 compared with the same period last year.
"There are (other) positives too," said Chin-Hong, the infectious disease specialist. "United as a group, communication across local health systems is outstanding and frequent, and there's lots of community spirit."
"My neighbours have been anxious, but citizens are trying hard to do the right thing and honour shelter-in-place," he added.
"Someone even posted a 'you should stay home' poster on my house " they don't know I'm on the front line as a health care worker. It's easy to feel mad, but to me that just attests to the fact that people are looking out for the community, at least in San Francisco."
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