A medical professional administers a coronavirus (covid-19) test at a drive thru testing location conducted by staffers from University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF) in the parking lot of the Bolinas Fire Department April 20, 2020 in Bolinas, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) California saw the biggest jump in new COVID-19 cases in a single day on April 21.
The Los Angeles Daily News reported that were more than 2,300 new cases in the state — a 7.3% increase April 19 to April 20 — bringing the total number of cases to 34,146, as of this writing. The death toll also saw an increase of 5% over the same timeframe, putting the total death toll at 1,237.
The sharp increase was partly because of a backlog of tests at a Los Angeles laboratory; at least 880 of the new cases came from that backlog.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, cited the aforementioned increases in a press briefing as reason to rebuff calls to lift the state’s shelter-in-place order.
“I caution those, including local elected officials, that practicing physical distancing has worked to keep those numbers relatively modest in terms of growth,” he said. “But if we pull back too quickly, those numbers will go through the roof.”
Newsom added: “If we’re ultimately going to come back economically, the worst mistake we can make is making a precipitous decision based on politics and frustration that puts people’s lives at risk and ultimately sets back the cause of economic growth and economic recovery.”
Counties including San Luis Obispo (SLO) County have sent requests to Newsom to start re-opening their respective economies.
“We have asked our residents to take these desperate measures because of the unique risks posed to the broader community by this virus so that we can flatten the curve and allow our healthcare capacity to catch up,” SLO officials wrote to Newsom on April 20. “Now we need to move to the next phase, which is economic recovery.”
Newsom said that counties can start to ease their shelter-in-place orders so long as they have data to back their decisions. He added that the state could intervene if counties start getting too aggressive in relaxing such measures.
“If they get a little further from our guidance, we’ll try to get them to pull back,” Newsom said.
Los Angeles County Public Officials announced on April 21 that there were 1,400 new cases and 46 new deaths, bringing the county totals to 15,140 and 663, respectively.
County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said that the county has seen “little rises and little dips [in new cases], and this may be a good sign for us.”
However, she cautioned that “in order for us to be able to safely relax the order, we need to make sure we do this in a way that doesn’t result in a surge of hospitalizations and deaths. We can’t open safely until we protect those who are most vulnerable.”
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