Due to the surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday said the state ordered 5,000 additional body bags and 60 refrigerated trucks to deal with the increase in deaths.
California recorded 32,326 new COVID-19 cases and 142 deaths on Tuesday, and its 14-day average positivity rate is 10.7 percent; two weeks ago, the rate was 6.9 percent. This is the "most intense" surge since the beginning of the pandemic, Newsom said.
Over the last week, California has reported an average of 163 deaths a day from COVID-19, four times the daily average a month ago. To handle the increase in deaths, the state recently bought 5,000 body bags to deliver to Inyo, San Diego, and Los Angeles counties, where there are fewer than 100 intensive care unit beds available for the county's 10 million residents. Statewide, ICU capacity is at 5.7 percent.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There are 60 53-foot refrigerated storage units on standby across California, should hospitals and counties need extra room outside of morgues for bodies. "This is a deadly disease and we need to be mindful of where we are," Newsom said. "We are not at the finish line yet." A health-care worker in Los Angeles County was the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the state on Monday, and officials said by Wednesday, 33 hospitals in California should have doses of the vaccine.
-
‘It’s not normal for parents to raise their children in isolation’instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Is a market crash around the corner?Talking Points Observers see echoes of 1929
-
Frankenstein is alive, the Alabama prison system is exposed and Rose Byrne goes full Crazy Mom in October moviesthe week recommends This month’s new releases include ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘The Alabama Solution’ and ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
