Infection and hospitalization rates fall in California, but vaccine rolls hit – NBC Los Angeles

After a deadly wave of coronavirus for months, California is beginning to see rates of infection and hospitalization drop, even as the state struggles to push through a chaotic vaccination program and warns people to stay on guard.

The number of new virus cases reported on Tuesday was just over 12,000, the lowest daily figure since November. In early January, daily counts were routinely in excess of 40,000.

Hospital capacity is rising after falling so low in December that overflowing facilities spoke of rationing. If current trends continue, the number of COVID-19 hospital patients will halve in early March, Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.

The Biden Administration said it will increase the distribution of vaccines and use pharmacies directly. Patrick Healy reported on NBC4 News on Tuesday, February 2, 2021.

Another benchmark is the capacity of intensive care units. Most counties received home stay orders in December. Southern California, the most populous and most affected of five state-designated regions, ran out of regular ICU beds and remained at 0% capacity until January.

But in just over three weeks, the number of patients with ICUs across the state has dropped from a record nearly 4,900 to about 3,800 and all state home orders have been withdrawn.

The state projects that in four weeks the Southern California region could see its ICU capacity reach 44%.

California has recorded more than 41,000 deaths, ranking just behind New York between states, but even that rate may be starting to fall. After averaging 544 daily deaths last week, the last three daily counts have averaged 371.

Still, Ghaly said COVID-19 case rates “have gone down, but they’re not down.”

The Southern California championship celebrations for the World Series victory for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the NBA crown for the Lakers last fall marked the beginning of the climb, which peaked in January earlier. of beginning a sharp decline.

“The possibility of another increase in California is real” if people leave the guard or if virus mutations are frequent, Ghaly said.

He urged people not to gather for big Super Bowl celebrations on Sunday, which could turn into “super-broadcasters” events.

“Try to share as little as possible, save the spirits,” he quipped. “Don’t be fooled.”

The state is also taking a number of steps to prepare for the possibility of a fourth wave. It maintains an order that speeds up the transfer of patients between medical centers, continues to incorporate outpatients and helps hospitals make sure they have enough oxygen for patients with respiratory illness, Ghaly said.

Meanwhile, the state of nearly 40 million residents is working to smooth out a rugged deployment of COVID-19 vaccines that was marked by low doses and different county standards for who could receive them immediately.

Ghaly said the state has administered more than 3.5 million doses of vaccine, significantly increasing the daily number of shots he made a few weeks ago, Ghaly said.

The Biden administration has pledged to increase delivery and on Tuesday, CVS pharmacies announced that next week it would begin inoculating people in some California stores.

But California is still lagging behind in vaccination in other U.S. states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and desperate residents report ongoing problems trying to schedule an appointment while state officials try to work out a system. that protects the most vulnerable.

Officials made the main announcement last week that the state was creating a new centralized vaccine distribution system run by Blue Shield, the insurance giant. But a letter of intent signed by the state and the company released Monday shows that program-specific features are still being developed, even when state officials had said they expected to move into the new system in mid-February.

The state has authorized the inoculation of health workers, teachers, food and agriculture workers, other first responders, and people 65 and older. In a surprise move last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state would move to an age-based system, outraging, among others, people with disabilities who had previously been on the line.

The Newsom administration “renounces the promise to ensure our community is safe,” said Judy Mark, president of Disability Voices United.

“What they say is that they are willing to protect all people and caregivers around people with disabilities, but not the same ones,” he said.

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Amy Taxin in Orange County, Janie Har in San Francisco and Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento contributed to this report.