Coronavirus: California officials alarmed by rate of infection
- Despite severe ‘shelter in place’ and business-closing orders, state now confirms more than 3,200 cases, a rise of nearly 22 per cent in 24 hours
- Health officials fear that trend puts California on a path similar to New York, the country’s worst-hit state
Confirmed cases of coronavirus in California swelled to 3,894 on Thursday, up from 2,662 – alarming state officials who say that the rate of infection is now on par with that of New York, the worst-hit state in the US.
At this rate, they added, cases could overwhelm hospitals in California’s largest cities in a matter of weeks.
“I suspect that it will get worse in California. I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t. The writing is on the wall,” Dr Peter Chin-Hong, professor of medicine and an infectious disease specialist at the University of California San Francisco, said on Thursday.
“Hopefully we won’t see the kind of surge cases they’re seeing in New York right now where they’re running out of ventilators and ICU beds and having to open up stadiums and dormitories to house the ill,” he added.
By Thursday morning, with more than 1,200 additional cases confirmed, it appeared that the officials’ worst fears were being realised. The case numbers increased at a rate of more than 46 per cent, and if the trend continues, said San Francisco Mayor London Breed, her city will require at least 5,000 more hospital beds as well as 1,500 more ventilators.
In Los Angeles, the country’s second largest city, the situation was even more desperate.
