California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced, Wednesday, that the state now has more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than New York state, where the coronavirus was once stronger than anywhere else. California's rise was sparked by a single-day record of new infections.
Newson says 12,807 new cases were confirmed, Tuesday, bringing the state's total to 413,576. The Governor says the high numbers can, in part, be explained away by the state's size, but the issue still needs to be taken seriously.
"We're a state the size of 21 states combined," Newsom said Wednesday. "So it's not surprising now in some respects, as we began to reopen key sectors of our economy, people continue to mix and people continue to come in close contact with others that may have contracted this disease, that our numbers will start to go up in total."
"Nonetheless, it's a sober reminder of why we are taking things as seriously as we are," he continued. "A sober reminder of why we put in that mask mandate here in the state of California, and a reminder of why we modified our opening."
Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, says approximately 45,000 of the state's 50,000 hospital beds are occupied.
[Via]
