About 85% of the state’s 39 million residents are affected. The measures were triggered after the intensive care unit capacity in Southern California and San Joaquin Valley fell below 15% — a new requirement issued by Governor Gavin Newsom last week. Six Bay Area governments decided not to wait for ICU capacity to fall below that threshold, placing almost 6 million people under lockdown.
“Our hospitals are already at the brink,” said CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen, a former Baltimore City health commissioner. “And they are just at the brink of becoming so overwhelmed that patients are going to get less than ideal care.”
The epidemic is still growing exponentially in the US. It took almost 100 days for the US to reach 1 million infections after the first cases were confirmed on January 20. But in the first five days of this month, from Tuesday to Saturday, 1,000,882 cases were reported, according to Johns Hopkins University.
YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED
Q: Is it possible to get Covid-19 from the Covid-19 vaccine?
WHAT’S IMPORTANT TODAY
Giuliani tests positive after crisscrossing the country
Giuliani was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital on Sunday, a source familiar confirmed to CNN.
The former mayor of New York has been crisscrossing the country, leading the President’s legal battle to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Giuliani has repeatedly disregarded public health guidelines, appearing maskless, shaking hands, hugging and taking pictures with people while not wearing a mask.
Europe’s social safety net is considered the gold standard. Coronavirus has exposed its holes
Gupta: Science cannot rescue us from ourselves
How to do effective contact tracing in immigrant communities
ON OUR RADAR
- Britain’s health care providers are gearing up to start giving out the first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, less than a week after the UK became the first Western nation to approve a Covid-19 shot.
- A 14-day quarantine is still best before seeing loved ones for the holidays, according to CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen.
- A few hours of flu-like symptoms were “absolutely” worth it for this woman who took part in the Covid-19 vaccine trial.
- A 104-year-old World War II veteran from Alabama has survived Covid-19.
- Some hospitals are stocking enough iPads to rival a modest Apple store. But the reason for this reflects a grim reality: They’re being used to connect Covid-19 patients with their families — sometimes for the last conversation they’ll ever have.
- NBA players will be prohibited from going to bars or clubs, according to new Covid-19 safety protocols.
- The Navajo Nation has extended its lockdown for three more weeks.
TOP TIPS
How to keep hope in bleak circumstances
For many, that means acknowledging how widespread and deadly the pandemic is, while also believing that vaccines will eventually be widely available and we will get through it.
One of the best ways to seek perspectives, Collins explained, is by grounding yourself in reading about past crises, and contextualizing this moment as just part of the arc of a longer lifetime.
TODAY’S PODCAST
“The quicker you get the overwhelming majority of people vaccinated, the quicker you’re gonna have an umbrella of herd immunity.” — Dr. Anthony Fauci
You may also like
-
UK coronavirus variant has been reported in 86 countries, WHO says
-
NASA technology can help save whale sharks says Australian marine biologist and ECOCEAN founder, Brad Norman
-
California Twentynine Palms: Explosives are missing from the nation’s largest Marine Corps base and an investigation is underway
-
Trump unhappy with his impeachment attorney’s performance, sources say
-
Lunar New Year 2021: Ushering in the Year of the Ox