The latest numbers / State parking lots closed / Scramble for medical equipmentThe latest numbers
Here are the latest numbers of COVID-19 cases in California. A tally by Johns Hopkins University shows the state now has more than 2,100 coronavirus cases and 40 deaths.
State parking lots closed
After large groups flocked to the coast and mountains over the weekend, pushing the boundaries of the state’s six-foot social distancing order, Governor Gavin Newsom responded, yesterday:
“And it's understandable people's desire their first weekend now, with the new stay at home order some folks testing and know that one cannot condemn that, but one can criticize it. We need to practice common sense and socially distance. And that means we need to help you help yourself a little bit more of those folks that were making their way out there to recognize when you're on a single track trail out in our beautiful wilderness. That single track means going up the mountain and down the mountain, which means it's almost impossible to socially distance when you're out there and you can't even find parking. at a beach, it suggests you're not going to practice social distancing. And it may suggest you may want to find a new location. But to make it easier for you, we're going to shut down all state parking lots, and that will go on effective immediately.”
Governor Newsom reiterated he wants to continue using social pressure, not police, to get people to maintain safe spacing.
Scramble for medical equipment
The state is scrambling to obtain protective gear for healthcare workers and first responders, reaching out worldwide and working with locals to ratchet up production as the coronavirus outbreak sweeps through the nation's most populous state. The governor says California is looking at ways of acquiring some 1 billion sets of gloves, along with hundreds of millions of gowns, surgical masks and face shields. Newsom says an expected three-month surge of cases will require some 50,000 additional hospital beds.
