COVID-19 : 
SACRAMENTO – California has passed 25,000 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began on Thursday, the third state to do so after New York and Texas, health officials said.
The grim milestone comes as the country’s most populous state faces a surge in COVID-19 infections which has hospitals at full capacity and forces nurses and doctors to treat more patients than they do. habit. California has also confirmed the second reported case in the United States of a new strain of the coronavirus that appears to be more contagious.
The State Department of Public Health said hospitals in Southern California and the San Joaquin Agricultural Valley, which together make up the vast majority of the state’s 40 million people, do not have an intensive care unit to treat patients with COVID-19.
Hospitals welcome patients in hallways, conference rooms, cafeteria and gift shops. Makeshift hospitals are being prepared in tents, stadiums and schools.
California was the third state to have 25,000 deaths, behind New York, which has nearly 38,000, and Texas, which has more than 27,000, according to a count from Johns Hopkins University.
California reported its first case of COVID-19 in late January. The 10,000th death from the virus was recorded in August.
This week, Los Angeles County took a “terrible step,” with an additional 274 deaths in 24 hours for a record 10,056 deaths, said Dr Barbara Ferrer, county health director. The country’s most populous county has recorded about 40% of deaths from the California virus.
Most states are under recently extended restrictions that have shut down or reduced the capacity of businesses, and people are urged to stay in their homes as much as possible to try to slow the spread of the deadly virus.
In addition, California became the second state after Colorado to report the discovery of a new strain of the virus that was first detected in the UK.
Governor Polis and state health officials have announced Colorado’s first case of variant B.1.1.7 of COVID-19, the same variant discovered in the UK.
The patient, who developed symptoms on Dec. 27, is a 30-year-old man from San Diego County with no travel history, which could indicate someone else had already introduced the new strain to the state, the authorities said.
It is common for viruses to undergo minor changes as they reproduce and travel through a population. Scientists have found no evidence that the variant is more deadly or causes more severe disease, and they believe that the vaccines given now will be effective against it. But the fear is that the mutations at some point will be large enough to defeat vaccines.
In addition, a faster spreading virus could flood hospitals with critically ill patients.
In Los Angeles County, more than one in 4 COVID-19 patients sent to hospitals end up in intensive care units, according to county figures. The struggle to find places for the most seriously ill means that “it is not only the virus that proves to be fatal, but also the nightmarish scenario of Angelenos who die because they cannot get adequate care in overwhelmed ICUs, ”Ferrer said. Wednesday.
According to public health authorities, this new variant of the virus is more contagious. However, the vaccine would also be effective in immunizing this new strain.
The cases have prompted a slew of questions about how the variant of the virus circulating in England reached the United States and if it is too late to stop it now; leading experts say it’s probably already spreading elsewhere.
Public health officials have also started warning against stricter enforcement of stay-at-home orders that aim to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by preventing people from gathering outside in large numbers. from their homes.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said hospitalizations and deaths related to Christmas gatherings could occur in two to three weeks due to the infection lag, and any New Years gathering could start to overwhelm them. hospitals. at the end of January with a third wave of the virus.
“If you meet and associate with people outside of your home, medical care may not be available when needed for a few weeks,” Garcetti said. “We will feel it in our homes, in our intensive care units and in our morgues.”
He said police will enforce public health rules banning large gatherings and the city shut down public services on Tuesday at a “house with recurring parties” in the Hollywood Hills.
Hours after the new variant of COVID-19 was detected on Wednesday, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria signed an executive order requiring stricter enforcement of local and state public health rules.
“People are late in treating the disease after family and friends gatherings,” experts warn.
Gloria said she asked the city police and prosecutor to pursue fines “and potentially other enforcement measures” against those who defy health orders.
Gloria praised residents who play by the rules, stay home as much as possible and wear masks outside.
“Many have sacrificed their social life for the greater good. Others have treated it with an unhealthy level of apathy when their neighbors died, ”the official added.
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