SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County has recorded 955 coronavirus-related deaths and 71,062 cases as of Thursday. The grim milestone comes as public health officials are concerned about a surge in cases related to holiday travel to appear within two weeks.
Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye and other public health officials with Sacramento County hosted and answered community questions during a virtual meeting Thursday.
Kasirye said she has growing concerns about the holiday surge.
“We did try to ask people to stay home and just make it virtual this year but we are aware that there are some people who did travel,” Dr. Kasirye said. “So, we are that critical point where we’re probably going to start an impact from those gatherings.”
The situation is even direr in other parts of the state. Los Angeles County hospitals are reaching a breaking point. Residents there are facing hours-long waits for ambulances and have been told by public health officials only to call 911 in an absolute emergency.
More than 580 people died of coronavirus in California on Wednesday, according to the latest state data. Another 36,000 tested positive. Funeral homes have reported they are running out of space.
Walt Scheffer runs owns a Lodi funeral home.
“We are full we've had to create additional storage racks and things of that nature just to be able to accommodate and so far we are doing OK but it came pretty close yesterday,” Scheffer said.
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) has enacted its mass casualty plan. Cal OES deployed 88 mobile morgues to counties across the state. These are refrigerated semi-truck trailers with storage units for bodies.
Every region in California with the exception of Northern California remains under a stay-at-home order.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) updated its travel advisory Thursday. It urges Californians to stay within 120 miles of home and not to leave the state.
Medical experts say many of these orders haven’t proved effective.
“The measures will only work if people are compliant with them,” Dr. Kohli said. “And compliance and enforcement unfortunately is just not something we have the bandwidth for.”
In more positive news, hundreds of thousands of hospital workers and elderly have been or are in line to become vaccinated in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom says the process is moving too slowly. Top health officials say the state is working to move the process along faster.
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