State Officials Announce Latest COVID-19 Facts
Date: January 8, 2021
Number: NR21-009
Contact: CDPHpress@cdph.ca.gov
SACRAMENTO ā Today, the California
Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced the most recent statistics on
COVID-19, including data on intensive
care unit (ICU) capacity across the state. Based on ICU data, four regions, San Joaquin Valley, Southern California, Greater
Sacramento and the Bay Area continue under the Regional Stay at Home Order.
Once a regionās four-week ICU projection shows a capacity of greater than or
equal to 15%, the order will be lifted for that area. At this time, the Bay
Area remains under the Regional Stay at Home Order. The state will assess the
regionās ICU projections in the coming days and announce a formal decision on
whether Bay Area meets criteria to exit the order.
Current Available ICU Capacity by Region
- Bay Area: 3.0%
- Greater Sacramento: 6.4%
- Northern California: 27.5%
- San Joaquin Valley: 0.0%
- Southern California: 0.0%
Current Status of Regional Stay at Home Order in Affected Regions
- San Joaquin Valley: Remains under order; four-week ICU capacity projections do not meet criteria to exit order.
- Southern California: Remains under order; four-week ICU capacity projections do not meet criteria to exit order.
- Greater Sacramento: Remains under order; four-week ICU capacity projections do not meet criteria to exit order.
- Bay Area: Remains under order; The region's four-week ICU projections will be assessed in the coming days.
ICU capacity projections for regions that are eligible to exit the order are calculated daily based on four factors: current estimated regional ICU capacity available, measure of current community transmission, current regional case rates and the proportion of ICU cases being admitted. Decreasing community transmission and increasing the health system capacity can help a region's projected ICU capacity so they can exit the order.
Read the full Regional Stay Home Order, Supplement to the Order, and frequently asked questions.
Due to high rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations impacting the health care system, California is also under a Limited Stay at Home Order. The order applies to all counties that are currently under the Regional Stay at Home Order and those in Tier One (Purple) of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The Limited Stay at Home Order will expire after the Regional Stay At Home Order has been terminated in all regions of the state.
Hospital Surge Order
One county, Ventura, has been added to the list of counties under a hospital surge order.
On January 5, CDPH issued a public health order to reduce pressure on strained hospital systems. To preserve services for the sickest patients, the hospital surge order requires some non-essential and non-life-threatening surgeries to be delayed in counties with 10% or less of ICU capacity under the Regional Stay at Home Order where the regional ICU capacity is at 0%. Examples of procedures that may be delayed include carpal tunnel release and non-urgent spine surgeries. Surgeries for patients who have serious and urgent medical conditions will continue. Examples of procedures that will continue include serious cancer removal and necessary heart surgeries. The order will remain in effect for at least three weeks and will continue until rescinded.
The order requires hospitals statewide to accept patient transfers from facilities that have implemented contingency or crisis care guidelines as long as those transfers can be done capably and safely. On December 28, 2020 CDPH provided guidance to health care facilities on implementing the Crisis Care Continuum Guidelines issued in June 2020.
Counties Currently Impacted by the Hospital Surge Order:
San Joaquin Valley: Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus
Southern California: Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura
Statewide COVID-19 Data as of Today
- California has 2,568,641 confirmed cases to date. Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.
- There were 50,030 newly recorded confirmed cases Thursday.
- There have been 35,027,330 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 266,975 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.
- As case numbers continue to rise in California, the total number of individuals who will have serious outcomes will also increase. There have been 28,538 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
- As of January 8, a total of 652,128 vaccine doses have been administered statewide. As of January 8, a total of 2,060,800 vaccine doses, which includes the first and second dose, have been shipped to local health departments and health care systems that have facilities in multiple counties.
- The 7-day positivity rate is 14.0% and the 14-day positivity rate is 13.3%.
Tracking COVID-19 in California
State Dashboard ā Daily COVID-19 data
County Map ā Local data, including tier status and ICU capacity
Data and Tools ā Models and dashboards for researchers, scientists and the public
Blueprint for a Safer Economy ā Data for establishing tier status
ADDITIONAL DATA & UPDATES
Updated Travel Advisory
CDPH has issued an updated travel advisory. Except in connection with essential travel, Californians should avoid non-essential travel to any part of California more than 120 miles from one's place of residence, or to other states or countries. Avoiding travel reduces the risk of virus transmission, including by reducing the risk that new sources of infection and, potentially, new virus strains will be introduced to California. Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. Non-essential travelers from other states or countries are strongly discouraged from entering California and should adhere to the state's self-quarantine procedures for 10 days
Safe Schools for All Plan
Governor Newsom released his Californiaās Safe Schools for All plan, Californiaās framework to support schools to continue operating safely in person and to expand the number of schools safely resuming in-person instruction.
Vaccinate All 58
The COVID-19 vaccination is one of the most important tools to end the pandemic. California will distribute a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine in a fair way to everyone who wants it in all 58 counties. Visit the Vaccinate All 58 webpage.
Health Care Workers
As of January 7, local
health departments have reported 73,862 confirmed positive cases in health care
workers and 276 deaths statewide.
Health Equity
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted existing inequities in health that are the result of structural racism and poverty, and the disproportionate prevalence of underlying conditions such as asthma and heart disease among Latinos and African Americans. California is committed to understanding these inequities to help ensure the best health outcomes for all Californians. View COVID-19 Race & Ethnicity Data and Cases and Deaths by Age Group. Visit the new Health Equity Dashboard.
Testing Turnaround Time
The testing turnaround time dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. During the week of December 27 to January 2, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.4 days. During this same time period, 60% of patients received test results in one day and 87% received them within two days.
Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)
As of January 4, 161 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) have been reported statewide. MIS-C is a rare inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 that can damage multiple organ systems. MIS-C can require hospitalization and be life threatening.
Your Actions Save Lives
Protect yourself, family, friends and your community by following these prevention measures:
- If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches), call your health care provider.
- If you believe you have been exposed, get tested. Free, confidential testing is available statewide.
- Stay home except for essential activities and follow local public health guidance.
- Keep interactions to people who live in your household.
- Wear a cloth face mask when out in public.
- Avoid non-essential travel and stay close to home; self-quarantine for 10 days after arrival if you leave the state.
- Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick and stay home from work, school or other people if you feel ill.
- Add your phone to the fight by signing up for COVID-19 exposure notifications from CA Notify.
- Answer the call if a contact tracer from the CA COVID Team or local health department tries to connect.