California prepares for coronavirus surge in week ahead

California prepares for coronavirus surge in week ahead

SeattlePI.com

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Californians endured a weekend of stepped-up restrictions aimed at keeping them home as much as possible while hospitals and health officials scrambled Sunday to ready themselves for a week that could see the feared dramatic surge in coronavirus cases.

Testing among the state's 40 million residents has stepped up significantly after a slow start and officials have warned the increase will bring with it a rapidly expanding number of cases. A tally by Johns Hopkins University found more than 5,700 cases statewide and more than 120 deaths.

In Southern California, people were kept off beaches and hiking trails that normally would have been swamped with visitors during this sunny weekend. A stay-at-home order restricts people to all but essential outside activities such as buying food and including only outdoor exercise such as walking or running near home that doesn't put them within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of another person.

“We need all Angelenos to respect these orders, so we can slow the spread of COVID-19,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a tweet. “Do your part. Your city is counting on you. Lives depend on us staying safer at home.”

The nearly 650 cases reported by Santa Clara County officials on Sunday are more than double than the county had last week. Twenty-five people have died of COVID-19 in the county.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

Senior homes in Burbank and Yucaipa reported three deaths this weekend in potential outbreaks.

Vernon Robinson, a resident of the Alameda Care Center in Burbank,...

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