California deaths spur pleas to stay home for Christmas

California deaths spur pleas to stay home for Christmas

SeattlePI.com

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — California's deadly Christmas was marked by pleas to stay away from holiday gatherings outside the home and indoor church services in what could be a make-or-break effort to curb a coronavirus surge that already has filled some hospitals well beyond normal capacity.

Festive gatherings with friends and family might be tempting after a year that has seen the pandemic take at least 23,635 lives and ravage the economy as much of the state remained under a stay-at-home order that has closed nonessential businesses.

But officials repeated warnings that Thanksgiving gatherings where people didn't wear masks or observe social distancing have resulted in a surge and begged people to forego Yule and New Year's festivities.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said hospitals are under “unprecedented pressure" and if current trends continue the number of those hospitalized because of the virus could double in 30 days.

“We could have a surge on top of surge on top of a surge in January and February," Newsom said in a social media video posting Thursday. “I fear that but we’re not victims to that if we change our behaviors.”

Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have mounted exponentially in recent weeks and are breaking new records. On Christmas Eve, California became the first state in the nation to exceed 2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The first COVID-19 case in California was confirmed Jan. 25. It took 292 days to get to 1 million infections on Nov. 11. Just 44 days later, the number topped 2 million.

The crisis is straining the state’s medical system well beyond its normal capacity, prompting hospitals to treat patients in tents, offices and auditoriums.

As of Thursday, California had record numbers of COVID-19 patients in the hospital and in ICUs,...

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