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Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday called for home isolation for people age 65 and older and those with chronic diseases due to growing public health concerns about the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus.

As of Sunday afternoon, the U.S. death toll rose to 62, with the total number of confirmed cases surging to more than 3,200.

“We are doing so with our eyes wide open at the magnitude of what that means," said Newsom, speaking from the State Operations Center. About 5.3 million Californians are more than 65 years old, and the state is relying on 13 task forces to handle logistical concerns such as availability of food for this population.

Nearly a third of Palm Springs residents are over age 65, according to census data.

The announcement comes as nearly 335 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in California, as of March 15, with six deaths and more than 10,000 people in self-monitoring quarantine. The jump to 335 marks a 14% increase from the prior day. The state of California has conducted 8,316 tests at 19 labs, Newsom said.

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Of those confirmed cases, 14 are Riverside County residents, with 86% residing in the Coachella Valley. San Bernardino County reported its first case on Sunday. The first California case was confirmed at the end of January.

Newsom also called for the closure of bars, wineries, nightclubs, brewpubs and similar businesses across the state. Restaurants can stay open, he said, but they need to reduce maximum occupancy by half to create an atmosphere of social distancing.

Other states, including Illinois, have also ordered bars and restaurants to shut down for a period of time during the pandemic.

All but one of California's 25 largest school districts have shut down, Newsom said, and four out of every five students in the state are expected to be off school as of Monday.

Newsom said that there are an estimated 108,000 unsheltered homeless individuals in the state, and the government is beginning procurement of hotels and motels to help move people out of encampments with unsanitary conditions. The state government has obtained 450 trailers to be set up for additional housing.

Newsom also provided updates on the state's partnership with Verily Life Sciences, a company that is part of the Alphabet group, which also includes Google. He said the online portal is expected to go live within 24 to 48 hours of the announcement. It will allow people concerned that they might have contracted the virus to input their symptoms and other relevant information to determine that likelihood.

Then, those people will be directed to two new clinics.

“We expect that those two pilots — one in Santa Clara County, one in San Mateo County — will significantly expand to other parts of the state. We have a deep eye and consciousness on the Central Valley (and) other parts of the state," he said, adding that the goal of the partnership was to become "a national model."

He cautioned, though, that the pilot program is primarily meant as a way of reducing strain on the health care system by handling patients with mild symptoms. It cannot replace the care needed from doctors and hospitals for those who are seriously ill with COVID-19.

There are about 74,000 beds around the state at 416 different hospitals, with an additional surge capacity of about 9,000 beds, Newsom said. Of those, there are about 11,500 beds in intensive care units statewide, including those for both adult and children, he added.

There are 7,587 ventilators in California hospitals, and Newsom said the state recently purchased several hundred more.

Newsom said the state is trying to reopen additional hospitals to assist with an expected surge in cases. He declined to note which those are until deals are finalized.

"We have been in detailed negotiations, and we will be bringing online in the next few days significant assets to help increase the surge capacity of our health care delivery system," he said.

Newsom — who said he will not be tested unless he shows symptoms or there is an over-abundance of test kits available — struck a confident tone in his answers at the press conference, as he attempted to reassure Californians that the virus would eventually be contained.

“I’m not a fatalist," he said. "I’m not giving up.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for more developments.