To read the most updated version of this story, click here.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom requested a hospital ship from the federal government Thursday afternoon, citing a shocking projection from state officials.

Newsom’s request said 56 percent of California’s population, a whopping 25.5 million people, would be infected over an eight-week period. A spokesperson for the governor later clarified the projection included zero mitigation efforts such as the Bay Area’s shutdown of non-essential businesses to decrease contact between residents.

Newsom’s letter to President Trump cited 126 new cases statewide in the last 24 hours, an increase of 21 percent, and said the case rate has been doubling every four days.

The letter requested that the U.S. Navy work with California’s Office of Emergency Services to send the USNS Mercy Hospital Ship to the port of Los Angeles through Sept. 1 of this year.

Newsom’s huge projection of spread may seem outlandish. According to the most recent state data available, California has nearly 40 million residents, and a 56 percent infection rate would mean 22.4 million people will contract coronavirus during that time.

But the spread projection tracks with others from mathematical modelers studying the outbreak, according to Arthur Reingold, head of epidemiology and biostatistics at UC Berkeley.

“Is it plausible? Is it possible? Yes. Should we be planning for the worst while hoping for the best? I think that’s what the governor is trying to do,” Reingold said.

“We need to plan for something as dire as that in terms of hospital beds, testing, ventilator, to try and convince people that this is a serious problem.”

Reingold pointed out that that figure represents the number of people infected, not the number who may show symptoms or require a hospital visit.

“If we’re talking about the population that will get infected, some proportion of that will not get sick and a lot of those who do get sick will be with a mild, self-limited illness,” he said.

Even recognizing that projection does not require 25.5 million hospital beds, or anywhere close to that many. Still, if just a fraction of that projection become seriously ill, “that is a really big number,” Reingold said.

The Bay Area has been an epicenter for the outbreak in America, anchored by 189 total cases in Santa Clara County, including six deaths.

Related Articles Coronavirus cases, deaths continue to decline as flu season begins

Coronavirus glossary: Terms that became part of our daily dialogue in the past 6 months

Latest line: A good week for Connerly, bad one for Daimler

Mountain View’s coronavirus economy: Tech gives, tech takes away

Opinion: Prop. 14 provides health, economic benefits for California Due to contagion concerns on the ship’s tight quarters, the ship may not be used to treat patients with the coronavirus. Instead, it may be a facility to treat patients will many other medical needs.

“This resource will help decompress the health care delivery system to allow the Los Angeles region to ensure that it has the ability to address critical acute care needs, such as heart attacks and strokes or vehicle accidents, in addition to the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases,” the letter read.