Coronavirus updates: Bay Area hospitalizations hit lowest point since data was available

A shopper wears a mask and shield while shopping. Pedestrians wear masks to protect themselves from the COVID-19 coronavirus in San FranciscoÕs Chinatown neighborhood in San Francisco, Calif. on July 28, 2020. A shopper wears a mask and shield while shopping. Pedestrians wear masks to protect themselves from the COVID-19 coronavirus in San FranciscoÕs Chinatown neighborhood in San Francisco, Calif. on July 28, 2020. Photo: Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE Photo: Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE Image 1 of / 48 Caption Close Coronavirus updates: Bay Area hospitalizations hit lowest point since data was available 1 / 48 Back to Gallery

LATEST April 27, 5:45 p.m. The number of coronavirus patients in Bay Area hospitals hit its lowest mark since the state started recording county-by-county hospitalization data.

Here are the previous seven days' worth of data reflecting the total number of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients hospitalized across the nine counties that comprise the San Francisco Bay Area:

- Monday, April 20: 619 (2.1 percent increase from previous day)

- Tuesday, April 21: 640 (3.4 percent increase from previous day)

- Wednesday, April 22: 629 (1.7 percent decrease from previous day)

- Thursday, April 23: 659 (4.8 increase from previous day)

- Friday, April 24: 610 (7.4 percent decrease from previous day)

- Saturday, April 25: 606 (0.6 percent decrease from previous day)

- Sunday, April 26: 584 (3.6 percent decrease from previous day)

For reference, April 7 marked the day of the most reported hospitalizations with 831. Data was first made available on April 1, and the region had 758 hospitalizations that day.

April 27, 5:20 p.m. Bay Area counties announced new coronavirus cases on Monday; as other counties report their latest numbers, the list below will be updated throughout the day.

— San Francisco County announced one additional death and 16 new cases to increase its death toll to 23 and total case count to 1,424.

— San Mateo County reported 61 new cases, bringing its total to 1,080. The death toll remains 41.

— Alameda County reported 30 new cases, bringing its total to 1,498. The death toll remains 52.

— Contra Costa County reported three new cases, bringing its total to 820. The death toll remains 25.

— Santa Clara County reported 23 new cases and three new deaths, increasing the case count to 2,105 and the death toll to 103.

— Napa County reported four new cases, bringing its total to 64. The death toll remains two.

— Marin County reported one new case, bringing its total to 224. The death toll remains 12.

— Solano County reported 27 new cases, bringing its total to 226. The death toll remains four.

— Sonoma County reported two new cases, bringing its total to 220. The death toll remains two.

April 27, 3:40 p.m. A study of COVID-19 outbreaks in China earlier this year found that the virus is spread far more easily indoors than outdoors. The findings raise the possibility that when authorities begin to relax shelter-in-place restrictions, some services — for example, restaurants or gyms — could resume at first as outdoor venues, assuming physical distancing measures were maintained.

For the study, which is not peer-reviewed, researchers from three universities identified 318 COVID-19 outbreaks involving three or more people between Jan. 4 and Feb. 11. The large majority of the outbreaks occurred at home (79.9%). Strikingly, only one instance of outdoor transmission was found “among our 7,324 identified cases in China with sufficient descriptions.”

Read the entire story by Mike Moffitt here.

April 27, 2:50 p.m. White House officials released details on a national plan to ramp up coronavirus testing across the country during a Rose Garden press conference Monday.

Dr. Deborah Birx and Admiral Brett Giroir unveiled the three-stage plan that has eight total steps. Checkmarks were inserted after the first seven steps, indicating the administration believes it has completed those steps.

Here's an overview of the plan:

Stage 1: Launch

Step 1: Build the foundation for diagnostic testing. Step 2: Mobilize the private sector to develop tests. Step 3: Issue Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for tests. Step 4: Galvanize commercial and research laboratories and professional associations to ramp up testing capacity. Step 5: Facilitate State efforts to access and utilize all available testing capacity.

Stage 2: Scale

Step 6: Identify and expand public and private-sector testing infrastructure. Step 7: Strengthen testing supply chain.

Stage 3: Support Opening Up Again

Step 8: Coordinate with governors to support testing plans and rapid response programs.

April 27, 2:25 p.m. In a Monday press conference, Mayor Breed corrected remarks she made on Friday regarding a PPE shipment she had said was confiscated by FEMA and redirected to another location.

Breed said the third-party company fulfilling the order had given city officials that information, but FEMA since reached out to deny the claim.

“We found out when the director of FEMA here reached out [that] not only was this not true, but [FEMA] are now investigating the third party that we were working with to ensure that accurate information is provided. Providing incorrect information is not only irresponsible, it’s also dangerous in light of what we are all dealing with.”

Breed apologized to FEMA, but also added that the city is still having difficulties securing PPE equipment.

SFPD Chief Bill Scott also gave an update on crime in the city over the weekend, noting that broadly there has been a decline in violent crime (19% drop), property crime (4% drop) and part I serious crimes (23% drop) over the week previous.

There has been a slight uptick in burglaries, and the SFPD is continuing to work with the District Attorney’s office on those cases, he added. To date, SFPD has issued 17 citations — eight to businesses and nine to individuals — and formally warned 78 others for violating shelter-in-place orders.

“Enforcement has been an option of last resort,” he said, “and we’ve mainly gotten compliance.”

April 27, 1:15 p.m. Starting Tuesday at 6 a.m., a portion of John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park and John F. Shelley Drive in John McLaren Park will be closed to vehicles 24 hours a day throughout the duration of San Francisco’s stay-at-home order, which is being extended through May, S.F. Mayor London Breed announced Monday.

— JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park will be closed to vehicular traffic from Kezar Drive to Transverse Drive; it's the same closure that happens every Sunday.

— The entire Shelley Drive loop in McLaren Park will be cut off to traffic.

The new closure is part of the Slow Streets program announced last week on select streets. Find a map of all closed streets at sfmta.com.

“We know that people need to go outside, whether to get exercise or just clear their head, and closing JFK and Shelley Drive to cars will make it easier for people who choose to leave their home to stay six feet apart from others,” Mayor Breed said in a statement. “That said, we all need to work together to keep slowing the spread of COVID-19 in our community. Everyone must continue to stay home as much as possible and follow all public health recommendations.”

Read the full story on the JFK Drive closure by SFGATE Digital Editor Amy Graff.

April 27, 1 p.m. California Gov. Gavin Newsom provided an update on the state's coronavirus situation Monday and said there are now 43,464 confirmed positive cases with 3,372 patients hospitalized. Of those, 1,185 are in intensive care units.

Hospitalizations increased 1.4% over the past 24 hours and ICU patients remained flat. He said over the weekend, the state saw a "modest decline" in numbers compared to last week's peak, but he said this with caution and encouraged residents to continue to follow the shelter-in-place order with vigilance. "Your actions impact the lives of others," he said. "Stay home. Practice physical distancing."

Since March 15, the state has distributed $4.5 billion in unemployment insurance claims. In the last week alone, 15 million calls requesting insurance were made. To support the number of calls, 600 new employees were added to the Employment Development Department, on top of the 1,340 people already deployed. A new chat box is being added to the website to reduce the call volume.

April 27, 11:45 a.m. In a joint statement released Monday morning, six Bay Area counties said their current shelter-in-place orders will be extended and revised mandates will be issued shortly.

The counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara, as well as the City of Berkeley, all have orders set to expire on May 3. The counties said the extension will last through May. Last week Solano County pushed its order to May 17.

"The Health Officers of these seven jurisdictions have been working closely together in leading a unified, regional approach, to protect the health and safety of our residents," the statement said. "Details regarding this next phase will be shared later in the week, along with the updated order."

Health officers from each jurisdiction will also release a set of broad indicators that will be used to track progress in preparedness and response to COVID-19, in alignment with the framework being used by the State of California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom previously shared in press conferences six indicators the state is monitoring to guide its decision to modify the stay-at-home order.

Those include increased testing and contact tracing; systems for protecting the most vulnerable populations such as seniors; ensuring hospitals are equipped to handle a patient surge; engaging research partners to develop therapeutics; and issuing new social distancing guidelines for businesses, schools and childcare facilities.

Read more about the six indicators in this SFGATE story by digital editor Amy Graff.

April 27, 11:20 a.m. Alameda County opened a new drive-thru coronavirus testing site Monday at the Alameda County Fairgrounds for residents in Livermore, Pleasanton and Dublin.

In order to be tested individuals must meet the following criteria:

— Fever above 100 degrees

— Shortness of breath or other respiratory symptoms

— Recent exposure to confirmed or suspected coronavirus

— Other chronic diseases or conditions, such as blood disorders, kidney or liver disease, diabetes, heart, lung or neurological disease, and compromised immune system

— Over the age of 65

— Homeless

— Pregnant or recently pregnant

Test results may take up to 72 hours but may be available sooner.

For more information on the new testing site, click here, and for a complete list of testing sites in Alameda County, visit acdph.org.

April 27, 10 a.m. UCSF launched an effort over the weekend to offer free, voluntary COVID-19 testing to every resident in a densely populated section of the Mission District, a neighborhood with among the highest number of coronavirus cases in San Francisco.

UCSF had tested 1,734 individuals in the neighborhood as of Monday morning and that number is growing.

The study is meant to reveal the invisible spread of the virus and help inform future testing efforts in other communities.

“All our public health decisions, including when it will be possible to relax regional and statewide shelter-in-place orders, are driven by rough assumptions about how this virus behaves based on very limited data,” said Dr. Bryan Greenhouse, an associate professor of medicine at UCSF, in a statement.

Read the full story by SFGATE digital editor Amy Graff.

April 27, 7:40 a.m. Last week, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the city's shelter-in-place order would "very likely" be extended. The mandate is set to expire on May 3 and will likely be extended this week.

Solano County was the first Bay Area county to extend its order to May 17 and other Bay Area counties are expected to follow.

April 27, 7:35 a.m. Eight new coronavirus deaths were reported in the Bay Area on Saturday and Sunday.

Four deaths were reported in Alameda County, two in Contra Costa County and two in Santa Clara County. The state of California reached 1,723 deaths in all as of Monday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

New coronavirus cases were reported in counties throughout the greater Bay Area. San Mateo was the fourth Bay Area county to cross the 1,000 case threshold.

-- Alameda County saw the largest increase in additional cases with 103 reported, bringing its total to 1,468.

-- San Francisco County reported 68 cases to increase its total to 1,408.

-- Santa Clara County reported 66 cases to increase its total to 2,084.

-- San Mateo County reported 30 cases to increase its total to 1,019.

-- Contra Costa County reported 31 cases to increase its total to 817.

-- Marin County reported 11 cases to increase its total to 223.

-- Monterey County reported 14 cases to increase its total to 183.

-- Santa Cruz County reported five cases to increase its total to 120.

-- Sonoma County reported one additional case to increase its total to 218.

Cumulative cases in the greater Bay Area (due to limited testing these numbers reflect only a small portion of likely cases):

ALAMEDA COUNTY: 1,498 confirmed cases, 52 deaths

For more information on Alameda County cases, visit the public health department website.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: 820 confirmed cases, 25 deaths

For more information on Contra Costa County cases, visit the public health department website.

LAKE COUNTY: 6 confirmed cases

For information on Lake County and coronavirus, visit the public health department website.

MARIN COUNTY: 224 confirmed cases, 12 deaths

Fore more information on Marin County cases, visit the public health department website.

MONTEREY COUNTY: 183 confirmed cases, 4 deaths

For more information on Monterey County cases, visit the public health department website.

NAPA COUNTY: 60 cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Napa County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN BENITO COUNTY: 47 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on San Benito County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY: 1,424 confirmed cases, 23 deaths

For more information on San Francisco County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN MATEO COUNTY: 1,080 confirmed cases, 41 deaths

For more information on San Mateo County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY: 2,205 confirmed cases, 103 deaths

Fore more information on Santa Clara County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: 120 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Santa Cruz County cases, visit the public health department website.

SOLANO COUNTY: 226 confirmed cases, 4 deaths

For more information on Solano County cases, visit the public health department website.

SONOMA COUNTY: 220 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Sonoma County cases, visit the public health department website.

In California, 1,723 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University. For comparison, New York has 22,269, New Jersey 5,938 and Illinois 1,933.

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