Any hope of a summer lull in coronavirus infections has been dashed, as cases and hospitalizations mount across the south and sun belt of the United States. California saw 7,000 new cases Wednesday — an all-time high. Hospitalizations also hit their highest level during the pandemic, exceeding the record from April. Approximately 3,702 patients with coronavirus have been hospitalized statewide.
Increased testing does not account for the spike. As The Atlantic’s COVID tracker shows, from June 7 to June 23, testing increased by 23.85%. Cases rose by 47.04%.
Los Angeles leads the state in the number of cases, followed by Riverside, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Alameda, and Imperial counties.
“We cannot continue to do what we have done over the last number of weeks,” Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. “Many of us, understandably, developed a little cabin fever. Some, I would argue, have developed a little amnesia.”
But despite the spike in cases and hospitalizations in the wake of reopening, Newsom said there was no need to resume a lockdown to fight the spread.
“It’s not about shutting down the world’s fifth-largest economy, or advancing these efforts. We can do both.”