SACRAMENTO – Today, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced the most recent statistics on COVID-19, including data on intensive care unit (ICU) capacity across the state. Based on ICU data, four regions, San Joaquin Valley, Southern California, Greater Sacramento and the Bay Area continue under the Regional Stay at Home Order. Once a region’s four-week ICU projection shows a capacity of greater than or equal to 15%, the order will be lifted for that area. At this time, the Bay Area remains under the Regional Stay at Home Order. The state will assess the region’s ICU projections in the coming days and announce a formal decision on whether Bay Area meets criteria to exit the order.
Current Available ICU Capacity by Region
- Bay Area: 3.0%
- Greater Sacramento: 6.4%
- Northern California: 27.5%
- San Joaquin Valley: 0.0%
- Southern California: 0.0%
Current Status of Regional Stay at Home Order in Affected Regions
- San Joaquin Valley: Remains under order; four-week ICU capacity projections do not meet criteria to exit order.
- Southern California: Remains under order; four-week ICU capacity projections do not meet criteria to exit order.
- Greater Sacramento: Remains under order; four-week ICU capacity projections do not meet criteria to exit order.
- Bay Area: Remains under order; The region’s four-week ICU projections will be assessed in the coming days.
ICU capacity projections for regions that are eligible to exit the order are calculated daily based on four factors: current estimated regional ICU capacity available, measure of current community transmission, current regional case rates and the proportion of ICU cases being admitted. Decreasing community transmission and increasing the health system capacity can help a region’s projected ICU capacity so they can exit the order. Read the full Regional Stay Home Order, Supplement to the Order, and frequently asked questions.
Due to high rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations impacting the health care system, California is also under a Limited Stay at Home Order. The order applies to all counties that are currently under the Regional Stay at Home Order and those in Tier One (Purple) of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The Limited Stay at Home Order will expire after the Regional Stay At Home Order has been terminated in all regions of the state.
Hospital Surge Order
One county, Ventura, has been added to the list of counties under a hospital surge order.
On January 5, CDPH issued a public health order to reduce pressure on strained hospital systems. To preserve services for the sickest patients, the hospital surge order requires some non-essential and non-life-threatening surgeries to be delayed in counties with 10% or less of ICU capacity under the Regional Stay at Home Order where the regional ICU capacity is at 0%. Examples of procedures that may be delayed include carpal tunnel release and non-urgent spine surgeries. Surgeries for patients who have serious and urgent medical conditions will continue. Examples of procedures that will continue include serious cancer removal and necessary heart surgeries. The order will remain in effect for at least three weeks and will continue until rescinded.
The order requires hospitals statewide to accept patient transfers from facilities that have implemented contingency or crisis care guidelines as long as those transfers can be done capably and safely. On December 28, 2020 CDPH provided guidance to health care facilities on implementing the Crisis Care Continuum Guidelines issued in June 2020.
Counties Currently Impacted by the Hospital Surge Order:
San Joaquin Valley: Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus
Southern California: Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura
Statewide COVID-19 Data as of Today
- California has 2,568,641 confirmed cases to date. Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.
- There were 50,030 newly recorded confirmed cases Thursday.
- The 7-day positivity rate is 14.0% and the 14-day positivity rate is 13.3%.
- There have been 35,027,330 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 266,975 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.
- As case numbers continue to rise in California, the total number of individuals who will have serious outcomes will also increase. There have been 28,538 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
- As of January 8, a total of 652,128 vaccine doses have been administered statewide. As of January 8, a total of 2,060,800 vaccine doses, which includes the first and second dose, have been shipped to local health departments and health care systems that have facilities in multiple counties.
