California’s record COVID-19 surge persists: 51,724 cases and 393 deaths in a single day

Single-day pandemic records were shattered across California yet again on Wednesday. For the first time, a Los Angeles Times county-by-county tally found more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases and nearly 400 deaths in California reported in a single day.

The Times survey Wednesday night found 51,724 new coronavirus cases reported in a single day, shattering the state’s single-day record broken on Monday, when 42,088 cases were reported.

The Times tally also found 393 COVID-19 deaths Wednesday across California, breaking the record set Tuesday, when 295 deaths were recorded. Cumulatively, California has now reported 1.7 million coronavirus cases and 21,887 COVID-19 deaths.

California is now tallying an average of 203 COVID-19 deaths a day over a weekly period, and 35,200 cases a day — both records, and both quadruple the numbers from mid-November.

The number of people hospitalized in California for COVID-19 has been increasing and breaking records for 18 consecutive days. On Tuesday, the most recent data available, 14,939 people across the state were in the hospital with coronavirus infections — more than six times larger than the comparable number on Halloween.

The number of people in intensive care units with COVID-19 also broke another record, for the 14th consecutive day. On Tuesday, 3,188 people infected with the coronavirus were in intensive care units across the state.

Records for single-day coronavirus case tallies were broken Wednesday in:

• L.A. County, which reported 22,469 cases, breaking the record set Friday, when 13,507 cases were reported;
• San Bernardino County, which reported 5,550 cases, breaking the record set Saturday, when 5,254 cases were reported;
• Fresno County, which reported 2,590 cases, breaking the record set Aug. 17, when 1,110 cases were recorded;
• Contra Costa County, which reported 1,010 cases, breaking the record set Monday, when 925 cases were reported;
• San Francisco, which reported 335 cases, breaking the record set Saturday, when 323 cases were recorded; and
• San Benito County, which reported 104 cases, breaking the record set Dec. 5, when 73 cases were recorded.

Records for single-day death tallies were broken Wednesday in:

• L.A. County, which reported 134 deaths, breaking the record set Tuesday, when 93 deaths were reported;
• San Bernardino County, which reported 63 deaths, breaking the record set Aug. 22, when 62 deaths were reported;
• Contra Costa County, which reported 11 deaths, breaking the record set July 29, when eight deaths were reported; and,
• Butte County, which reported seven deaths, breaking the record set Sept. 8 and tied on Sept. 21, when five deaths were reported on each of those days.

On Wednesday, state officials reported 0% availability of licensed intensive care unit beds in the San Joaquin Valley and 0.5% availability in Southern California. The Greater Sacramento region was calculated to have 14.1% of its supply of ICU beds available; and rural Northern California, 28.1%.

In the Bay Area, ICU availability slid Wednesday to 12.9% — below the 15% threshold the state has set for imposing sweeping new restrictions on businesses and activities aimed at curtailing the coronavirus.

Many of the region’s counties took it upon themselves to implement the new stay-at-home rules. Those that didn’t — San Mateo, Solano, Santa Cruz and Napa counties — will see a regional stay-at-home order, which reduces capacity at retail stores; closes businesses including hair salons, nail salons, card rooms, museums, zoos and aquariums; and prohibits most gatherings, hotel stays for tourism and outdoor restaurant dining — go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

Such orders are already in place across Southern California, the San Joaquin Valley and Greater Sacramento. Only rural Northern California has escaped the additional restrictions so far.

The new orders will mean that by Friday, 98% of California’s residents, or 38 million people, will be under regional stay-at-home instructions, affecting 47 of 58 counties.

Counties reporting 0% or 1% available ICU capacity in recent days include Riverside, Ventura and Marin.