California could experience ‘surge on top of a surge’ following holiday travel, governor warns

California could experience a “surge on top of a surge” of coronavirus cases, hospitalisations, and deaths following the recent holiday travel, Governor Gavin Newsom warned on Monday. 

The warning came during the governor’s coronavirus press briefing after it was revealed California reported 29,633 new coronavirus cases Sunday. Mr Newsom warned this number was misleading low because of the “lull” in cases typically seen over the weekend. 

Residents should expect a “surge on top of a surge”, he said, in the weeks following based on the potential impact of holiday travel and gatherings. 

While coronavirus cases hit a stall over the weekend, recorded hospitalisations from the novel virus did not. Patients who have been hospitalised with Covid-19 has risen by 18 per cent over the last two weeks, Mr Newsom said. 

"This is a deadly disease. This is a deadly pandemic," Mr Newsom said. "It remains as deadly today as any point in the history of this pandemic."

There are currently 21,510 people hospitalised with Covid-19 in California and 26,538 have died from the novel virus, according to the COVID Tracking Project. 

Due to the recent surge, ICU bed capacity has reached 0 per cent in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. More lockdown measures were issued in response to the diminished bed capacity in an effort to relieve the healthcare system. These measures included shutting down outdoor dining and restricting restaurants to just takeout and delivery orders. 

Initially the new restrictions in the two California regions would go for just two weeks, but it was announced last week that the measures were extended due to ICU capacity at hospitals. The restrictions would only be lifted once capacity was at or above 15 per cent, Dr Mark Ghaly, the secretary of the California Health and Human Services, said. 

Mr Newsom also gave an update on Covid-19 vaccine distribution, which has gone slower than anticipated across a majority of the United States. 

The state has received 1.29 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, but only about 450,000 doses have been administered. During the press conference, Mr Newsom acknowledged the number of vaccine doses administered was not high enough. 

"We are working aggressively to accelerate our pace," he said. "You're going to start seeing more rapid distribution of this vaccine, I can assure you that now.

“That said, it's gone too slowly. I know for many of us, all of us, I think we want to see 100 per cent of what's received immediately administered in people's arms, and so that's a challenge.”

Operation Warp Speed – a program created by the Trump administration to manufacture, allocate, and distribute coronavirus vaccines to states – has put the pressure on the state governments to administer the vaccines once they are received from the federal government. 

California was not the only state struggling to distribute its vaccine. The governors in New York and Florida put pressure on their hospitals to distribute their allocated vaccine doses quicker to avoid facing potential consequences.