Two more Shasta County residents, a man in his 70’s and a man in his 80’s, have lost their lives to COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 68. There have been 7,290 confirmed cases so far, after 129 were added from Friday and 40 from Saturday. An estimated 474 Shasta County residents are carrying the virus right now, with 60 in the hospital and 8 in the ICU. The regional ICU capacity has gone up to 28.7%. A drop to 15% would bring the stay at home order already imposed on most of the state.
Medical staffing is stretched increasingly thin as California hospitals scramble to find beds for patients amid an explosion of coronavirus cases that threatens to overwhelm the state’s emergency care system. California has recorded half a million coronavirus cases in the last two weeks and could have nearly 100,000 hospitalizations in the next month. Another 161 fatalities were reported Sunday. All of Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley have exhausted their regular intensive care unit capacity
Local healthcare leaders are pleading with the public to slow the spread through the practices that have been recommended for months: Stay home and away from other people as much as possible and wear face coverings when going out. Traveling to visit friends and family for the holidays is highly discouraged and likely to contribute to another deadly surge.
Butte County reported 438 cases over the weekend for 6,344 and 5 more deaths for a total of 83.
Tehama County has had 2,741 cases and 32 deaths.
Trinity County has had 2 deaths among 262 cases.
There have been 1,059 in Siskiyou County with 8 deaths.
Glenn County has had 1,273 cases and 12 deaths.
Humboldt County has had 1,500 cases and 16 deaths.
Lassen County has had 6 deaths among their 1122 cases in the community and one death among the 2,739 cases in prison.
Modoc County has reached 287 cases.
California’s exposure notification system uses Bluetooth technology to alert a subscriber if they come in close contact with another subscriber who has tested positive for COVID-19. The program ensures privacy and does not share identities. Details are at canotify.ca.gov
Public health is strongly urging everyone to get tested. It’s free and convenient with sites in Shasta Lake, Anderson, South Redding, Enterprise and Shasta College. Testing is by appointment only at lhi.care/covidtesting or visit shastaready.org.
There’s a lot of information at shastaready.org, the Facebook Coronavirus Information Center and cdc.gov.