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Imperial County Advised To Reinstitute Stay-At-Home Order As COVID-19 Cases Overwhelm System

SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) -- An unmanageable surge in coronavirus patients in Imperial County along the border with Mexico has prompted Governor Gavin Newsom and the state health department to advise the county to pull back from phased reopening and reinstitute stay-at-home orders.

Newsom said Imperial County has been on the state's watch list for additional resources from the state because of concerning developments in those counties with regard to the pandemic. Most of the 15 counties being monitored by the state, including Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties, have received variances from state to advance their phased reopenings; however, Imperial County was not one of them.

While the state's positivity rate on coronavirus testing has increased to 5.3 percent over the last 14 days, by contrast in Imperial County the positivity rate is approaching 23 percent.

Among the interventions by the state has been transferring over 500 patients out of the county because the county's hospital system simply can't absorb the ever-increasing number of COVID-19 patients. However, the governor said that has not been enough.

"What has become crystal clear over the course of many months is these interventions -- while they've been forceful and they have been helpful, and certainly allowed for decompression of that hospital system and provided additional supports -- we are now in a position where we are working with county officials and advising them to pull back and once again institute their stay-at-home orders," said Newsom.

The governor thanked Imperial County's health officials for their cooperation as the state has advised and counseled the county to move forward with reestablishing the stay-at-home order, but said he would take steps if needed.

"If they are not able to come to some consensus, I am committed to intervening as is my role and responsibility as governor in the state of California," said Newsom. "But I am confident in their capacity to make that determination for themselves based on the criteria and conditions that continue to persist in the county."

State Public Health Director Dr. Sonia Angell said of additional concern aside from the 23 percent positivity rate of testing in the county, the case rate over the past seven days is 680, well past the threshold of 100 cases over 14 days needed to get on the state's monitoring list.

Newsom said that the state would provide additional resources to Imperial County, including additional personal protective gear and assistance from the state's Health and Human Services department. But he reiterated that rolling back to the previous stay-at-home order, despite the economic hit, is of utmost importance.

"We recognize the economic cost of what we are arguing for; we recognize the economic cost that COVID-19 has already impacted on the community, but we recognize now our responsibility to keep people healthy," said Newsom.

Currently, Imperial County reports 5,192 total coronavirus cases, with most of the cases reported after May 19. Similarly, most of the county's 73 total deaths have happened beginning in late May.

Statewide, there have been 200,461 total cases and 5,812 deaths. Newsom said there were 4,890 new coronavirus cases in the state over the past 24 hours, with 79 additional deaths in the state.

Over the past 24 hours, hospitalizations across the state are up 3.3 percent, with ICU patients up 4.4 percent.

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