Covid-19: California takes new measures in the face of the looming peak

A curfew was put in place this week in San Francisco.

AP - Jeff Chiu

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

After the Thanksgiving holidays, the United States, which is already experiencing a peak in hospitalizations, is expecting another surge in coronavirus contaminations.

This is particularly the case in California, which was however the first American state to order containment. 

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With our correspondent in San Francisco, 

Éric de Salve

After a weekend of family celebrations in the United States, the country is preparing to suffer

the consequences

.

Even California, the first state to confine itself in March, is not spared.

Faced with this threat, new restrictions have been put in place.

Curfew also in force in San Francisco

So far San Francisco, the first city to order containment, has remained one of the least affected by Covid-19 in the United States.

But in November, contaminations quadrupled.

The mayor has therefore slowed down the reduction in confinement in force without interruption since last March.

All indoor activities are prohibited, with the exception of funerals but with a maximum of twelve people. 

On Monday, London Breed even had to impose a

nighttime curfew

 like in the rest of California from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., until December 21.

"

I can not be clearer,

warns the mayor of San Francisco: 

we are in the most dangerous phase of the pandemic.

Don't travel, don't get together in a group.

 " 

In Los Angeles, it's even worse.

The mayor expects 4,000 deaths within a month if nothing is done.

Eric Garcetti has also banned almost all public and private gatherings.

Hospitals on the verge of saturation

Golden State hospitals are near saturation: 75% of intensive care beds are occupied.

At this rate, the occupancy rate will exceed 110% by Christmas, warns the governor who does not rule out strengthening and toughening the curfew.

Covid-19 has already killed 268,000 people in the United States and the country is experiencing a peak in hospitalizations with an average of 160,000 contaminations per day last week.

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  • United States

  • Coronavirus

  • Health and medicine

  • Confinement

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