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California orders sweeping rollback of open businesses as virus cases surge

Photo: Agustin Paullier/AFP via Getty Images

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered indoor operations for restaurants, wineries, movie theaters and other family entertainment like zoos, museums and card rooms to cease immediately. Bars must also close entirely.

Why it matters: It's the largest statewide rollback of a reopening plan yet, underscoring the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in California.

  • 30 counties in the state will also be required to close fitness centers, places of worship, offices for noncritical sectors, personal care services, hair salons, barbershops and malls.
  • The 30 counties on the list represent about 80% of Californians, Newsom said.

By the numbers: California has reported a seven-day average of more than 8,500 new coronavirus cases per day, according to state data. The state has reported 329,162 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in total, resulting in 7,040 deaths.

  • California's ICU rate has increased by 20% over the last two weeks. More than 1,800 patients are now in the ICU.
  • "The data suggest not everybody is practicing common sense," Newsom said.

The big picture: Earlier Monday, the state's two largest public school districts — Los Angeles and San Diego — announced that they would not return to in-person classes in the fall. California is currently one of the worst-hit states in the country, along with Florida, Arizona and Texas.

Go deeper

Rebecca Falconer
Oct 20, 2020 - World

Argentina becomes 5th country to report 1 million coronavirus cases

High school students at an improvised classroom in the yard of their school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Oct. 13. Photo: Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images

Argentina's health ministry reported 12,982 new coronavirus cases Monday night, taking the country's total to 1,002,662.

Why it matters: Argentina is the fifth country to surpass 1 million COVID-19 cases, after Russia (over 1.4 million), Brazil (more than 5.2 million), India (7.5-plus) and the U.S. (over 8.2 million), per Johns Hopkins. "It means one in every 45 Argentinians have had the virus," the Guardian notes. The country reported Monday that the virus had killed another 451 people, taking the death toll to over 26,000.

Editor's note: The headline of this story has been corrected to show Argentina passed 1 million cases not 5 million.

Caitlin Owens, author of Vitals
Oct 21, 2020 - Health

Studies show drop in COVID death rate

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

There's been a sharp drop in mortality rates among hospitalized coronavirus patients, including older patients and those with pre-existing health conditions, per two new peer-reviewed studies.

By the numbers: One study that looked at a single health system found that hospitalized patients had a 25.6% chance of dying at the start of the pandemic, but now have only a 7.6% chance, NPR reports.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 6 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

  1. Health: Most vulnerable Americans aren't getting enough vaccine information — Fauci says Trump administration's lack of facts on COVID "very likely" cost lives.
  2. Education: Schools face an uphill battle to reopen during the pandemic.
  3. Vaccine: Florida requiring proof of residency to get vaccine — CDC extends interval between vaccine doses for exceptional cases.
  4. World: Hong Kong puts tens of thousands on lockdown as cases surge — Pfizer to supply 40 million vaccine doses to lower-income countries — Brazil begins distributing AstraZeneca vaccine.
  5. Sports: 2021 Tokyo Olympics hang in the balance.
  6. 🎧 Podcast: Carbon Health's CEO on unsticking the vaccine bottleneck.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow