As California officials impose the latest coronavirus restrictions, one county official said travel and indoor gatherings are driving the surge in cases.
Daily cases in California have doubled in the last 10 days, representing “the fastest increase California has seen since the beginning of this pandemic,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a briefing Monday. Last week, California topped 1 million coronavirus cases.
Newsom's latest restrictions, which took effect on Tuesday, put 41 of the state’s 51 counties in the strictest of the four-tier system for reopening that is based on virus cases and infection rates. Newsom said 13 counties were in the strictest tier last week.
Some counties even jumped multiple tiers as cases surged and despite the new restrictions.
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Dr. Teresa Frankovich, health officer for Humboldt County, which is in the so-called “red tier," just one away from the strictest tier, detailed the restrictions to county residents on Monday, saying the recent increases are to blame on travel and gatherings of people.
“This is travel where you're going to visit friends and family, staying in households, having close contact unmasked, sharing vehicles," Frankovich said. “I really want to be clear to people that if we want to be able to keep our schools operational, to keep our business community operational, we have to stop the gathering.”
"That's a particularly difficult challenge at the holiday season but it's essential to protect our families and our community," Frankovich continued.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already come out with some evidence supporting the idea that virus transmission at home is common. In a recent report, the CDC assessed 101 households in Nashville, Tenn., and Marshfield, Wis., from April to September. More than half (53%) of all household contacts were infected and “secondary infections occurred rapidly, with approximately 75% of infections identified within five days of the primary patient’s getting sick, the health agency wrote.
Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report