LOS ANGELES _ Coronavirus cases in California are approaching 25,000 as the state enters a new phase of the crisis: figuring out how and when to lift social-distancing rules that have been credited with keeping deaths in the state relatively low.
California has seen more than 700 COVID-19 deaths, a fraction of the toll in hot spots such as New York and New Jersey. While state officials say California won't hit a peak until May, they already are beginning to talk about how the economy could eventually be restarted.
Gov. Gavin Newsom will discuss some ideas at his news conference Tuesday.
The number of new coronavirus cases reported daily across California shows signs of flattening. And even hard-hit Los Angeles County, which saw 25 new deaths on Monday, reported only 239 new cases of the virus Monday, the lowest daily number since March 26.
"That's a good thing," Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer said.
Los Angeles County has recorded more than 9,400 coronavirus cases and more than 320 deaths.
Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said Monday that the stay-at-home order and social distancing have slowed the spread of the virus, resulting in fewer hospitalizations than estimates predicted.
Under a worst-case scenario and without any mitigation efforts, state models predicted a peak of nearly 700,000 hospitalizations from COVID-19, Ghaly said Friday. But he noted that adherence to the stay-at-home order, which Newsom announced nearly a month ago, now suggests that "the difference between what we're seeing today in our hospitals may not be that much different than where we are going to peak in the many weeks to come."
The governor said 3,015 people have been hospitalized, including 1,178 who are receiving intensive care.
On Monday, Newsom and his counterparts in Washington and Oregon announced "a regional pact to recovery" from the coronavirus crisis and agreed to work together to develop a plan to lift restrictions on daily life and reopen economies along the West Coast.
"COVID-19 doesn't follow state or national boundaries," Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement. "It will take every level of government, working together, and a full picture of what's happening on the ground."
Newsom said he believed the cooperative approach would be successful.
"I have all the confidence in the world moving forward that we will maintain that collaborative spirit in terms of the decision-making that we make here within the state of California as it relates to a road map for recovery and a road map to get back to some semblance of normalcy," he said.
Life is still a long way from returning to pre-pandemic norms, but some scientists believe parts of the economy could return in the coming months under the right circumstances.
"Is it wearing masks? Probably. Is it continuing to restrict large gatherings? Yeah, probably," said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at the University of California, San Francisco. "When we return to work, do we all go back on the same day, or do we stagger that? Is it continuing to have older people stay home more than they would otherwise? Yeah, probably."
