LOS ANGELES _ Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that he will soon provide a framework for reopening California, after the state's stay-at-home orders have been lifted.
"We will be driven by facts, driven by evidence, driven by science, driven by public health advisers and driven by the collaborative spirit that defines the best of us," Newsom said about the strategy, which he plans to unveil Tuesday.
The governor announced a modest increase in hospitalizations related to the coronavirus: Roughly 3,015 people are hospitalized and 1,178 individuals are in intensive care.
The total number of confirmed cases in California continues to grow, but Newsom said "the curve is being bent because of you and your willingness to stay home."
Even as the state has made guarded progress against the spread of the illness, Los Angeles County continues to see a rising death count.
Public health officials reported 31 new coronavirus deaths on Easter Sunday, the largest single-day total since the outbreak began.
Twenty-five of those fatalities were people over the age of 65, and the other six were between the ages of 41 and 65, health officials said.
In all, 296 L.A. County residents have died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The number of confirmed infections in the county rose to 9,192 _ an increase of 323 since Saturday. That's the lowest number of new cases on a single day since March 27.
Until Sunday, the highest one-day death toll in Los Angeles County was 29, on Wednesday.
California has recorded more than 23,000 cases and more than 680 deaths. The growth in cases has slowed in some parts of the state.
Officials have credited sweeping stay-at-home orders for the progress California has made. The state has seen significantly fewer deaths than other hot spots like New York and New Jersey.
Los Angeles County health officials on Friday warned that residents must adopt even more stringent social-distancing practices to slow the spread of the coronavirus and said stay-at-home restrictions could remain into the summer.
Even with the dramatic social distancing that county residents are already practicing, local officials forecast that up to 30% of the population could be infected by midsummer without more behavioral changes, such as reducing shopping trips.
While the strict physical distancing measures in L.A. County, which have been in effect for three weeks, have clearly had an effect in saving many lives, models presented by the county Friday show troubling forecasts if officials lift the stay-at-home order now.
There are still too many people becoming infected with the coronavirus in Los Angeles County, officials said. And there is more than a 50% chance that the current capacity of intensive care unit beds in Los Angeles County, roughly 750 beds now, could be exhausted by late April.
Officials outlined the stark paths ahead for L.A. County. If the stay-at-home order were quickly rescinded and people resumed their normal habits, an astonishing 95.6% of L.A. County residents would be infected with the coronavirus by Aug. 1, according to projections released by the county.
A new Loyola Marymount University poll found that 95% of respondents say they supported L.A. elected officials's decision to implement a stay-at-home order for all but essential personnel.
Those who identified as politically conservative tended to be more skeptical both of the stay-at-home orders and of the level of threat posed by the virus.
Only 76% of them viewed the virus as a real threat, compared with 91% among liberals. Conservatives also saw themselves as less vulnerable, with 74% saying they worried they would catch the virus, compared with 85% of liberals.
