SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With coronavirus cases surging at a record pace, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new stay-at-home order Thursday and said if people don’t comply the state’s hospitals will be overwhelmed with infected patients.

Newsom’s latest effort to keep people from gathering with others from outside their households divides the state into five regions and links business closures and travel restrictions to hospital ICU capacity. When a region has fewer than 15% of its ICU beds available, new restrictions are imposed.

Newsom said four regions — all but the San Francisco Bay area — could meet that threshold “within a day or two.” A litany of changes would take effect, including closing hair salons, barber shops and movie theaters. Restaurants may only serve takeout and delivery, and playgrounds will be off-limits.

Retailers and shopping centers would have to limit stores to 20% capacity during the busy holiday shopping

The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 3,531 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the third consecutive day at least 3,000 cases have been added in a 24-hour period. Before this week, that had only happened once.

The high numbers on Tuesday and Wednesday included some backlogged cases from the Thanksgiving holiday, but Thursday’s total doesn’t seem to include older test results. If there are no old cases, Thursday’s total would be the highest the state has ever seen in a day without a backlog.

And the state is still breaking records for current virus hospitalizations – it reported more than 1,800 current virus inpatients for the first time ever on Wednesday. And Alabama’s 7-day positivity rate remains one of the highest in the nation.

Thursday’s high case count does come with more testing, as well. The state reported more than 12,400 tests Thursday, the highest daily total since Nov. 19.

Newsom said four regions — all but the San Francisco Bay area — could meet that threshold “within a day or two.” A litany of changes would take effect, including closing hair salons, barber shops and movie theaters. Restaurants may only serve takeout and delivery, and playgrounds will be off-limits.

Retailers and shopping centers would have to limit stores to 20% capacity during the busy holiday

Alabama added a record 3,928 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, but the Alabama Department of Public Health reports 706 of those are old. But even without those old cases, the state added more than 3,000 cases overnight – a number that would have been a record for new cases in a day without a backlog.

It’s the second consecutive day the state has included older cases in its daily update, something that happens when one of the many labs throughout the state is late in sharing its numbers with ADPH. Wednesday’s backlog includes confirmed cases from between Nov. 23 and Nov. 29.

For reference, Alabama was shattering records for 7-day average at that time, and it now seems even those high numbers may have been artificially low.

The consecutive backlogs have shot the state’s 7-day average for new cases through the roof – the number now stands at 2,501 new

The White House coronavirus task force is issuing a dire warning to states, writing that given the already rampant spread of the virus across the U.S., a further surge in cases following Thanksgiving threatens to overwhelm the health care system and compromise patient care.

“We are in a very dangerous place due to the current, extremely high COVID baseline and limited hospital capacity; a further post-Thanksgiving surge will compromise COVID patient care, as well as medical care overall,” reads the White House report sent to states and obtained by The Hill.

The report includes a series of urgent warnings, a stark contrast to President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump alludes to possible 2024 run in White House remarks Trump threatens to veto defense bill over tech liability shield Tiger King’s attorney believes they’re close to getting pardon from Trump MORE himself, who has been largely quiet on the coronavirus crisis recently

© (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
People wait in line Tuesday at a walk-up COVID-19 testing site in San Fernando. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

California hit reached another troubling COVID-19 milestone Tuesday, averaging 14,120 cases per day with more than 8,200 hospitalized — both new records.

The continues surge is putting more pressure on state and local officials to take more aggressive action to slow the spread before it overwhelms hospitals. Los Angeles County, which has been particularly hard hit, reported more than 7,500 new cases — the most in a single day. Projections suggest L.A. County could reach 9,000 cases by next week.

Officials have said they would consider a restrictive stay-at-home order if cases kept rising, which is now expected because the Thanksgiving weekend likely spread the virus even more.

What are the options?

It’s possible such an order would

The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 3,376 new coronavirus cases and 60 virus deaths on Tuesday, but some of those cases and deaths are old.

“Case counts and deaths reported on today’s update are high,” a notice posted to the ADPH coronavirus dashboard Tuesday reads. “Today’s increase represents a delay in reporting to the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) due to the holiday weekend.”

The new number brings the state’s 7-day average for new reported cases to 2,291 – just one daily case short of the all-time record set on Thanksgiving Day.

[Can’t see the chart? Click here.]

If the backlog mostly includes cases from over the weekend, it shouldn’t affect the 7-day average for the state much. If anything, it likely corrects what was an artificially low running average. The state added just 917 cases on Nov. 27, well below the current average and the first time

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Singer Elton John has joined leading British HIV/AIDS charities in calling for wider HIV testing to halt new transmissions in England within a decade, amid concerns that COVID-19 has affected access to tests and medication.

To mark Worlds AIDS Day on Tuesday, England’s first HIV Commission – established by the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), National AIDS Trust (NAT) and Elton John AIDS Foundation – will publish 20 recommendations to eradicate new HIV cases by 2030.

They call for HIV testing to be standard practice for patients registering with a new doctor, undergoing routine