Coronavirus California

California sees record-breaking number of new COVID-19 cases, Gov. Newsom announces

ByLiz Kreutz and Alix Martichoux KGO logo

Thursday, July 23, 2020

CA breaks COVID-19 record, Newsom announces

Gov. Gavin Newsom said California saw the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in a single day. This comes as the state surpasses New York for the most overall coronavirus cases.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a record-breaking number of new coronavirus cases in a Wednesday press conference.

An additional 12,807 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in California over the past 24 hours, the governor said. That's the highest number recorded in a single day since the pandemic began.

RELATED: Everything you need to know about COVID-19 testing in California

Those 12,807 new cases came out of a pool of about 127,000 people tested, Newsom said. That's about a 10% positivity rate.

Over the past week, the positivity rate has averaged 7.6%.

Newsom's announcement comes as California has surpassed New York for the most coronavirus cases in the country, with more than 413,000 confirmed cases.

"We're a state the size of 21 states combined," said Newsom. "So it's not surprising now in some respects, as we began to reopen key sectors of our economy, people continue to mix and people continue to come in close contact with others that may have contracted this disease, that our numbers will start to go up in total."

New York still has more COVID-19 cases per capita, the governor emphasized.

"Nonetheless, it's a sober reminder of why we are taking things as seriously as we are. A sober reminder of why we put in that mask mandate here in the state of California, and a reminder of why we modified our opening."

WATCH LIST: Counties where COVID-19 is getting worse

Newsom also announced Butte County, which includes Chico, has been added to the state's watch list.

In his Monday press conference, the governor announced a change in the rules for hair salons and other beauty services in the state.

While hair salons, barbershops, nail salons, massage parlors and other beauty services have to close indoor operations in counties on the state's watch list, they're now allowed to move some services outdoors.

The guidelines for outdoor hair salons and barbershops include:

Employees and customers have to wear masks the entire time
Create an outdoor reception area where guests can check in
No handshakes, hugs or similar greetings

Nail salons can offer manicures and pedicures outside. Other services like massages, body waxing and threading are also now allowed outdoors. Electrolysis, tattooing and piercings are not allowed outside because they have to be done in an indoor controlled environment.

Personal care services have to follow the above guidelines, as well as:

Workers should wear a face shield with a face covering when doing services on the face/neck that don't allow clients to wear a mask
Disposable gloves should be worn during the entire service
Use single-use applicators instead of reusable ones (where necessary)
Ask manicure clients to use hand sanitizer first
Allow only one manicurist to work at a single station
Offer color palettes instead of nail polish color displays

Full guidelines for hair salons and barbershops can be found here. Full guidelines for nail salons and other personal care services can be found here.

As of Wednesday, 35 of California's 58 counties are on the COVID-19 watch list, the governor said. That represents more than 91% of the state's population.

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