|
 "The region's progress in curbing the pandemic remains precarious,"
the health department in Santa Clara County, home to California's
Silicon Valley, said.
"County residents are therefore urged to avoid travel, quarantine if
travelling, and consistently use face coverings."
The situation in Santa Clara, which was home to an early surge of
coronavirus in California last year and the nation's first death
from COVID-19, offers a window into the pandemic's progress across
the wider United States.
Several states, including Florida and Michigan, are struggling to
contain a resurgence of the virus linked to new highly contagious
variants.
The 7-day daily average of cases across the United States has been
increasing continuously since March 19, Reuters analysis shows. Over
the past 13 days, the average daily number of new cases of COVID-19
has increased by about 17%, from 5,5591 on March 19 to 6,4814 on
March 31. Total cases stand at 30,562,884, including 552,932 deaths.
"We're already seeing surges in other parts of the country, likely
driven by variants," Santa Clara Health Officer Sara Cody said in a
statement. "Combined with the data we are seeing locally, these are
important warning signs that we must continue to minimize the
spread."
The rise in cases comes despite unprecedented efforts to vaccinate
people worldwide and across the United States, where nearly 30% of
the population had received at least one vaccine dose by Thursday,
according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
Many U.S. states are moving to ease pandemic public health
restrictions, and people who have been vaccinated are starting to
venture out from a year of staying mostly at home.
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 But with the vast majority of
the population still unvaccinated, experts warn
that could be a recipe for a deadly fourth wave
of the disease.
In California, the most populous U.S. state with
40 million residents, about 5.6 million people,
or 17.3% percent of the population, had received
one vaccine dose, the CDC said.
As cases have leveled off in recent weeks, state
officials have reopened activities like
restaurant dining and are making plans to send
children back to school.
However, California Governor Gavin Newsom warned
that with at least seven variants of the virus
in circulation, the state is not close to
achieving so-called herd immunity, which would
require the vast majority of people to be
inoculated.
"Now is not the time to spike the ball," said
Newsom, who received his own vaccination on
Thursday in Los Angeles. "Now is not the time to
announce, "mission accomplished."
In neighbouring Canada, officials in the
province of Ontario declared a limited lockdown
beginning on Saturday, while French president
Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ordered his country
into its third national lockdown.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein, additional
reporting by Anurag Maan; editing by Jane
Wardell)
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