The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in San Francisco went up by five on Friday, to 23, while the total count in Santa Clara County stands at 66. The count in Contra Costa County went up by nine between Thursday and Friday, from 16 to 25.
In the Bay Area, there are now a total of 147 cases, and 256 in California — with 1,668 confirmed cases in the country and a total of 40 deaths so far. Worldwide, there have been 136,929 people diagnosed with COVID-19, and 5,065 people have died. These figures still sound small in the face of many of the predictions coming out today.
Worst-case scenarios based on CDC projections now have the U.S. seeing between 160 million and 214 million total cases in the next year to 18 months, barring unforeseen interventions, and between 200,000 to 1.7 million deaths. As the New York Times reports, if the progression of the virus is not slowed significantly, we could see 21 million people requiring hospitalization — though the good-news scenario would be 2.4 million people.
To put that in perspective, as BuzzFeed reports, models are already predicting 150,000 cases by the end of this month. Not all of those will require hospitalization, however the U.S. only has a total of 45,000 intensive care unit beds.
So this is why there's all the panic about social distancing and making efforts to slow down the spread of the virus — not to keep anyone from getting infected, because many likely now will, but to keep the healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed the way it has in Italy.
To that end, the Oakland Unified School District has now followed on San Francisco's lead and closed all of its schools through April 5. The district made the announcement via Twitter Friday morning, saying that school would resume after Spring Break.
Also, in San Francisco, following the cancellation of all theater and sporting events for the next several weeks, the Asian Art Museum, the de Young Museum, the Legion of Honor, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art have all announced they will be temporarily closing as of 5 p.m. Friday.
Will movie theaters be next?
Related: ACT and Berkeley Rep Cancel Shows, With Both Planning to Offer Video-Streaming Alternative