Coronavirus In US: 56% Of California Infected By May, Florida Cases Jump To 432

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California estimates up to 25.5 million state residents might fall victim to COVID-19, a number that accounts for 56% of the population, over a period of just eight weeks.

He made this startling projection in a letter he sent to president Donald Trump requesting the U.S. Navy deploy the hospital ship, USNS Mercy, to Los Angeles until September 1. The ship won't handle COVID-19 patients but will instead be used to treat people suffering from other illnesses so hospitals on the mainland can focus on treating coronavirus patients.

“This resource will help decompress the health care delivery system to allow the Los Angeles region to ensure that it has the ability to address critical acute care needs, such as heart attacks and strokes or vehicle accidents, in addition to the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases,” wrote Newsom in his letter.

Newsom also told Trump there were 126 new cases statewide over the last 24 hours, a jump of 21%. He said the case rate is doubling every four days. The Bay Area is the epicenter for the outbreak in California. More specifically, Santa Clara County has been the hardest hit with 189 total cases.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) on Thursday said there are currently 675 positive cases of COVID-19 in California. It reported 16 deaths, one of which is a non-California resident.

Of the 675 cases, 24 were people evacuated to U.S. military bases in the state in January and February while 651 cases aren't related to those flights. Broken down, the 651 state cases consist of 97 travel associated cases, 92 person-to-person, 181 community acquired and 281 under investigation.

Up until Wednesday, Florida's famous beaches (Daytona, South Beach, Clearwater) and beach cities such as Miami were packed with unconcerned young kids out partying on Spring Break -- and they're having fun in a state with 432 confirmed COVID-19 cases and nine deaths. No social distancing here.

Are these kids scared of COVID? "If I get corona, I get corona," said one teen guy interviewed by Reuters. "At the end of the day, I'm not going to let it stop me from partying."

Videos on TV and on social media showing bikini clad girls and buff guys prancing on the sand quickly led to denunciations of Florida governor Rick DeSantis and local mayors as being health menaces. The kids packed the beaches toting cans of beer because DeSantis hasn't ordered a statewide closure of beaches. The Republican governor, however, ordered all bars and nightclubs to close effective at 5:00 p.m. for 30 days, and asked people to order takeout, instead.

DeSantis said he's following federal government guidelines limiting groups on the beaches to 10 people or fewer, which isn't what YouTube videos are showing.

"What we're going to be doing is, simply, for the statewide floor for beaches, is applying the CDC guidance of no group on a beach more than 10 and you have to have distance apart if you're going to be out there," said DeSantis. "Different localities are going to make decisions about what makes sense."

The growing outrage in the rest of the U.S. over these spring breakers is getting results, however. The city of Miami Beach closed South Beach until further notice. Fort Lauderdale also closed its beaches, as did Clearwater, which will close its beaches on Monday.

"It's really messing up with my spring break," said a teen girl. "What is there to do here other than go to bars or the beach? And they're closing all of it."