California has officially activated its "mass fatality" program as the state continues to grapple with record-breaking COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations.
On Tuesday, one day after the first COVID-19 vaccines began to be administered across the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in a news conference that California is taking further action to address the "sobering realities" of the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of the "mass fatality" program, which coordinates mutual aid between state and local agencies in crises resulting in mass fatalities, the state has ordered 5,000 body bags and 60 53-foot-long refrigerated storge units, which will be used as overflow morgues.
The body bags have been recently distributed to hard-hit areas like San Diego and Los Angeles and the refrigerated units are currently on standby in struggling counties and at hospitals.
"There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we're still in the tunnel," Newsom said. "And that means we're going through perhaps the most intense and urgent moment since the beginning of this pandemic."
Newsom noted that the state is continuing to see historic COVID-19 numbers, with the positivity rate rising from 6.9 percent at the beginning of December to more than 10 percent on Monday, NBC News reported.
"I want to remind folks: It's not the flu," he added. "This is not something to trifle with. This is a deadly disease, a deadly pandemic, and we're in the middle of it right now."
According to CNN, California health officials announced Tuesday that the state hit its fifth consecutive day of more than 30,000 new COVID-19 cases.
As of Monday, the average number of deaths per day in California was 163, almost four times as many as the daily average last month.
Intestive care units admissions are also at all-time highs. According to NBC Bay Area, there were just 35 ICU beds left in all of Santa Clara County on Tuesday.
The state also also added 80 additional paramedics and EMTs, 50 National Guard members and they have requested 200 more health care workers from the Department of Defense.
Large portions of California are under stay-at-home orders as the state's coronaviurs numbers continue to surge.
As of Wednesday morning, there have been more than 16.7 million cases of the coronavirus across the United States and at least 303,963 deaths, according to data from The New York Times.
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