San Diego County, the state's second-most populous, will form a Safe Reopening Compliance Team designed to get local code enforcement departments working together to pursue public complaints of health mandate violations. However, it's unclear if law enforcement will begin writing more tickets in the county where the main policing strategy has been asking for voluntary compliance.
The virus has surged in many parts of California, which on Wednesday surpassed New York as the state with the most confirmed cases. Another 12,000 cases were added Thursday, bringing the state total to roughly 425,000.
There also were 157 deaths reported Wednesday, the state's highest daily total.
Gov. Gavin Newsom called it a “grim milestone."
“We cannot afford to ignore #COVID19, or simply hope it goes away. We have to take action,” Newsom tweeted. “Your actions can literally save lives."
Daily death counts vary widely because of differences in how quickly local health officials report fatalities. On Sunday, for example, the state reported just nine deaths, the second-lowest total since April 1.
Although hospitalizations and the number of intensive care patients have been rising steadily, both dipped Wednesday, with hospitalizations dropping by 345 to 6,825. But that still is more than double the total from mid-June.
While Newsom has acknowledged the difficulty of enforcement for 40 million residents, he continued to urge people to obey social distancing and mask-wearing requirements — and stay home. Public health officials fear many of the new cases come from close contact at social gatherings, especially among young people.