The data visualized in this document is downloaded from https://data.ca.gov/group/covid-19. Please refer to the this website for a precise definition of the variables.

It represents a statewide daily inventory, in some cases with information at the county level. We focus on aspects of the data that are not available from the NYT GitHub site.

This visualization was constructed with data downloaded on

## [1] "2021-01-27"

The latest date contained in the file was

## [1] "2021-01-26"

Hospitalizations

We focus on positive and suspected positive COVID-19 patients, as well as Intensive Care Unit (ICU) positive and suspected positive COVID-19 patients. From previous documentation, we assume that patients counts are defined as number of patients admitted the previous calendar day (need to verify)

“Suspected” are patients with out laboratory-confirmed COVID diagnosis who, in accordance with CDC’s Interim Public Health Guidance for Evaluating Persons Under Investigation (PUIs), have signs and symptoms compatible with COVID (most patients with confirmed COVID have developed fever and/or symptoms of acute respiratory illness, such as cough, shortness of breath or myalgia/fatigue).

The ICU counts represent the number of patients (either with confirmed or suspected COVID-19) in ICU beds (NICU, PICU, and adult) in the hospitals.

Note that these became available only at the beginning of April, so that we do not have records for the very beginning of the pandemic. Also note that the number of suspected cases is larger at the beginning of the pandemic–something that might be attributable of paucity of testing and lenght of turn around times.

With this in mind, we can look at the trend of daily hospitalization in California, for confirmed COVID-19 cases as well as suspected

The occupancy of ICU beds is useful to monitor how close the system is to capacity

We now look in more detail to the counties around Los Angeles and in the Bay Area – two areas which up to June 23 had recorded the largest number of cases.

Demographic

The same website offers some demographic information relative to the cases and deaths in California. The data is only aggregate, the first records are from April 2, 2020, and they are not complete. As of July 21st there are imprecisions in the coding of the data: missing information on age is recorded sometimes as “Missing”, and some times as “Unknown”; sometimes the phrase “65 and Older” is used, sometimes “65+”, the entry for April 10, 2020 in the file reporting sex information is duplicated, etc. The displays below are based on minimal modifications of the data to avoid the confusion derived by this changing terminology.

One clear discrepancy we have not corrected is related to the counts of cases and death by ethnicity. In this instance, it seems that cases/deaths with unknown ethnicity have not been tabulated, so that adding the total number of cases by ethnicity one does not obtain the total number of cases recorded in a givey day.

We start with a snapshot of the information and then move on to more detailed look to the three demographic characteristics reported.

Age demographics of cases and deaths

Sex demographics of cases and deaths

Race/ethnicity information

Tests

Finally, we display the number of tests carried out in California on a daily basis.