California summer fun collides with coronavirus danger as hospitalizations, new cases keep rising

The California tradition of summer fun -- barbecues, garden parties, group excursions to beaches and mountains -- is colliding with the state's desperate efforts to prevent new surges of coronavirus cases as the economy opens up and people begin freeing themselves from months of stay-at-home rules. Confirmed coronavirus cases have continued to climb as California allowed many businesses to reopen. But on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said COVID-19 hospitalizations are also beginning to rise again statewide, a troubling shift that raises new questions about whether the reopening might need to be slowed. "Those that suggest we're out of the woods, those that suggest this somehow is going to disappear, these numbers tell a very, very different and sobering story," Newsom said. The number of people hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus infections in California was up 16% over the last two weeks, rising to 3,702 as of Sunday.