Faced with sustained increases in coronavirus infections and COVID-19 hospitalizations, California officials are considering new measures to hopefully cap the spike.

Though the number of infections and those who are ill enough to be hospitalized remain well below the levels of previous surges, the extent of the latest increases is ringing alarm bells across the state.

“Our projections are sobering,” Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters earlier this week. “Our projections are, over the course of the next number of weeks, we’ll show a significant increase in hospitalizations if we continue down this path.”

Over the last week, California has reported an average of nearly 7,400 new coronavirus cases a day — roughly eight times the rate from four weeks ago, according to data compiled by The Times.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.