It is unimaginable that after a week of record daily numbers, the U.S. has now recorded over 10 million Coronavirus cases to date, Gov. Gavin Newsome of California said Monday that the state was also moving in the wrong direction.

There were 7,212 new daily cases recorded over the past 24 hours in the state. Gov. Newsom said the 14-day average of hospitalizations was up to 28.6%. Sadly, the number of coronavirus-related ICU patients was up 27% over the same 14-day timeframe. Numbers that should put the public on alert that the protocol needs to be followed. 

Newsome also reported that the 14-day average of the crucial test positivity rate had risen from 2.5% on October 15 to “above 3.7%” on Monday.

“This is exactly why we designed the tier status the way we did,” he said during a briefing Monday. “It was about being more and less restrictive — not based upon political whim, but based upon the data, based upon the epidemiology, based upon the facts on the ground and, again, based upon local conditions in the 58 counties throughout the state of California.”

Concerns are becoming more heightened by the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. And even after months of restrictions, officials fear many people will make exceptions. It’s highly risky to attend gatherings that will further increase infections as California begins the holiday season.

The Bay Area, which has somewhat avoided major recent spikes of the virus, reported its third-highest single-day total of the entire pandemic. 1,411 cases were reported around the region on Monday alone, a total it would have taken three or four days to reach for much of October.

Even with a vaccine at a 90% approval rating, we are months away from it being accessible to citizens. The protocol must be followed until then.