LA and San Francisco are setting up 'safe spaces' for coronavirus patients to quarantine away from their families as cases are set to surge in California

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Officials in Los Angeles and San Francisco are setting up spaces for people infected with coronavirus to isolate away from their family members as California braces for a surge in infections.  

At a press conference on Sunday, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti warned that the city's coronavirus outbreak is expected to ramp up as more tests are administered, threatening to overwhelm healthcare systems with patients. 

He urged infected people not to rush to hospitals unless they have severe symptoms and asked the city's four million residents to think about how they will separate themselves from family members while quarantining at home.  

'Don't just take social distancing seriously, I hope each and every one of us take isolation seriously too,' Garcetti said as he described the strategy as the next phase in the fight against the pandemic. 

The mayor acknowledged that physical distancing may be hard for people living in tight quarters and said local officials were working to set up safe quarantine spaces for them at hotels and in recreational vehicles.

Up north in San Francisco, similar measures are being taken for people who are under self-quarantine but do not have a place to isolate themselves.  

In a statement Friday, city officials announced they have secured leases for some 300 hotel rooms to house infected people and are working on obtaining additional rooms.  

Officials in Los Angeles are setting up spaces for people infected with coronavirus to isolate away from their family members as California braces for a surge in infections. RVs that will be used as temporary housing for infected patients are seen at a beach in El Segundo in Los Angeles County

In San Francisco, similar measures are being taken for people who are under self-quarantine but do not have a place to isolate themselves. In a statement Friday, city officials announced they have secured leases for some 300 hotel rooms to house infected people. Pictured: A man in a mask passes by the Palace Hotel in San Francisco

Californians endured a weekend of stepped-up restrictions aimed at keeping them home as much as possible while hospitals and health officials scrambled Sunday to ready themselves for a week that could see a dramatic surge in coronavirus cases.

Testing among the state's 40 million residents has stepped up significantly after a slow start. 

Officials have warned the increase will bring with it a rapidly expanding number of cases. 

As of Monday, more than 6,200 people had tested positive for coronavirus and 132 had died across the state of California. 

To combat an expected shortage in hospital beds, Garcetti is asking hotel and motel owners to provide rooms for Angelenos who are homeless or who need to isolate with coronavirus. 

He said he believed those rooms would be paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

'The owners will be paid by the city for the rooms. We're not asking them to donate the rooms,' Garcetti said. 'We believe these expenses will be reimbursed by FEMA.' 

The Mayor asked anyone willing to provide rooms to fill out a form at Coronavirus.LACity.org/Rooms.

As of Monday more than 151,000 people in the US have tested positive for coronavirus and 2,787 have died. Of those, 6,388 infections and 132 deaths were reported in California 

'Don't just take social distancing seriously, I hope each and every one of us take isolation seriously too,' Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (pictured) said at a press conference

Californians endured a weekend of stepped-up restrictions aimed at keeping them home as much as possible while hospitals and health officials scrambled Sunday to ready themselves for a week that could see a dramatic surge in coronavirus cases. Pictured: A man and his son walk along an empty Santa Monica beach on Sunday

A couple walk down a boardwalk on a mostly deserted Santa Monica beach on Sunday

Officials set up vehicles at the Dockweiler Beach RV Park near El Segundo in Los Angeles County last week to house people who need to isolate due to coronavirus

A tag in the front window of one of the RVs indicates it was rented by Los Angeles County

The city of San Francisco has already been offered more than 11,000 rooms at local hotels that have emptied out due to coronavirus, according to District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney.   

'Most hotel rooms in San Francisco are empty right now. There are only three to five percent of the rooms are occupied, which means tens of thousands of empty rooms right now,' Haney said.  

In the Friday statement announcing leases on 300 rooms, officials said: 'The City continues to negotiate hotel leases to support additional populations, including: Seniors and vulnerable adults in Laguna Honda Hospital and others in congregate facilities who can be in hotel rooms with a relatively low level of care; COVID-19-exposed and COVID-19-positive frontline health care workers and other first responders; and vulnerable populations who are living unsheltered on the street (age 60+ and those with underlying health conditions).'  

The Emergency Operations Center and Human Services Agency is working on negotiating the costs of the rooms, which will be covered by the city with some funding from state and federal grants.  

'There is a huge range in terms of cost per night. Some are 30 bucks a night, some are as high as $250-300. The average about $100 or close to $100,' Haney said, adding that the cost is worth it.  

'If we don't prevent people from getting sick, either by leaving them in shelters where the virus can spread quickly, or having them out on the streets, that’s going to cost a lot more money than being preventative or proactive.' 

Anand Singh, President of Unite Here Local 2 labor union, said employees would work at the hotels on a volunteer basis. 

He said the program could help alleviate economic hardship in the hospitality industry, where thousands have been laid off due to coronavirus. 

'Nine-thousand of our members work in hotels and the cuts have been quite deep. We see closures occurring almost on a daily basis, so well over 80 percent of our members in hotels are currently laid off,' Singh said.

He said the union is negotiating to make sure workers receive training, protective masks and other gear to protect their health and noted that hotel staff would not be asked to care for medical patients.

'We want to make sure our members working in that space are not unduly exposed, there's no risk of exposure to people who are under quarantine,' said Singh.  

California officials have warned that a recent increase in testing will bring with it a rapidly expanding number of cases in the state. Pictured: A pedestrian crosses Cable Car tracks on a quiet Powell Street in San Francisco on Sunday

A man wears a mask while walking through a nearly empty Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco

California hospitals stock up on ventilators to brace for influx of critical patients as beaches and state parks are closed to slow the spread of coronavirus

California was stocking up on ventilators and fixing outdated ones in anticipation of a shortage at hospitals in the coming days. 

Governor Gavin Newsom said Saturday that the federal government sent 170 broken ventilators from the national stockpile.  

Despite saying he did not wish to blame federal government, Newsom was eager to highlight his initiative in sending the ventilators to be refurbished at Bloom Energy on Saturday, a fuel cell maker in San Jose.

'Rather than lamenting about it, rather than complaining about it, rather than pointing fingers, rather than generating headlines in order to generate more stress and anxiety,' Newsom said, 'We got a car and a truck and we had those 170 brought here to this facility and they are quite literally working on those ventilators right now.'

Newsom added: 'That's the spirit of California. That's the spirit of this moment. Take responsibility. Take ownership and take it upon ourselves to meet this moment head on.'  

In Southern California, people were kept off beaches and hiking trails that normally would have been swamped with visitors during this sunny weekend. 

A stay-at-home order restricts people to all but essential outside activities such as buying food and including only outdoor exercise such as walking or running near home that doesn't put them within six feet of another person. 

Officials closed California's 280 state parks to vehicular traffic on Sunday, citing overcrowding.

'This was the first time that we saw across Southern California our iconic beaches and trailheads, the parks that define who we are, the views that greet us at our best and worst moments weren't there except in our imaginations,' Garcetti acknowledged while thanking residents who heeded orders to stay home.

All beaches in Los Angeles County have been closed to the public as lawmakers plead with cooped-up Californians to spend a second weekend at home to slow the spread of the virus

A man jogs in front of closed-off store fronts in Venice Beach on Sunday

 The US Naval Ship Mercy enters the Port of Los Angeles on Friday to help with the nation's COVID-19 response efforts. The 1,000-bed vessel accepted its first patients on Sunday

Signage lets people know of the Sierra District California State Park parking lot closures in Nevada City on Saturday. The closures are intended to help discourage large groups of people gathering in high traffic places due to the coronavirus

In Northern California, cloudy, drizzly weather led many to stick to the order but the restrictions could be tested soon with dry, warm weather forecast for the coming week.

San Francisco's subway and light rail system will be closed beginning Monday, with buses replacing light rail service. Rail ridership dropped by more than 90 percent when the city virtually came to a standstill.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. 

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

Pedestrians cross an empty Powell Street in San Francisco on Sunday

Union Square in San Francisco sits empty on Sunday as residents were urged to stay inside 

Light traffic is seen on Highway 101 in San Francisco on Sunday

Nursing homes are ravaged by coronavirus clusters as residents are locked into their rooms

Senior homes in Burbank and Yucaipa reported three deaths this weekend in potential outbreaks.

Vernon Robinson, a resident of the Alameda Care Center in Burbank, died Thursday in the hospital after his wife, Willa, said he had tested positive for COVID-19. The 81-year-old had Alzheimer's disease and underlying heart and lung conditions.

'That's not the way I wanted him to leave here,' Willa Robinson, 71, told The Associated Press. 'He deserved more.'

Willa said she last saw her husband healthy on March 13 - the day before the nursing home prohibited visitors. 

She brought him his favorite meal of baked chicken, garlic mashed potatoes and carrots and left with their customary farewell.

'I love you,' she told him. 'I love you more,' he replied.

She sat outside his hospital room Monday for two hours and watched through a glass window as he struggled to breathe. 'I just prayed and asked God to get him out of his misery,' she said.

He died four days later, leaving her to mourn her husband of 55 years alone in quarantine.  

'Nobody can come to me,' Willa said.

Elizabeth Tyler, who represents both assisted-living facilities, said two residents have died from COVID-19 at the Alameda Care Center. She said five other residents and 10 employees have also contracted the virus.

Tyler said the Burbank nursing home had taken the two residents who died to the hospital for symptoms that were believed to be related to other health issues. She said once the facility learned of the positive tests, families of the other residents were contacted.

In Yucaipa, a city of about 53,000 in the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains, Tyler said an 89-year-old woman who lived at the Cedar Mountain Post Acute nursing home died from the virus Thursday.

San Bernardino County public health officials said 12 elderly residents at the home have tested positive in the county's first cluster of COVID-19 outbreak.

The US Naval Ship Mercy, a 1,000-bed medical vessel, enters the Port of Los Angeles on Friday and accepted its first patients on Sunday

Staff work in a ventilator refurbishing assembly line at Bloom Energy campus in Sunnyvale, California, on Saturday.  Bloom Energy is a fuel cell generator company that has switched over to refurbishing ventilators as an increasing number of patients experience respiratory issues as a result of COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus

A new field hospital in Indio, California with 125 beds will help ease the burden on the local hospital system

Number of people attending crisis kitchen at Los Angeles' Skid Row triples as charities say they are overwhelmed and fear worse is coming 

The number of people visiting Los Angeles' notorious Skid Row for free meals has tripled since the city went on lockdown two weeks ago. 

Skid Row is home to 5,000 homeless people – 3,000 of whom sleep in shabby tents or wrapped in blankets on the sidewalk itself.

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city would add thousands of temporary shelter beds to get the population off the streets to protect them from coronavirus on March 19.

But photos taken exclusively by DailyMail.com reveal there has been no decline in the number of rough sleepers in the area, while local charities say they are being overwhelmed by the extra demand – which comes as donations decline.

Georgia Berkovich, of Skid Row's Midnight Mission which provides three meals a day to the area's homeless, says the crisis has seen the numbers coming to them for food shoot up.

She said: 'Around this time of the month, we would normally see 400 to 600 a meal, sometimes as it gets closer to the end of the month, we might go as high as 1.000 a meal.

'This week, we've been seeing 1,700 a meal. We're still serving three meals a day but we're seeing three times the number of people.'

Large crowds could also be seen outside other Skid Row non-profits, including The Weingart Center and Fred Jordan Missions, at mealtimes when DailyMail.com visited last Wednesday and Thursday.

The spike in demand for free meals came as it was announced that 3.3 million people had signed up for unemployment benefits nationwide last week.

Governor Gavin Newsom said last week that 1 million of those claims were made in California alone – parts of which have been shut down for weeks.

But for California's 151,000 homeless community, life has continued as normal despite the lockdown - and in spite of official attempts to help. 

The number of people visiting Los Angeles' notorious Skid Row for free meals has tripled since the city went on lockdown two weeks ago, DailyMail.com can disclose

Skid Row is home to 5,000 homeless people – 3,000 of whom sleep in shabby tents or wrapped in blankets on the sidewalk itself

But photos taken exclusively by DailyMail.com reveal there has been no decline in the number of rough sleepers in the area, while local charities say they are being overwhelmed by the extra demand – which comes as donations decline

In Los Angeles, which is home to 60,000 homeless people, Mayor Eric Garcetti has announced plans to spend $20 million on 1,600 extra shelter beds, with a further 6,000 to be delivered by the American Red Cross. 

Garcetti has also said he plans to put santizer stations around the city and increase the number of Porta Potty units available for the homeless to use. 

In a statement released on March 18, he said: 'We are taking immediate, urgent action to slow the spread of COVID-19 by helping people who are experiencing homelessness come indoors.' 

But when DailyMail.com visited Skid Row, hundreds of homeless people could be seen out on the street – virtually all with little or no protective equipment.

Some were clustered chatting together in groups, while others were slumped over in doorways or passed out under quilts on the sidewalk.

Most shocking of all were the crowds that gathered at mealtimes outside the missions, crammed in on the sidewalk and far less than the recommended six feet apart.

Approached by DailyMail.com about what the city is doing to control the crowds of people on Skid Row, a member of Garcetti's public affairs team said she had no explanation but would ask a member of the operations team to reach out with further information.

At the time of publication, DailyMail.com was still waiting for a response.  

Large crowds could also be seen outside other Skid Row non-profits at mealtimes when DailyMail.com visited last Wednesday and Thursday

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city would add thousands of temporary shelter beds to get the population off the streets to protect them from coronavirus on March 19

LA, Chicago, Detroit and other urban areas look to crisis in New York City as a warning as they brace for an onslaught of coronavirus cases

The US currently leads the world in coronavirus infections with 151,000 cases and 2,787 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to public data reviewed by DailyMail.com, though the true number of cases is thought to be considerably higher because of testing shortages and mild illnesses that have gone unreported.

The government's top infectious-disease expert warned Sunday that the coronavirus outbreak could kill 100,000 to 200,000 Americans as smoldering hotspots in nursing homes and a growing list of stricken cities heightened the sense of dread across the country.

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the dire prediction of fatalities on CNN, adding that millions in the US could become infected.

The number of cases in the likes of Michigan and Illinois were becoming a concern

New York City remains the epicenter of the nation's outbreak, with more than 36,000 cases and 790 deaths. 

But several other cities including Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans, Miami and Boston are now being monitored as potential hotspots, threatening to push the overall case count in the US higher and higher.  

'Every metro area should assume that they will have an outbreak equivalent to New York,' Dr Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday morning.   

Birx has previously said that the White House task force anticipates challenges in areas that have not yet seen widespread outbreaks. 

On Sunday she said the Trump administration is working hard to push supplies such as ventilators out to affected areas to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed - as many across the country are already complaining of dangerous shortages. 

'Hospitals are so busy taking care of the people who are ill, they can't be spending time doing inventory,' Birx said. 'We need to help and support that.'

'The sooner we react and the sooner the states and the metro areas react and ensure that they have put in full mitigation ... then we'll be able to move forward,' she added. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has expressed similar concern for new hotspots.  

Dr John Brooks, head of the CDC's Epidemiology Research Team, said that the US is still 'in the acceleration phase' of the pandemic and that all corners of the country are at risk.

'There is no geographic part of the United States that is spared from this,' he said.

Some experts have said that outbreaks in other parts of the country could be even more devastating than the ones seen in New York City because they are less prepared.    

'I'm worried that New York might not be the worst-case scenario when you think about other states that have even older and less-healthy populations, and fewer hospital beds available,' Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has developed modeling tools designed to help public officials prepare for the spread of COVID-19, told The Washington Post.  

LA, Chicago and Detroit were expected to take on an influx of new hospital patients as cases increase

Above shows the number of US deaths per day and how it has changed over time in March