The order to stay at home was imposed on any region of California where the capacity available in intensive care units fell below 15%. The original order was set to last for three weeks, expiring on December 28.
But Southern California’s ICU capacity is 0%, as hospitals suffer from the steady increase in new patients.
To get out of the order to stay at home, a region needs to have at least 15% of the ICU capacity back. After reaching that mark, projections must predict that the region will remain at that level for at least another four weeks before the order can be suspended.
“The regional home stay order is likely to extend to many regions of California,” state health officials said in a statement released on Saturday. “The regions must remain under the order of regional stay at home for at least three weeks and must continue until the ICU capacity projections for four weeks from the evaluated day are greater than or equal to 15%.”
There are 6,770 patients with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County hospitals, with 20% of them in the ICU.
The San Joaquin valley also has 0% of the ICU capacity, while the bay area has 11.3%; Greater Sacramento is at 16.9% and the rest of Northern California is at 33.9%.
Los Angeles County reported 13,185 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, in addition to 15,538 cases on Friday. The county has reported more than 706,000 cases since the pandemic began and 9,438 deaths.
One person is dying of COVID-19 every 10 minutes in Los Angeles County, according to local authorities.
Hospitals are struggling to make room for the flow of patients, but say that one of the most difficult challenges is not space, but simply having enough staff to provide adequate care.
“It is very busy,” said Dr. Umber Chohan, an infectious disease specialist at Kaiser Permanente. “The emergency rooms, the hospitals, the ICUs. It is very busy. The numbers are increasing. They are higher than anything we saw in the past. They are twice and triple what we saw last time.”
US approves 18 million cases
Another concern is a new strain of the virus that has been observed in the UK. It is described as 70% more transmissible than previous strains. Los Angeles officials say that as the city remains an international travel hub, it will not be surprising to find this new trend here.
The nation has recorded more than 18 million confirmed cases and almost 120,000 hospitalizations.
California recorded more than 2 million cases, with 23,983 deaths.
Despite the concerns, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
About 2 million Americans have already received a COVID-19 vaccine.
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