To the north, in Santa Clara, a doctor said: “What we are seeing now is not normal”.
Every day since November 7, hospitalizations for Covid-19 in California have increased.
As of Thursday, 21,449 Covid-19 patients were in hospital beds across the state, with more than 4,500 of them in intensive care units.
“We are in the middle of a disaster,” said Cathy Chidester, director of the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency, talking about the challenges faced by hospitals due to a lack of resources and personnel.
The amount of oxygen required for each coronavirus patient is putting extreme pressure on the hospital, according to Chidester.
They are also running out of ambulances, while the 911 call response time is getting longer and longer, she said.
Los Angeles County broke its record for the highest number of reported coronavirus deaths in a single day since the pandemic began, with 290 deaths on Thursday, according to data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The high number of deaths includes an accumulation of vacation cases, as well as an interruption of the internet service.
“As we see 2020 coming to an end, we are experiencing extreme conditions in LA County,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, at a news conference. “With no decrease in the number of new cases, our hospitals remain overburdened, as more and more people are rushed to hospitals.”
The medical examiner’s office, which is accepting floods from hospitals that no longer have vacancies in their morgues, is also expected to receive help from the California National Guard on Monday.
About a dozen refrigerated storage units, which were secured in March as part of the county’s “mass fatality plan”, are installed on the downtown Los Angeles campus, according to Captain Emily Tauscher of the coroner’s office. Los Angeles County Medical-Examiner.
The director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Dr. Christina Ghaly, described the situation of medical facilities as “on the brink of catastrophe”.
Some primary care clinics in the health department have had to close or reduce their hours because county hospitals are “incredibly taxed,” said Ghaly.
More than 700 nurses were relocated to fulfill functions in the inpatient units, in the emergency room, as well as in the quarantine and isolation beds provided by the health department. All types of health professionals are being used and the county is asking for additional help.
US Army teams of 75 doctors, nurses and staff are being deployed to the state.
Although no hospital in LA County has formally stated that it is operating under “crisis care”, health officials said that some Southern California hospitals have implemented practices that would be part of crisis care, including redirecting ambulances when facilities are in place. are overloaded.
Ferrer warned that data trends will continue in January and hundreds of people will die each week.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said people need to stay home to help contain hot flashes during the holiday.
“We will still have the most difficult and darkest days,” said Garcetti. “It is so important that we change our behavior. Everyone is doing something, but everyone can do more.”
Statewide problems
Doctors in Santa Clara, 72 kilometers south of San Francisco, are treating some critically ill patients in the emergency room, as there are no rooms in the intensive care units.
“Often, the only time we can move someone is when a Covid patient dies,” said Dr. Marco Randazzo at a news conference. “Despite these conditions, we came to work to do our part,” said Randazzo, pleading with residents to sacrifice New Year’s Eve “for a lifetime of other experiences yet to come.”
California added 27,237 cases of coronavirus on Thursday and 428 deaths. More than 2.2 million Californians have been infected to date, and well over 25,000 have died.
“What we are seeing now is not normal,” said Dr. Ahmad Kamal, of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. “We are clearly not out of danger, we are in the middle of the woods.”
CNN’s Steve Almasy contributed to this report.