California set a new record for COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, reporting more than 400 new fatalities. Hospitalizations are also skyrocketing, prompting doctors like Dr. Tirso del Junco Jr., medical director of KPC Health Global Medical Centers, to warn that “We are on the verge of really catastrophic moments”.
Del Junco said Southern California hospitals now face the bleak prospect of rationing care.
“When you have several patients who go into cardiac arrest or code blues, not everyone can respond to them. So they need to make a choice. Who should I answer to? Who do I not answer to?” he said.
Many of COVID’s patients are now in their 20s and 30s, he added.
California received more bad news on Wednesday when joined Colorado inside reporting a case of the most contagious new strain of coronavirus. The new variant was first reported in the UK and has since been identified in several countries.
“We have been informed that this new variant, which we have obviously identified from the United Kingdom, has been identified here in Southern California,” Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday during a virtual chat with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist.
“I’m not surprised that you have a case, and probably more cases, in California and we will probably see reports from other states,” said Fauci. One case was confirmed in Colorado, and another is suspect.
“Both cases are from Colorado National Guard personnel who were sent to support the staff of the Good Samaritan Society House of Health,” said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Herlihy said the nursing home has an ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that there is no evidence that the new strain is more deadly or resistant to the vaccine. Current guidelines, such as wearing a mask and social distance, still need to be followed, the agency said.
Scientists in England believe that the variant has spread much faster and may contain mutations that make it easier for children to be infected.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that the second case of the Colorado variant has not been confirmed.