The California hospital’s capacity once again declined before Christmas Day, as the state faced an overwhelming burden of coronavirus infections and more patients than ever needed care.
More than 19,300 people have been hospitalized with the virus, according to the California Department of Public Health, an increase of 400 patients since the beginning of the week. The space available in intensive care units across the state fell from 1.4% to 1.1%, while the availability of the bay area decreased from 13.5% to 11.4%. Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley are at full capacity.
In total, only 1,373 ICU beds are available across the state.
The hospitalization crisis comes amid the worst increase in the pandemic so far. On Wednesday, the state surpassed 2 million cases of coronavirus just six weeks after reaching 1 million. The cases stabilized slightly after a historical record of more than 61,000 was reported on Monday; the seven-day average is 44,329 cases until Thursday, according to data compiled by this news agency. Another 352 deaths increased the average death over seven days to about 251.
These numbers surpass the peak of the previous summer in California, when the state had a seven-day average of about 9,856 daily cases in mid-July and a maximum of about 145 deaths in early August. The pace has been relentless: since the beginning of December, the seven-day average infection has increased twice, jumping from about 14,000 cases on December 1 to almost 25,000 a week later and adding more than 10,000 weekly cases since then.
The rate of positivity for California tests has also steadily increased, in contrast to the months in which it has followed national trends. As the US test positivity rate has reached about 11% in the past few weeks, California’s has increased to about 13% before dropping just in the past two days, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine coronavirus tracker.
Still, the state is doing slightly better than several of its neighbors and other populous states. The positivity rate for the Texas test is almost 18%, while Nevada’s is about 16% and Arizona’s is almost 14%.
Southern California continued to account for most of the new cases on Wednesday, with the top five counties in Los Angeles, San Bernadino, Riverside, Orange and San Diego contributing about 35% of the day’s 44,361 cases. Los Angeles alone – the state’s most populous county and a former epicenter of the virus – reported 137 of the 352 deaths in the state, or about 38%.
Although the Bay Area continues to have more hospital capacity than the Valley and Southern California, local health officials have begun to beg residents to stay home during the holidays to avoid another sudden increase. With only 35 beds in intensive care units remaining for a county of around 2 million, the Santa Clara County hospital system is “about to be delayed,” said Dr. Ahmad Kamal, director of health care preparation, in an interview on Wednesday.
The county is home to most cases and deaths in all 10 counties in the Bay Area. On Wednesday, authorities reported nearly 1,300 new cases and 17 of the 44 most recent deaths in the region.
“Get your phone now. Cancel any meeting with people who don’t live with you, ”said Kamal. “Please I beg you. “