Hospital officials on Tuesday pleaded with the public to follow coronavirus precautions as cases increase and staff and space in local hospitals decrease to dangerous levels.
At Riverside Community Hospital – where authorities said 214 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized – an old cafeteria was converted last weekend as an alternative treatment space to deal with the growing number of patients waiting in the emergency department. for a hospital bed.
“What I see is devastation, ” the hospital’s head of nursing, Annette Greenwood, told City News Service.” I’ve been a nurse for 33 years and I’ve never seen anything like it. ”
She said the current increase in coronavirus cases can be attributed mainly to Thanksgiving meetings. The potential impact of the Christmas holiday has just begun to show.
“I think we haven’t seen what the Christmas wave will be like yet. And that’s what’s scaring us to death. They’re talking about doubling the numbers we’re seeing now and it would overwhelm us,” Greenwood said.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday that Americans can expect to begin receiving their direct relief payment COVID-19 through direct deposit as early as Tuesday night.
The California National Guard deployed nine members of its medical team
body to help the hospital’s emergency department and six nurses to help the
ICU, but officials said the hospital remains understaffed, with an ICU that is
completely full.
“There are no additional resources to be gained in terms of nurses,” said Greenwood. “People are getting extra shifts. They are everything for these COVID patients. You cannot have your family with you because of the risk, so we are praying with these patients, we are helping them to call their families, we are singing with them and when we need it, we are being the last hand to hold before people pass to Eternity. And so, emotional tension, along with physically, is simply overwhelming for the team. ”
Kaiser Permanente’s Riverside and Moreno Valley medical centers reported that their intensive care units are also full and have had to convert conference rooms, waiting rooms and other hospital areas into patient care areas as part of their emergency plan .
The facility is treating 211 patients with COVID-19, officials said.
Riverside University Health System-Medical Center officials said the unit was implementing an emergency plan and that its ICU was full, with beds in other parts of the hospital filling up quickly.
“I just can’t seem to reach enough to say, please wear a mask, please, social distance. Don’t get together on New Year’s Eve, please don’t, ”said Greenwood.
On Monday, coronavirus hospitalizations across the county totaled 1,367, 40 more than on Thursday, according to the RUHS. This includes 282 patients in intensive care units, 27 more than last week.
That number of people with COVID-19 in intensive care units has increased by 151% since November 27.