California’s top health official says hospitals in hard-hit Los Angeles County are turning to “crisis care” and bracing for the coronavirus surge to worsen in the new year.
Dr. Mark Ghaly’s comment came Tuesday as he extended strict stay-home orders in areas where intensive care units have few beds.
Ghaly says Southern California and the agricultural San Joaquin Valley have virtually no ICU capacity to treat COVID-19 patients. He says some overwhelmed hospitals don’t have space to unload ambulances or get oxygen to patients who can’t breathe.
The state’s “crisis care” guidelines allow for rationing treatment when staff, medicine and supplies are in short supply.
On Monday, there were 6,914 people with COVID-19 hospitalized across the L.A. County, 20% of them in intensive care units.
Since Nov. 9, average daily hospitalizations for COVID-19 increased more than 670% in L.A. County, health officials said Monday.
California reported more than 31,000 new coronavirus infections Tuesday and 242 deaths. Nearly 25,000 people in the state have died from COVID-19 during the pandemic.