Capacity in intensive care units in Southern California has dropped to zero percent this week, a sign that the recent increase in COVID-19 cases could overload the local health care system.
While officials said the zero percent figure does not mean no beds are available, it is a warning that the ICU’s capacity is getting thinner amid rising cases in the region, the report said. Wall Street Journal.
UCI capacity in Southern California, which includes Los Angeles County
Imperial, Inyo, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties sat at 0.5 percent Wednesday before falling to zero Thursday, according to the newspaper.
In Los Angeles County, more than 1,000 people with COVID-19 receive care in intensive care units, which has quadrupled as of Nov. 1, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In early January, that number could increase from 1,600 to 3,600 patients if transmission trends remain the same, according to the document.
The county has only 2,500 licensed ICU beds.
“If the numbers continue to rise the same way, I’m afraid we’re running out of capacity in our hospitals,” said Dr. Denise Whitfield, associate medical director at the Los Angeles County Medical Services Agency and emergency physician. in Harbor -UCLA Medical Center, he told the Times.
“And the level of attention that all Los Angeles County residents deserve may be threatened by the fact that we are overwhelmed.”
Once the ICU beds are completely full, hospitals operate in surge mode, allowing them to accommodate 20% more capacity, according to the report.
Meanwhile, medical staff working elsewhere in hospitals have been trained to work in ICUs, and even hospitals are looking for nurses from outside the United States.
“There are simply not enough staff trained to care for the volume of patients who are expected to need care,” Dr. Christina Ghaly, the county’s director of health services, told the newspaper. “Our hospitals are under siege and our model shows no end.”
Across the state, the number of people hospitalized for the coronavirus has broken records for 19 days in a row, according to the Times.
On Wednesday, 15,431 people across the state were hospitalized for the virus, exceeding the number of reports on Halloween by more than six.