California is studying quarantine protocols for people returning from the UK as a result of the new COVID-19 strain that has emerged as the state prepares for a painful Christmas with hospitalizations increasing by 600% in two months.
It comes after British Airways and Delta said passengers must give a negative result before boarding flights to New York after pressure from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday he expects the federal government to take action and enforce quarantine for travelers after 40 countries around the world have banned travel from the UK to try to stop the new mutant variant of the virus .
The state is already battling a wave of COVID-19 with doctors fearing California is on track to become the former epicenter of New York’s COVID-19.
There are currently 16,843 patients cared for across the state by COVID-19 and 3,614 of them are in the ICU, according to the latest data from the state health department.
Just two months ago, there were a total of 2,291 patients, including 657 in the ICU.
The number of people hospitalized is now more than double the previous peak in the state, reached in July, and a state model predicts that the total could reach 75,000 patients by mid-January.
As of Sunday, ICU capacity was at zero percent in southern California and the San Joaquin Valley region.
Currently, Los Angeles County accounts for the largest number of hospitalizations in the state with 5,709 COVID-19 patients.
There are currently 16,843 patients treated in California for COVID-19. The image above shows a selection tent set up Friday on the outskirts of Providence St. Mary, in Apple Valley, California
There are currently 16,843 patients cared for across the state by COVID-19 and 3,614 of them are in the ICU, according to the latest data from the state health department
‘We’re going to be New York, with the accumulated bodies. I wouldn’t be surprised if LA sounded like the new year as the world capital of COVID, ”an unnamed doctor told the LA Times.
“I don’t know how many ways to tell people to isolate themselves and stay home, failing to bring a camera to the ICU and (emergency service) to show them the mess of what we’re going through.”
The average seven-day death toll currently stands at a record 232 daily, with a total death toll currently at just over 22,500.
In comparison, the average seven-day death toll in New York State is 117 per day. At the peak of the state’s outbreak in April, average daily deaths reached averages of 750.
The death toll in New York State is currently 28,600.
As growing COVID-19 cases flood California hospitals and medical staff, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is once again doing a preventive coronavirus quarantine for the second time in two months.
Overflowing hospitals in the state are setting up makeshift extra beds for COVID-19 patients and a handful of harsh Los Angeles County facilities are developing emergency plans in case they need to limit the number of people receiving attention to save lives.
The average seven-day death toll is currently at a record 232 daily, and the total death toll is now just over 22,500.
The average seven-day case in California is now 43,000 per day. To date, the state has 1.8 million infections in the entire pandemic
Los Angeles County Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said there are still no plans for rationing care, but they need to be established because “the worst is yet to come.”
While vaccine shipments are being rolled out to many health workers and nursing homes across the country, it could be months before the shots are available to the general public.
Until then, four hospitals run by Los Angeles County were weighing what to do if they couldn’t treat everyone due to lack of beds or staff.
A document recently distributed among doctors at the four hospitals proposed that instead of trying to save all lives, their goal could be to save as many patients as possible, meaning those who are least likely to survive will not receive the same kind of attention.
‘Some care level commitments are inevitable; it is not that an entity, system, or regional configuration decides to limit resources, but it is clear that resources are not available to provide care on a regular basis, ”the Los Angeles Times document said.
Many California hospitals have already implemented emergency procedures to stretch staff and space.
Currently, all but one of the California regions are under national order, affecting 39 million residents.
Clinicians evaluate a patient at a triage store located on the outskirts of Providence St. Mary, in Apple Valley, last Friday
California increased the supply of body bags by 5,000 last week and put 60 refrigerated trucks on hold, according to Gov. Newsom. One of the trucks was seen outside a state hospital on Tuesday
The Corona Regional Medical Center, southeast of Los Angeles, has converted a former emergency room to treat nearly twice the usual number of patients with ICUs. Two disaster tents are also used to select patients with ER.
Some hospitals have canceled non-essential elective surgeries, such as hip replacements, that could occupy beds that may soon be needed for patients with COVID-19.
Nurses say the collapse of cases means they have less time to spend with patients, many of whom are sicker than ever.
“The more patients we have, the more likely we are to make a mistake, especially if we rush,” said Wendy Macedo, a nurse at UCLA Health Santa Monica Medical Center.
“Obviously, we try to avoid it, but we’re just human.”
California was experiencing “some of the darkest days of our wave of COVID-19,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said, but there was a bit of a Sunday as a group of scientists and experts approved a vaccine developed by Moderna.
In comparison, the average seven-day death toll in New York State is 117 per day. At the peak of the state outbreak in April, average daily deaths reached an average of 750
New York State, which was the initial epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, has reported 804,000 cases
The move paves the way for the distribution of the drug by California and other Western states that reviewed it separately from the Food and Drug Administration.
But with vaccines scarce until spring or summer, political leaders are asking people to stay home and put on masks.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has asked airlines flying to his state from the UK to have all passengers get a coronavirus test before boarding a new strain of COVID-19 that s ‘detected.
British Airways has agreed to apply negative COVID-19 tests before passengers fly to New York City.
It is still unclear whether it will be a requirement for passengers traveling from the UK to Los Angeles.
Currently, those arriving in California from other countries, or even outside the state, must be isolated for 14 days.
People who fly to LAX are required to fill out an online form to say they recognize the quarantine measures.