California began 2021 reporting a record 585 coronavirus deaths in a single day after a health official said the pandemic was putting state hospitals on the brink of “catastrophe,” as some medical centers spend difficulties in providing oxygen to critically ill patients.
More than 47,000 new confirmed cases were reported, the California Department of Public Health said Friday, bringing the total to more than 2.29 million.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s office announced that the state will begin collaborating with the Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate and modernize outdated oxygen supply systems at six hospitals in the Los Angeles area.
Assessments could begin as early as Saturday, according to a statement from the governor’s office. Older hospitals are struggling to maintain oxygen pressure in aging infrastructure, and some are struggling to locate additional oxygen tanks so that patients who have been discharged can be taken home.
“By working to modernize failing oxygen supply systems in these older hospitals we can improve the ability to provide medical care to sustain the lives of those who need it,” said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Office of the California Governor’s Emergency Services, in a statement Friday.
California on Thursday became the third state to surpass 25,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, behind New York with nearly 38,000 deaths and Texas with more than 27,000, according to a Johns Hopkins University count.
In addition, San Diego County indicated that it had confirmed a total of four cases involving a variant of the coronavirus that appears to be much more contagious. Other cases of this variant have been confirmed in Florida and Colorado.
More than 7,600 people were hospitalized Friday with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, home to a quarter of the state’s 40 million people, but it has suffered 40% of its deaths from coronavirus.
The virus is putting hospitals “on the brink of disaster,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of health services in the county. “This is simply not sustainable. Not just for our hospitals, but for our entire health care system.”