LOS ANGELES (AP) – Overcrowded California hospitals are setting up makeshift extra beds for coronavirus patients, and a handful of harsh Los Angeles County facilities are developing emergency plans in case they need to limit of people receiving care that saves their lives.
The number of people hospitalized in California with COVID-19-confirmed infections exceeds twice 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.
Plans for rationing care don’t exist yet, but they need to be set because “the worst is yet to come,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of health services in Los Angeles County.
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 less likely to survive would not receive the same. type of care.
“Some commitment to the standard of care is 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.
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.
Overall, the state’s ICU capacity was only 2.1% on Sunday. 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,” Wendy Macedo said. a nurse at UCLA Health Santa Monica Medical Center. “Obviously, we try to avoid it, but we’re just human.”
CVS and rival Walgreens began providing shots last week at some long-term care sites in Connecticut and Ohio, and both companies said they would expand their programs to 12 states starting this week. These states include Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon and Vermont, CVS Health said Monday.
CVS plans to make three visits to each site to give residents and staff their initial shot and then reinforcement. Expect to complete the program in about three months.
Also Monday, President-elect Joe Biden received his first dose of live television vaccine as part of a growing effort to convince the American public that inoculations are safe.
Biden took a dose of Pfizer vaccine at a hospital not far from his home in Delaware, hours after his wife, Jill Biden, did the same. The injections came on the same day that a second vaccine, produced by Moderna, will begin arriving in the states. He joins Pfizer in the nation’s arsenal against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now killed more than 317,000 people in the United States and revolted lives around the world.
But with vaccines scarce until spring or summer, political leaders continue to urge people to stay home and wear masks.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has asked airlines flying to his state from the UK to have all passengers take a coronavirus test before boarding. At least one airline, British Airways, has agreed, the Democrat said.
Cuomo wants US government to temporarily stop flights from the UK due to the emergence of a new strain of the virus in this country.
Scientists are working to determine if the strain spreads more easily, said Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific advisor to the U.S. government’s COVID-19 vaccination effort.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Sunday announced new restrictions on social gatherings, though he refused to apply a mask warrant despite requests from front-line health workers. Tennessee, one of the twelve states without a mask warrant, is experiencing the highest new per capita cases in the country.
Instead of a masked warrant, the Republican signed an executive order limiting public meetings to 10 people. However, places of worship, weddings and funerals are exempt.
With more than 2,300 patients with viruses hospitalized in Alabama and cases are steadily increasing, health officials issued new requests to take precautions.
“Our ICU is full and praying for a Christmas miracle,” Decatur pulmonologist Dr. James Boyle said Monday. “I hope the forecast models are incorrect. I pray that the numbers of infection and death will decrease after Christmas.
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Associated Press writers Tom Murphy in Indianapolis, Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.