California on Wednesday set a new record for COVID-19 deaths, with more than 400 fatalities. Hospitalizations are also on the rise, prompting doctors like Dr. Tirso del Junco, Jr., chief physician at global KPC Health Medical Centers, to warn that “we are on the brink of truly catastrophic times.”
Del Junco said Southern California hospitals now face the dire prospect of rationing.
“When you have several patients who suffer from cardiac arrest or a blues code, not everyone can respond to it. So they have to choose. Who do I answer to? Who I don’t answer to?” He said.
Many of the patients with COVID are now between 20 and 30 years old, he added.
California received more bad news Wednesday when joined Colorado inside report a case of the new most contagious strain of coronavirus. The new variant was first published in the UK and has since been identified in several countries.
“We were informed that this new variant, which we have obviously identified from the UK, has been identified here in the state of California, Southern California,” Governor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday during a virtual chat with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading expert on infectious diseases in the country.
“I’m not surprised you have a case, and probably more cases, in California and we’ll probably see reports from other states,” Fauci said. One case has been confirmed in Colorado, and another is suspected.
“Both cases are Colorado National Guard personnel deployed to support staff at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home,” said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, a state epidemiologist with the Department of Public Health and the Environment. Colorado.
Herlihy said the nursing home has an ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that there is no evidence that the new strain is more deadly or resistant to the vaccine. Current guidelines, such as masked clothing and social distancing, have yet to be followed, according to the agency.
Scientists in England believe that the variant spreads much faster and may contain mutations that facilitate infection of children.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that the second case of the Colorado variant has not been confirmed.