The enrollment numbers of COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in Los Angeles and the Orange County this weekend, and San Francisco went high for new corona virus cases as space in intensive care units across the state narrowed dangerously.
Two weeks before Christmas these figures paint a bad picture, with holiday trips on the rise despite warnings from public health officials.
On Sunday, 1,236 people were hospitalized in COVID-19 in Orange County and 4,009 in Los Angeles, according to the latest available numbers – both records. San Francisco, which was at the forefront of the corona virus test, reported 323 new cases on Saturday.
Intensive care units in Southern California were only 4.2% as of Sunday, down from 7.4% nationwide, according to the California Department of Public Health. Northern California has the highest capacity, 29%, and the San Joaquin Valley just 1.5%.
Mortality rates may rise if ICUs can no longer accommodate patients. The shortage is less about physical space and the shortage of specially trained nurses to provide 24-hour care. The order to stay in the state came into effect when ICU capacity fell below 15% in many regions.
Sober numbers have come as the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine provided by Pfizer and Bioendech were shipped from a Michigan factory on Sunday.
“This is the beginning of the end,” the government’s Gavin Newsom tweeted on Sunday about vaccine exports. “Let’s crush this curve and get to the finish line.”
Still, public health officials say people should wear health masks and do distance training. Scientists still do not know whether the vaccine prevents the spread of the disease, and initially only a small number of doses are available.
California is about to receive approximately 327,000 doses in its initial package, which is to be given to health workers at direct risk for exposure to COVID-19. The government will be able to get about 2 million doses of vaccines by the end of this month, which will enable 2.4 million health workers in the state to be vaccinated.
Public health officials said it could be spring or summer before the COVID-19 vaccine is made available to the public.
Times staff writers Ben Welsh and Rong-Kong Lin II contributed to the report.