The stay-at-home order was imposed in any region of California where available capacity in intensive care units dropped by 15%. The original order lasted three weeks and expired on December 28th.
But ICU capacity in Southern California stands at 0%, as hospitals are undergoing a steady increase in new patients.
To leave the home stay order, a region must return to the ICU capacity of at least 15%. After hitting that mark, projections should predict that the region will remain at that level for at least another four weeks before it can lift order.
“The regional home stay order is likely to extend to many regions of California,” state health officials said in a statement released Saturday. “Regions must remain under the regional order of stay at home for at least three weeks and must continue until ICU capacity projections for four weeks from the day assessed are greater than or equal to 15%.”
There are 6,770 COVID-19 patients in Los Angeles County hospitals, with 20% in the ICU.
The San Joaquin Valley also has 0% UCI capacity, while the Bay Area stands at 11.3%; Greater Sacramento is at 16.9% and the rest of Northern California at 33.9%.
Los Angeles County reported 13,185 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, as well as 15,538 cases Friday. The county has reported more than 706,000 cases since the start of the pandemic and 9,438 deaths.
Now one person dies from COVID-19 approximately every 10 minutes in Los Angeles County, according to local officials.
Hospitals are scrambling to make room for the influx of patients, but they say one of the most difficult challenges is not space, but simply having enough staff to provide adequate care.
“He’s very busy,” said Dr. Umber Chohan, an infectious disease specialist at Kaiser Permanente. “Emergencies, hospitals, ICUs. It’s very busy. The numbers are rising. They’re higher than anything we’ve seen in the past. They’re double and triple what we saw last time.”
The US spends 18 million cases
Another concern is a new strain of the virus that has been observed in the UK. It is described as 70% more transmissible than previous strains. Los Angeles officials say that as the city continues to be an international travel hub, it won’t be uncommon to find this new strain here.
The nation has now registered more than 18 million confirmed cases and nearly 120,000 hospitalizations.
California has recorded more than 2 million cases, with 23,983 deaths.
Despite the concerns, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
About 2 million Americans have now received a vaccine against COVID-19.
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