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San Diego County hospitals reported a relentless upward trend in COVID-19 patient admissions on Monday, as the governor warned a similar statewide situation would soon result in “deep purple movements In places where the coronavirus is causing the most chaos.
In a noon press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned his administration had spoken to public health directors in places where the virus was particularly hitting hospitals, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.
He said modeling indicated that the number of COVID-19 cases in California hospitals could be two to three times higher than today at Christmas if residents don’t take wearing masks and clothing seriously. other measures which, when widely adopted, have the power to slow the spread of the virus.
Places already in the most restrictive purple level in the state’s COVID-19 risk ranking system can expect to experience more severe restrictions in the coming days, the governor said. Think deep purple, not the 1970s rock band.
Expect a level of restrictions “that is more equivalent, more in line with the stay-at-home order that people were more familiar with earlier this year,” he said.
For those whose memories have become a bit hazy of how it was in March, April and May, think of closed beaches, no haircuts, and certainly no restaurants, inside or out. .
San Diego County has so far taken no action to curb this activity despite more aggressive measures in Los Angeles and some communities in the Bay Area. Public health officials declined to comment on the governor’s statements on Monday, but are expected to hold their regular weekly press conference on Wednesday.
The situation with local hospitals continues to appear more dire by the day, with the number of COVID-19 patients in beds in San Diego County reaching 692 on Sunday. A separate tally maintained by the San Diego and Imperial Counties Hospital Association reached 732 as of Monday afternoon, although that figure includes local military hospitals, unlike the county tally.
Another 959 confirmed cases have been added to the local pandemic total, a number that would have been shocking three weeks ago, but rather looked like a day of decline after record totals in the 1,800 Thursday and Friday. For the second day in a row, no additional deaths were reported, although there was usually a lag on weekends due to delays in processing paperwork.
It wasn’t all bad news on Monday.
Newsom said he had learned that California would receive about 327,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine in the “next few weeks” from Pfizer, the first company expected to receive emergency approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. Later this week, he added, the state will release a specific priority list indicating who will have first access. Already those working in healthcare and nursing homes are at the top of the list, but the governor said the list will become more specific now that a special committee has had time to work to understand who within of these large groups, would benefit the most. from early access.
With about 3 million people, San Diego County contains about 7.5% of the state’s 39 million people. If it received a share of the initial vaccine allocation commensurate with its share of the statewide population, the county would receive about 24,000 doses, although the number of people who could be vaccinated would be about half that number. because each inoculation requires two doses.
Sharp Healthcare, the region’s largest hospital system, was hit hard last week and continued to see its capacity quickly absorbed by those who tested positive for coronavirus. COVID-related admissions were highest at hospitals in Chula Vista and La Mesa.
Brett McClain, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Sharp, said Sharp hospitals contained 282 COVID-19 patients on Monday, double the previous record of 141 set on May 11 and more than five times the collective census of 53 in Sharp Beds in October. 25.
What’s frightening, he noted, is that hospitalizations are known to delay infections by weeks, which means we’re just starting to see the full effects of activity in the community that s ‘is produced at the beginning of November.
“I am very concerned about what will happen in the next few weeks, let alone if we don’t get the message out forcefully before the Christmas holidays,” he said.
After going out over Thanksgiving weekend to do essential groceries, McClain said he was amazed at the number of people he saw outside and without a mask, including many entertaining visitors from out of town.
It’s disheartening, he said, when he realizes that his employees, especially those on the front lines of this pandemic, are seeing the same scenes.
“Our staff are already exhausted to the Nth degree,” he said. “It’s an incredible burden right now, and it makes me angry, you know, when I see people who aren’t wearing masks.
“It’s just not that difficult.
McClain said Sharp has started delaying some operations and scheduled procedures unrelated to COVID-19 as hospitals struggle to keep up with growing demand for the virus. So far, however, he said rescheduling was rare.
Scripps Health, Palomar Health in North County, and UC San Diego Health have all said in emails that they have yet to take similar action.
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