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What there is to know
- California on Thursday became the third state to exceed 25,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, behind New York with nearly 38,000 deaths and Texas with more than 27,000, according to a count from Johns Hopkins University.
- San Diego County said it has confirmed a total of four cases involving a mutant variant of the coronavirus that appears to be much more contagious.
- None of the men diagnosed with the strain in San Diego County had a known interaction with each other and at least three had not traveled outside the country, leading officials to public health to believe the new variant is “prevalent in the community,” a county ad said.
California hospitals ended the year “on the brink of disaster,” health official said as pandemic pushed death and disease to frightening levels and some medical centers scrambled to provide oxygen seriously ill people.
Meanwhile, fervent calls to stay away from large gatherings – warnings backed by patrolling police and threats of heavy fines – have replaced the usual calls on public holidays to avoid drinking and driving or shooting guns. to celebrate the new year.
Officials have warned that failure to social distancing during the holidays could lead to another outbreak of COVID-19 that could send the state’s medical system on the path to disaster.
Hundreds of people attended a Christian concert in Valencia, seen without a mask. As seen on air on January 1, 2021.
California on Thursday became the third state to exceed 25,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, behind New York with nearly 38,000 deaths and Texas with more than 27,000, according to a count from Johns Hopkins University.
Additionally, San Diego County said it had confirmed a total of four cases involving a mutant variant of the coronavirus that appears to be much more contagious. Other cases have been confirmed in Florida and Colorado.
None of the men diagnosed with the strain in San Diego County had a known interaction with each other and at least three had not traveled outside the country, leading officials to public health to believe the new variant is “prevalent in the community,” a county ad said.
The county also ended the year by announcing a grim new death toll of 62, the highest figure in a day since the start of the pandemic.
Hospitals, particularly in Southern California and in the San Joaquin Farm Valley in central state, have been overrun with patients infected with the virus and no longer have intensive care unit beds for them. COVID-19 patients.
“We’re exhausted and it’s the calm before the storm,” said Jahmaal Willis, nurse and emergency manager at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley. “It’s like we’re fighting a war, a war without end, and we’re running out of ammunition. We have to collect it before the next fight.
Coronavirus hospitals use screenings across the country
This interactive graph uses model data provided by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation to predict how the coronavirus will affect healthcare resources in different states. In states like Florida and California, hospital bed utilization is expected to continue to grow in September and October. Most states have enough general hospital and intensive care beds to meet demand, according to additional data from The Associated Press.
As of Thursday, more than 7,500 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, which has a quarter of the state’s population of 40 million, but has seen 40% of its deaths from the virus.
The virus is pushing hospitals “to the brink of disaster,” county health services director Dr Christina Ghaly said. “It’s just not sustainable. Not just for our hospitals, for our entire healthcare system.
Cathy Chidester, director of the County Emergency Medical Services Agency, said hospitals were facing oxygen issues with so many COVID-19 patients needing it because they were having trouble breathing .
Some COVID-19 patients may require 10 times more oxygen than a normal patient.
Older hospitals struggle to maintain oxygen pressure in aging facilities, and some scramble to find additional oxygen reservoirs that released patients can take home.
Crushing patients meant hospitals had to fight to find places to see even those with non-viral complaints.
Chidester said ambulances were forced to wait in bays for up to eight hours before they could transfer patients inside hospitals – and in some cases doctors were treating patients inside ambulances.
“The current surge in patients… it’s kind of a hidden disaster,” she said. “It’s not a fire. It is not an earthquake. It is not a train wreck that is in public view … Everything happens behind the doors of households and hospitals.
In Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley, only 8% of intensive care beds were available, which was better than in many places. Hospitals are always “taken to the extreme,” said Dr Ahmad Kamal, county director of health care preparedness.
Two months ago, the county had 4.5 cases per 100,000 people. Now he has 50 cases per 100,000.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department tweeted that it was mobilizing a “Super-Spreader” task force to crack down on large illegal New Year’s gatherings. Sheriff Alex Villanueva noted that on average one person in the county died from COVID-19 every 10 minutes.
Fresno City Council has approved a measure that would impose fines of up to $ 10,000 on landowners and New Year’s party organizers that attracted 50 or more people.
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