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By 
Nick gerda |
As increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations push local hospitals to their limits, Orange County public health official made an emotional appeal to the audience wear masks and avoid being with people living in other households.
“Our hospitals are now being bombed,” said Dr Clayton Chau, who is county health officer and director of the Orange County Health Care Agency, in a public update to county supervisors on Tuesday. .
“Emergency rooms don’t have the capacity to sort people as quickly as possible. We have people waiting to be seen when they get to the emergency room, ”he added, noting that his staff are deploying field hospital beds to local hospitals that have requested them.
“Every day we beat the record for the number of people [been] infected. So I beg the community: please. Please. Do not collect. And be sure to follow public health guidelines. “
After months of public commentary at board meetings where some residents have expressed their opposition to the masks, the county health official categorically rejected.
“The port [of] masks, staying physically separate from people – that’s the only thing that still works to stop the spread of the virus. Let’s do this very, very clearly. There is no argument from the other side, ”Chau said.
“We now exceed 16 million people infected and more than 300,000 people have died from this virus [in this country]. Okay? It is a fact. This number is not wrong, ”he added, raising his voice.
“And the reason we have an increase in cases is that people are coming together and not following public health guidelines. Period. Let’s be clear. There is no argument about it.
The number of Covid patients in hospitals and intensive care in Orange County is now at an all time high, with nearly 1,400 people hospitalized on Tuesday, including 319 people in intensive care. And those numbers are now increasing at their fastest pace in the pandemic, indicating an exponential growth in cases.
“It’s really tough in terms of capacity. Our intensive care units are almost full, ”Jeremy Zoch, executive director of Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, one of Oceania’s largest hospitals, told a press conference on Wednesday.
“We need your help to stay home, stay safe and help us reduce the spread so that we can be able to follow and take care of the community here,” he added.
As Voice of OC has been reporting for weeks, local disease expert doctors have warned of a massive wave of coronavirus hospitalizations after infections started to rise in late October.
Supervisor Andrew Do said he saw with his own eyes how affected hospitals were.
“Unfortunately, last weekend I had to be in intensive care for personal reasons. And I can tell you, from personal observation, that every bed has been taken, ”Do said on Tuesday, after his father died suddenly over the weekend.
“What we are seeing is not a wave but rather a tsunami,” said supervisor Doug Chaffee. He quoted a nurse at St. Jude’s Hospital in Fullerton as saying their intensive care units were at 105% of capacity.
Supervisor Lisa Bartlett warned that when hospitals are completely short of capacity, death rates rise because patients infected with the virus cannot have full access to emergency care.
“You know when people say, ‘Well, our death rate is relatively low.’ But you take a look at what happened in countries like Italy and other parts of the world, where their death rates started to rise exponentially when they ran out of space in their hospitals and their emergencies, ”Bartlett said.
“They lacked capacity and their health care system was overwhelmed. We don’t want to get to the point. So whatever we need to keep doing to get messages across on gatherings, I think we really need to help focus on that and get that message out to the public. Because we need to slow the spread of Covid-19 in our county.
County health officials last week urged all county hospitals to activate surge plans and stop elective surgeries to free up space for the surge in patients.
“The health care system in Orange County is now in crisis resulting from an overwhelming increase in the number of patients infected with COVID,” reads the directive from Dr Carl Schultz, county medical director for medical services of emergency.
“If all hospitals are overwhelmed, it will not be possible to transport patients to hospitals and get them prompt and appropriate care,” Schultz added last week in a written response to questions from Voice of OC. “Patients will be stuck in the ambulance and will not be able to enter the [emergency department] because it is full and overflowing.
Last week, for the first time in the pandemic, all five supervisors began wearing masks at their public meeting – a new practice they have continued this week.
“I have never been so afraid of Christmas and New Years in my life, as I [am] now, ”Chau said.
“Because I don’t want to – I can’t imagine what it would be after the holidays if people don’t listen, and people don’t comply, and people are challenged and come together,” he said. he added with a sigh.
In response to Chau’s requests, supervisor Michelle Steel I called him touching as supervisor Don Wagner said he was making an “exceptional effort”.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to raise my voice,” Chau said.
“You’re really moved today,” Steel replied, laughing. “But you know, I understand that – that we are all very concerned about this virus.”
“I know you work around the clock, and it has been a yeoman’s effort,” Wagner told Chau.
“I want to thank you for that. And I will also say for the audience, I know you hear the voices of those who come here [to speak]. I know you hear the voices of the patients. And I know you hear the voices of healthcare professionals… Thank you for your continued efforts.
Wagner later said that while he was supporting Sheriff Don Barnes for not enforcing mask warrants, he was also for the Sheriff who supported businesses that require masks.
“If you’re not wearing a mask in a business that needs it, go down the street and find someone else. Or better, put on the cursed mask, ”Wagner said.
“If you’re a business owner and want your clients to wear face masks to make them feel safe, this supervisor – and I certainly expect this sheriff’s department and our police to protect fully your right to control your premises and ensure the safety of your customers. . “
The first set of field hospitals are currently being deployed in local hospitals, officials said, with a total of 125 beds going to Saint-Jude, the UCI medical center and Saint-Joseph.
Hospital staff are increasingly stretched as they try to keep pace with the influx of Covid patients entering emergency rooms, officials said.
“Be strong and do [the holidays] different this year. You can help us stay safe… We have nurses, caregivers, housekeepers, who sign up, take extra shifts, work so many extra hours, ”said Zoch, CEO of St. Joseph.
“It’s not good that this person works 6, 7, 8 days in a row. And we don’t want to do that. And so, if you’re healthy and safe and not in the hospital, we can help you balance resources here to care for those who really need it.
“We have had our doctors, we have had caregivers who say, ‘I was only with another family’, ‘I was only with another group’. And then they came in, and they ate together, ”and got Covid, Zoch said.
“We all have, I think, in this community, these stories. And then all the guilt, all the anxiety that comes with it. So I would really like to encourage you, let’s do things differently. Let’s get it right this year for where we are right now. “
Nick Gerda covers county government for Voice of OC. You can contact him at [email protected].
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