[ad_1]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California is turning baseball stadiums, fairgrounds and even a Disneyland Resort parking lot into mass vaccination sites as coronavirus outbreak overwhelms hospitals and sets new record deadly in the state.
California’s COVID-19 death toll reached 30,000 on Monday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
It took the country’s most populous state six months to reach 10,000 deaths, but barely a month to go from 20,000 to 30,000. California ranks third nationally for COVID-19-related deaths, behind Texas and New York, which is No. 1 with nearly 40,000.
Public health officials have estimated that about 12% of those who catch the virus will need hospital care, usually several weeks after infection as they become sicker.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and public health officials are counting on widespread immunizations to help stem the tide of new infections, starting with medical staff and the most vulnerable elderly, like those in nursing homes.
Newsom, a Democrat, admitted that the vaccine rollout had been too slow and he promised that a million vaccines will be administered this week, more than double what has been done so far.
This effort will require what Newsom has called an “all-terrain approach,” including vaccinations from pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, dentists, paramedics and emergency medical technicians, and members of the Guard. California National.
Orange County, south of Los Angeles County, announced Monday that its first mass vaccination site will be in a parking lot at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. It is one of five sites to be set up to vaccinate thousands of people daily.
The sites are “absolutely essential in stopping this deadly virus,” County Supervisor Doug Chaffee said in a statement.
The state will significantly expand its efforts with new mass vaccination sites in the parking lots at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Petco Park in San Diego, and CalExpo in Sacramento.
Cars lined up early Monday near the stadium in downtown San Diego, where officials aimed to vaccinate 5,000 health workers a day.
“It’s kind of like a walk in Disneyland” with cars passing by, said Heather Buschman, spokesperson for UC San Diego Health, whose medical staff administered the shots.
She said people seemed to be eager to get vaccinated, with more than 12,500 health care workers in San Diego County initially making appointments.
By the end of the week, the city of Los Angeles planned to convert its massive COVID-19 test site at Dodger Stadium into a vaccination center to process 12,000 vaccinations per day.
Los Angeles County is an epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, accounting for about 40% of virus-related deaths in California and a large number of new cases.
Nearly 8,000 people were hospitalized in Los Angeles County on Monday, which had fewer than 50 intensive care units available in an area of 10 million people, said Dr Christina Ghaly, county director of health services. .
As the county saw a drop in the number of new cases, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said it was likely due to a decrease in testing after the New Year’s holidays. She predicted another increase in cases of people who have gathered in insecurity during the holidays.
Ferrer also said COVID-19 still kills someone in the county every eight minutes, on average.
There is a silver lining, with new hospitalizations statewide dropping from around 3,500 a day earlier this month to around 2,500. Some forecasts predict that hospitalizations will level off by the end of the day. of the month.
Yet the recent frightening jumps in new positive cases show that the state may have simply bought time to prepare for what officials still expect to be a “push in more than a wave” in the next few weeks, due to New Year’s celebrations, officials said.
Still, the state could have “some breathing space” for hospitals with depleted staff and oxygen supplies, and for 1,000 new contract medical workers who will be increased by about 1,000 more before the surge spikes, said Dr Mark Ghaly, Secretary. from the California Health and Human Services Agency.
Lawmakers have also continued to advocate for people to maintain their social distancing to slow the spread of the infection. In Los Angeles County, residents were urged to wear masks even when they were at home if they went out regularly and lived with an elderly or high-risk person.
“Dying from COVID in hospital means dying alone,” County Oversight Board Chair Hilda Solis said. “Visitors are not allowed to enter hospitals for their own safety. Families share their final farewells on tablets and mobile phones. “
“One of the most heartbreaking conversations our health workers share is about these last words when children apologize to their parents and grandparents for bringing COVID into their homes, for making them sick,” said Solis. “And these apologies are just some of the last words loved ones will ever hear. “
___
Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press editors John Antczak, Robert Jablon, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link