Grim start in 2021 as SF, California set coronavirus records

The start of 2021 has been grim for many patients and healthcare workers as the coronavirus continued to skyrocket in California and the country, leading to a record number of deaths statewide while forcing some hospitals to breaking point.

California reported 585 deaths from COVID-19 as of Friday afternoon, the most in a single day since the start of the pandemic. New confirmed cases in San Francisco jumped to 447 – also a one-day high, according to an analysis by Chronicle. The previous record, set on December 17, was 420 new cases.

Nationally, the total number of infections topped 20 million – the highest number of any country – as vaccine deliveries were well behind the Trump administration’s promises.

Hospitals across California are running low on space and staff in their intensive care units, where COVID-19 patients often have to be treated and strapped to machines for weeks.

Two huge swathes of the state – the San Joaquin Valley and southern California – now have zero percent intensive care capacity, according to figures released by the State Department of Public Health on Friday. The Bay Area ICU’s capacity is 6.3%, while Greater Sacramento is at 11.1% and Northern California at 33.3%.

“My biggest impression when I look at these numbers is just fear,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. He explained that while doctors now have more tools and therapies to fight COVID-19 than at the start of the pandemic, those benefits don’t mean much if a hospital is overwhelmed with more patients than it does at the start of the pandemic. ‘he can’t take it.

“You can have the best therapy in the world,” Chin-Hong said, “but“ if you bring in a lot of people, you just can’t deal with it the same way.

The situation is particularly dangerous in Los Angeles, where the unprecedented volume of COVID-19 patients makes it difficult for hospitals to provide enough oxygen to keep patients alive, prompting Governor Gavin Newsom to deploy specialists from the Army Corps of Engineers.

The governor’s Office of Emergency Services announced Friday that at six aging Los Angeles area hospitals, military experts will assess and improve oxygen systems starting Jan. 2.

“By working to upgrade the problematic oxygen delivery systems at these older hospitals, we can improve the ability to provide essential medical care to those in need,” said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the office of emergency services, in a press release.

Hospitals in the Bay Area aren’t as stressed, according to figures from the state’s health department. The UCSF system still has 30% of its critical care capacity available, Chin-Hong said.

“We’re doing pretty well as a county of San Francisco, but again our borders are porous,” Chin-Hong said. “The epidemic in California is now being fueled by Southern California and the Central Valley. It just takes a matter of time for this risk to increase. “

He added that the situation here would likely get worse here before it gets better, as Friday’s figures do not include anyone who was infected around Christmas.

Despite repeated warnings from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities that people should stay home over Christmas, many Americans have not listened. Nearly a million people took the plane and flew on Christmas Eve, the Transportation Security Administration reported.

Officials also fear that a multitude of parties and gatherings around the New Year could also lead to another outbreak of coronavirus cases.