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California orders body bags as intensive care swamped by Covid
LOS ANGELES, Dec 16, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – California officials ordered thousands
of extra body bags Tuesday as record coronavirus cases left Los Angeles with
fewer than 100 intensive care beds available for a county of 10 million
people.
The situation has grown severe across southern parts of California, which
was praised for its response at the start of the pandemic in spring, but
which has seen Covid-related hospital admissions soar sixfold since mid-
October.
Beyond Los Angeles, health authorities have sounded the alarm in nearby
Ventura and Riverside counties, operating with 99 and 100 percent of ICU
capacity used up respectively.
Ambulance waits of up to five hours before patients can be transported to
crowded hospitals have been reported.
“We just had to order 5,000 additional body bags… that should be
sobering,” said Governor Gavin Newsom, warning the state is “in the middle of
the most acute peak” of the disease.
“I don’t want… to scare folks. But this is a deadly disease, and we need
to be mindful of where we are.
“We are not at the finish line yet,” he added.
Although vaccinations began in several California cities Monday, the
process is expected to come too late to stem the state’s third wave of
coronavirus.
John Murray, a spokesman for UCI Health in Orange County, admitted the
demand on his hospital was “great” but added: “We’re managing it.”
“We have the ability to convert other units into ICUs fairly quickly.”
But with remaining ICU capacity across southern California down to just
1.7 percent, some experts warned the lack of specialized care could trigger a
spike in mortality.
“Many folks may be thinking that this is just not anything to be really
worried about because hospitals can just add more beds — the reality is
every bed needs to be staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare
workers,” said Los Angeles County public health director Barbara Ferrer.
“We don’t have an endless supply of healthcare workers, and those that are
here saving lives every day are exhausted.”
– ‘Astronomical’ –
Worsening matters, officials warned that daily cases and deaths could rise
further as people continue to gather for parties, indoor religious services
and youth sport competitions — all of which are technically banned.
Most of California’s residents were placed under a new version of lockdown
last week, with 33 million residents banned from gatherings between
households and “non-essential” activities.
“The numbers are getting to be astronomical. People are going to die that
don’t need to die,” Ventura County public health officer Robert Levin told
the Los Angeles Times.
In Los Angeles, prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against a downtown
nightclub that continued to host late-night, underground raves in violation
of Covid restrictions.
“We’re in the middle of the most acute peak as it relates to what we refer
to as the third wave, and what we hope is the final wave of this disease,”
said Newsom, urging Californians not to become complacent.
California has recorded more than 1.6 million coronavirus cases and 21,000
deaths since the pandemic began.
Last week, COVID-19 killed an average of 163 people every day in
California, up from 41 a month earlier.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” said Newsom. “We’re still in
the tunnel.”
BSS/AFP/MSY/0802 hrs