California’s COVID-19 cases are mounting, and there’s anticipation of thousands of deaths along with them. In response, the state is distributing 5,000 body bags to the hardest hit areas in Los Angeles and San Diego, with 60 refrigerated trailers waiting to serve as morgues.
Hospitalizations in LA County are at an all-time high and ICU beds are running low.
We are closely watching those ICU beds," says Dr. Christina Ghaly, the county's health services director. "What hospitals will do, in addition to doing everything they can do to bring on new staff whether it's through state resources, federal resources or otherwise, is they will increase their cancellations of procedures and services, surgeries - so they can transition more staff and beds to care for COVID patients. And then importantly, they will begin to break ratio or implement team-based nursing."
The state reports ICU capacity for the entire Southern California region has dropped to 1.7%.
"If a hospital were a car, it would be rattling right now," Dr. Robert Levin told CBS news. "The numbers are getting to be astronomical. People are going to die that don't need to die."
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that 295 Californians died from COVID-19 on Tuesday, far outstripping the record of 225 deaths that was set in the previous week. The CA Department of Public Health has not yet reported its tally of deaths from Tuesday, Dec. 15.
The new record comes as cases continue to surge to new levels around the state.