California began 2021 with a record 585 deaths from coronavirus in one day after a health official said the pandemic is putting state hospitals on the “brink of catastrophe,” as some medical centers struggle to provide oxygen to the critically ill.
More than 47,000 new confirmed cases were reported, the California Department of Public Health said Friday, bringing the total to more than 2.29 million.
Gavin Newsom’s office announced that the state will partner with the Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate and modernize outdated oxygen delivery systems at six hospitals in the Los Angeles area.
The evaluations could even begin on Saturday, according to a statement from the governor’s office. Older hospitals are struggling to maintain oxygen pressure in outdated infrastructure, and some are struggling to find extra oxygen tanks for discharged patients to take home.
“By working to modernize the failing oxygen delivery systems in these older hospitals, we can improve the ability to provide life-supporting medical care to those in need,” said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Office of Emergency Services. from the California governor in a statement Friday.
California became the third state on Thursday with more than 25,000 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began, after New York with nearly 38,000 dead and Texas with more than 27,000, according to a Johns Hopkins University census.
In addition, San Diego County said it had confirmed a total of four cases involving a variant of the coronavirus that appears to be much more contagious. Other cases of this variant have been confirmed in Florida and Colorado.
More than 7,600 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 Friday in Los Angeles County, which is home to a quarter of the state’s 40 million people, but 40% of deaths have been caused by the coronavirus.
The virus puts hospitals “on the brink of catastrophe,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of regional health services. “This is just not sustainable. Not just for our hospitals, but for our entire healthcare system.”