California set a new record for COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, reporting more than 400 new fatalities. Hospital admissions are also on the rise, which doctors like Dr. Tirso del Junco, Jr., chief medical officer at KPC Health Global Medical Centers, urged him to warn, “We are on the verge of truly catastrophic moments.”
Del Junco said Southern California hospitals are now facing the grim prospect of rationing.
“If you have multiple patients who go into cardiac arrest or code blues, not everyone can respond to that. So they have to make a choice. Who should I respond to? Who should I not respond to?” he said.
Many of the COVID patients are now in their 20s and 30s, he added.
California got more bad news on Wednesday it joined Colorado in report a matter of the new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus. The new variant was first reported in the UK and has since been identified in a number of countries.
“We were told that this new variant, which we clearly identified from the UK, has been identified here in the state of California, in Southern California,” Gavin Newsom said in a virtual chat with Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday. the best infectious disease expert in the country.
“I’m not surprised you have a case, and probably more, in California and we will probably see reports from other states,” Fauci said. One case has been confirmed in Colorado, and another is suspected.
“In both cases, the Colorado National Guard personnel were both deployed to support the Good Samaritan Society Nursing Home personnel,” said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, a state epidemiologist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Herlihy said the nursing home has an ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday there is no evidence that the new strain is more deadly or more resistant to the vaccine. Current guidelines, such as wearing a mask and social distancing, still need to be followed, the agency said.
Scientists in England think the variant spreads much faster and may contain mutations that make it easier for children to become infected.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that the second case of the Colorado variant has not been confirmed.