Capacity in Southern California intensive care units has fallen to zero percent this week – a stark sign that the recent increase in COVID-19 cases could overload the local health care system.
While officials said the zero percent figure doesn’t mean absolutely no beds available, it’s a warning sign that ICU capacity is getting leaner amid climbs in the region, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Southern California ICU Capacity – which includes Los Angeles County
Imperial, Inyo, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties – were at 0.5 percent on Wednesday before plunging to zero on Thursday, the paper said.
In LA County, more than 1,000 people with COVID-19 receive care in intensive care units, a fourfold the number as of Nov. 1, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In early January, that number could rise to anywhere from 1,600 to 3,600 patients if transmission trends remain the same, the paper reported.
The province has only 2,500 licensed ICU beds.
“As the numbers continue to rise, I fear that our hospitals will run out of capacity,” says Dr. Denise Whitfield, LA County Medical Director of Emergency Medical Services and an emergency room physician in Harbor. -Ucla Medical Center, told the Times.
“And the level of concern that every Los Angeles County resident deserves could be threatened by the fact that we are overwhelmed.”
Once IC beds are completely full, hospitals operate in peak mode, allowing them to accommodate 20 percent overcapacity, according to the report.
Meanwhile, medical personnel working elsewhere in hospitals are being trained to work in the ICUs – and hospitals are even seeking nurses from outside the US.
“There is simply not enough trained staff to take care of the amount of patients who are expected to come and need care,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, the director of the county’s health services, in the newspaper. “Our hospitals are under siege and our model has no end in sight.”
According to the Times, the number of people hospitalized for the coronavirus has broken records for 19 days.
On Wednesday, 15,431 people were hospitalized statewide for the virus – more than six times the number reported on Halloween.