California is considering quarantine protocols for people returning from the UK as a result of the new COVID-19 strain that has surfaced there – as the state braces for a grim Christmas with 600 percent hospital admissions in two months.
It comes after British Airways and Delta said travelers should test negative before boarding flights to New York City under pressure from New York government Andrew Cuomo.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said Monday that he hopes the federal government will take action and enforce quarantine for travelers after 40 countries around the world have banned travel from the UK in an effort to stop the new mutant variant of the virus.
The state is already facing a COVID-19 wave, with doctors fearing that California is on track to become the former COVID-19 epicenter of New York.
There are currently 16,843 patients being treated in the state for COVID-19 and 3,614 of them are in the ICU, the latest data from the state health department shows.
Just two months ago there were a total of 2,291 patients, 657 of whom were in the ICU.
The number of people hospitalized is now more than double the state’s previous peak, reached in July, and a state model predicts the total could reach 75,000 patients by mid-January.
As of Sunday, ICU capacity was zero percent in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley region.
Los Angeles County currently accounts for the most hospital admissions in the state with 5,709 COVID-19 patients.
There are currently 16,843 patients across California being treated for COVID-19. Pictured above is a triage tent set up outside the Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, California on Friday
There are currently 16,843 patients being treated in the state for COVID-19 and 3,614 of them are in the ICU, the latest data from the state health department shows.
“We’re going to New York, with bodies piling up. It wouldn’t be surprised if LA enters the New Year as the COVID capital of the world, ”an unnamed physician told the LA Times.
“I don’t know how many ways I have to explain to people how to isolate themselves and stay at home, other than taking a camera to the ICU and (emergency room) to show them the mess of what we’re going through.”
The seven-day moving average for deaths is currently at a record 232 per day with the total death toll now at just over 22,500.
In comparison, the seven-day moving average for deaths in New York State is 117 per day. At the height of the state outbreak in April, the average daily death rate rose to an average of 750.
The death toll in New York State is currently 28,600.
As rising COVID-19 cases are flooding California hospitals and putting pressure on medical staff, California Governor Gavin Newsom finds himself in precautionary coronavirus quarantine for the second time in two months.
Overwhelmed state hospitals are setting up makeshift extra beds for COVID-19 patients, and a handful of facilities in hard-hit Los Angeles County are drafting contingency plans in case they need to limit how many people receive lifesaving care.
The seven-day moving average for deaths is currently at a record 232 per day with the total death toll now at just over 22,500
The seven-day moving average of California cases is now at 43,000 per day. The state has had a total of 1.8 million infections so far during the pandemic
Los Angeles County Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said the rationing plans do not yet exist, but they must be decided because “the worst is yet to come.”
While shipments of the vaccine are rolled out to many health professionals and nursing homes across the country, it could take months for the shots to be available to the general public.
Until then, four Los Angeles County hospitals are weighing up what to do if they can’t treat everyone because of a shortage of beds or staff.
A document recently circulated to doctors at the four hospitals suggested that instead of trying to save each life, their goal could shift to saving as many patients as possible – meaning those less likely to survive the same. kind of concern.
‘A compromise in the standard of care is inevitable; it is not that an entity, system or locale chooses to limit resources, it is that the resources are clearly not available to provide care in a regular manner, ”said the document obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Many California hospitals have already implemented emergency procedures to expand staff and space.
All but one of California’s regions are currently under state control, affected by 39 million residents
Doctors evaluate a patient last Friday in a triage tent set up outside Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley
California increased its body bag stock by 5,000 last week and put 60 refrigerated trucks on standby, Gov. Newsom said. One of the trucks was seen outside a hospital in the state on Tuesday
Corona Regional Medical Center southeast of Los Angeles has converted an old emergency room to treat nearly double the number of ICU patients. It also uses two disaster tents to triage ER patients.
Some hospitals have canceled non-essential elective surgeries, such as hip replacements, which could potentially take up beds that could soon be needed for COVID-19 patients.
Nurses say crushing cases means they have less time to spend with patients, many of whom are sicker than ever before.
“The more patients we have, the greater the risk that we will make a mistake, especially if we’re in a hurry,” says Wendy Macedo, a nurse at UCLA Health Santa Monica Medical Center.
‘We try to avoid that, of course, but we are only human.’
California was experiencing “some of the darkest days of our COVID-19 wave,” said Governor Gavin Newsom, but there was a bright Sunday when a group of scientists and experts endorsed a vaccine developed by Moderna.
In comparison, the seven-day moving average for deaths in New York State is 117 per day. At the height of the state outbreak in April, the average daily death rate rose to an average of 750
New York State, the first epicenter of the US outbreak, has recorded 804,000 cases
The move paves the way for the drug’s distribution in California and other Western states that have separately reviewed it from the Food and Drug Administration.
But with limited availability of vaccines until spring or summer, political leaders are calling on people to stay at home and wear masks.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked airlines flying to his state from the UK to have all passengers take a coronavirus test before boarding over a new strain of COVID-19 that has been detected there.
British Airways has agreed to enforce negative COVID-19 tests before passengers fly to New York City.
It is not yet clear whether that will be a requirement for passengers traveling from the UK to Los Angeles.
Currently, those coming to California from other countries, or even out of the state, must isolate themselves for 14 days.
People flying into LAX must complete an online form to say they acknowledge the quarantine measures.