California on Thursday it became the third state more than 25,000 COVID deaths, following in the footsteps of New York and Texas. In Los Angeles County, many funeral homes are full and caregivers feel they are under siege.
Hospitals in Southern California are at breaking point: 1 in 5 COVID-19 tests come back positive.
“It’s just total chaos,” said nurse Tavonia Ekwegh, who leads the emergency room at Anaheim Global Medical Center. Tents outside the medical center are filling up.
“It’s a war zone, we’re running ambulance after ambulance,” Ekwegh said.
The number of hospital admissions will double in January. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti put it bluntly: the “simple answer” is that LA hospitals cannot treat twice as many patients.
“People will die in the corridors of our hospitals,” said Garcetti. “Our behavior will determine whether people live or die, just as much as what the hospital undertakes.”
He sends out extra patrols to close New Year’s Eve parties. He estimated that “probably more than 1,000” will be cops on the street.
His message to residents of the city is to be “lifesavers, not murderers.”
“If 95% of people do the right thing, it’s still dangerous, let alone 80% of people do the right thing, and it’s disastrous,” said Garcetti.
And for Garcetti, the pandemic is now personal.
‘Our own daughter. Went on a fast food run and some shopping, ”said Garcetti. “She got a positive COVID-19 test. We did everything right and yet it came to our home.”
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