San Diego County health officials on Friday reported 1,091 new coronavirus cases, a single-day record, with county hospitals hitting 76% of total capacity.
The surge puts hospitals near the 80% level that could require reductions in the number of elective procedures they can perform, according to Friday’s report. County officials have said that 20% of capacity should be preserved to provide a buffer for treating any sudden surge in COVID-19 cases.
Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health officer, plans to meet with hospital representatives on Monday to “discuss the potential for additional action,” according to a county spokesperson.
In addition, 73% of the county’s intensive care beds were filled, according to the report.
Some hospitals are already nearing capacity. At Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, 90% of staffed beds are now occupied, about half of those by COVID-19 patients, officials said. Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista reported an 83% occupancy rate in its ICU, with nine of 20 beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Source: San Diego County reports record number of new COVID-19 cases – Los Angeles Times
At this writing, Baca’s been in the ICU for a grueling 10 days. He says when he was admitted, his blood oxygen level was critically low. Healthy lungs keep blood at about 95%.
For the seven-day period that ended Friday, an average of 10,981 people in California were reported to be infected daily — a number that has more than doubled in just the last two weeks. That is even worse than the peak in the summer, which until now had been California’s worst spike of COVID-19, according to a Times data analysis.
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