Coronavirus deaths increase as hospitals and nursing homes enter the battlefield

(TNS)-Hospitals and nursing homes are at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus in California as the number of cases and deaths continues to increase.

Over the past four days, the number of intensive care patients in the state has tripled (from 200 to 597), and hospitalizations have almost doubled from 746 to 1,432. By Tuesday morning, the number of confirmed cases had exceeded 7,400, with 149 deaths.

Modeling suggests that the state will need 50,000 new hospital beds by mid-May, said Dr. Mark Gurley, California’s Secretary of Health and Human Services.

“We anticipate that we will need it for the second half of May,” said Gurley. “So we are very busy trying to build for it.”

On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsam urgently called on retired healthcare professionals and students approaching graduation to participate in the expected surge in coronavirus patients.

He engaged 37,000 healthcare professionals by asking the state’s recently retired providers, those in the process of obtaining a medical license in the state, and students enrolled in medical or nursing schools to apply for the newly created California Health Corps He said he believed he could add others.

Newsom’s message to those with medical experience was clear. “We need you”
Nursing homes are a frequent setting for outbreaks of coronavirus throughout the state.
Los Angeles County officials are investigating outbreaks in 11 nursing homes, including Kensington Assist Living in Redondo Beach, Alameda Care Center in Burbank, and Silverado Beverly Place in Los Angeles.

This is almost four times the number of nursing home outbreaks announced by the county authorities on Friday. The county defines an outbreak as three or more cases involving the resident or staff of the facility.
The county’s Public Health Service was also investigating reports of at least one suspected coronavirus infection in seven additional nursing homes as of Monday afternoon. Of the county’s 44 deaths from the coronavirus, six are residents of nursing homes.

“Our investigation team will work with the managers at each site to review the implementation of infection control, quarantine, and quarantine protocols,” a Ministry of Health representative said in an email to the Times.

Outbreaks of the virus occur in nursing homes nationwide and can be phenomenal in speed and catastrophic. One of the first hotspots in the United States was the Life Care Center Nursing Home in Kirkland, Washington. There, two-thirds of the population and 47 workers fell ill, and 37 died.
Charlene Harrington, professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco, said families with loved ones in nursing homes should consider taking them home seriously if possible.

“The risk of exposure is very high,” said Harrington, who has been studying nursing homes since the 1980s. “That is a terrible concern.”

Skilled nursing rehabilitation centers at Laguna Honda Hospital and San Francisco’s rehabilitation centers are exacerbating the outbreak of coronavirus outbreaks.

Mayor London Breed said nine employees and two patients at the large facility tested positive. A state infection control nurse and an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been sent to San Francisco for assistance.

Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco’s director of public health, said: “Unfortunately, things will worsen,” Colfax said, as nursing homes around the world increase the risk of a COVID-19 pandemic.

In San Mateo County, the National Guard was preparing to install medical cots and equipment at the San Mateo Event Center. A federal treatment facility can accommodate 250 patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms.

“The latest projections are that the surge in healthcare could push the capacity of hospitals in the county to a limit, requiring another place to accommodate patients who need a particular level of treatment.” Said Mayor Mike Karagi. “We can’t wait to see if this happens.”
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