One of the main drivers of the
COVID-19 pandemic is
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) capacity as resources such as
hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
staff and
personal protective equipment (PPE) are continuously used up. Although
disaster planning
Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...
for such a contingency had already taken place (and indeed has been updated), the sheer scale of the impact first became apparent on the state level in late November 2020.
Not least amongst the concerns is the tremendous strain on staff and the inability to transfer patients to other hospitals which are likewise swamped, a particular problem in rural states which have commensurate health care infrastructure.
So serious is the issue that
Governor Newsom of California issued a strict stay-at-home order to take effect 48 hours whenever any of that state's five regions -Northern California,
San Francisco Bay Area,
Southern California, Greater
Sacramento,
San Joaquin Valley, and
Southern California reach 15% remaining capacity as projections were that hospitals shall be swamped by Christmas.
References
ICU capacity
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