The California government’s Gavin News warning that the intensive care unit’s beds are being filled on Thursday is reverberating in South Bay.
Public health officials in Santa Clara County say the recent spikes in the Covid-19 cases have brought them closer to a new stay-home order. If the bed capacity of an area intensive care unit falls below 15%, a new order will be issued.
Some hospitals in the county already have more than 90% ICU capacity. Each hospital has come up with a surgeon’s plan for how to make more rooms.
“So this will include bringing in beds that are not normally in service. This may include converting some non-clinical areas into clinical areas,” said Ahmed Kamal, director of health care preparation at the Emergency Operations Center.
In San Jose, the Amberwood Gardens Nursing Care Facility has 151 positive cases – 81 residents and 70 staff. The Bacardo Reception Center, a homeless shelter, has reported 60 cases in a single week.
“As the amount of COVID in our community increases, you’ll be able to get more people into the ICU and you’ll be more prevalent in the gathering settings,” said the county’s deputy public health officer, Dr. George Hahn, said.
Officials say setting up outdoor facilities will also be difficult due to a lack of staff as early as the epidemic.
“Nursing staff is thin and deployed across the country, so we are very concerned about the shortage of long-term staff,” Kamal said.
For now, hospitals continue to create ICU space, postponing non-emergency surgery.
The Associated Press contributes to this report.
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