COVID BACKUP FACILITY FILLING BEDS
Federal overflow station at Palomar Medical Center taking patients
The federal medical station that is designed to help decompress overwhelmed hospitals across the region is up and running at Palomar Medical Center Escondido, according to a statement Monday from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Activated on Dec. 23, the installation, which occupies two empty f loors of the larger structure, has a 200-bed capacity. On Monday, 10 people had been admitted so far, said OES representative Brian Ferguson in an email. Staffed capacity was 15, echoing the reality seen around the state and nation that it’s not just about the beds, but also about the availability of the trained experts needed to deliver care.
“The number of beds that can be opened is limited by the amount of staff available to serve those beds,” Ferguson said. “Should we identify additional staffing resources, more beds could be opened either at this site or other alternative care locations.”
The site was set up in April when it appeared that San Diego County and Southern California may soon be in for the same kind of surge experienced in New York. Now the surge has arrived, and the state has pressed the site into action. Ferguson said the types of patients transferred there will be “individuals who are not intu
bated, can self-feed and who generally require a skillednursing level of care.”
The need for beds, while much, much greater than it was just one month ago, appears to have plateaued recently. The total number hospitalized with COVID-19 diagnoses in the county has bounced around the 1,500 mark for seven days, with COVID-19 filling just under 400 intensive care unit beds pretty consistently over the past week, though the number has gradually decreased from a total of 389 occupied on Dec. 27 to 371 on Jan. 2, according to the county’s latest daily coronavirus tracking report.
Overall, the state has seen a modest decrease in the rate of coronavirus-related hospitalization, said Gov. Gavin Newsom during his customary Monday COVID-19 briefing. He noted, though, that modeling has predicted a “lull before the surge on top of the surge.”
The scenario that many say is now unfolding has to do with the scant week between Christmas and New Year’s weekends. This, some have said, makes it possible for a kind of infection amplification effect to occur if those infected during Christmas gatherings then attended New Year’s Eve parties before they realized they were infected.
Everywhere, Newsom said, health care professionals are bracing for impact. Already in some places, especially the Los Angeles area, there are signs of serious distress. He said the state has now deployed teams to seven hospitals in Los Angeles County and two in San Bernardino County, capable of replenishing depleted stores of oxygen, a critical supply when the virus causes severe lung inf lammation and deadly breathing difficulties.
So far, the oxygen shortage does not appear to have reached San Diego County hospitals. A survey of all local health systems found that all that responded said their stores were adequate.
Kaiser Permanente did not respond.
There was no additional information available Monday on whether additional cases of a new novel coronavirus variant called B1.1.7. have been detected in San Diego County. Four were found after genetic sequencing work at Scripps Research Institute last week, and the spouse of the first, said to be a man in his 30s, was hospitalized after testing positive for a coronavirus infection.
It was clear to many over the weekend that the current stay-at-home orders put in place by the state continue to be ignored in many places, with crowded patios and other spaces, sometimes including unmasked visitors, visible in many parts of the county.
Nick Serrano, deputy chief of staff of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, said in an email that the city’s Police Department contacted more than 100 businesses over the weekend, issuing seven citations to “repeat offenders who blatantly and egregiously defied the call to keep their fellow San Diegans safe.”
“Numerous large gatherings were also dispersed thanks to the efforts of police,” Serrano said. “The City of San Diego will continue to pursue those who actively choose to endanger the health and safety of their neighbors and customers.”
Monday’s report included a total of 3,013 new coronavirus cases reported to the county health department Sunday. The number of positives was among 17,712 total test results reported for a positive rate of 17 percent. That’s significantly better than the 24 percent rate reported Saturday when 3,520 new cases were reported, but it’s roughly in line with the rate observed Thursday and Friday when case totals spiked past 4,400, suggesting that infections that occurred during the Christmas weekend have now begun showing symptoms.