S.F. braces for ‘major surge’
City to open new facility to handle nonCOVID-19 patients
Predicting a “major surge” in critical coronavirus cases in the coming weeks, San Francisco officials said Thursday they will shift non COVID-19 patients to a new inpatient facility in the Presidio if it becomes necessary to clear hospital beds for virus patients.
The temporary medical center will be set up in a pair of warehouses behind the Palace of Fine Arts on Gorgas Avenue, and will treat up to 93 patients who are not infected with the coronavirus, county officials said.
The announcement comes as San Francisco is seeing a significant uptick in people hospitalized with COVID-19: The number reached 109 Thursday, up from 26 six weeks ago, Dr. Grant Colfax, the city’s public health director, said Thursday. Of those currently hospitalized with the coronavirus, one quarter — about 27 patients — are in intensive care, he said.
“Let me be clear: We are in a major surge of COVID-19,”
Colfax said. “The virus is moving fast and more people are getting seriously ill.”
San Francisco still has hospital beds available, so patients won’t immediately be moved to the temporary center. But Colfax said the city “must continue to prepare” for what’s to come.
The city appears to be the only Bay Area county setting up overflow hospital spaces for non-COVID19 patients, although the surge is not confined to San Francisco. Across the Bay Area, hospitalizations remain 23% higher than they were two weeks ago, with 807 people in the hospital with COVID19.
The surge in hospitalizations came as COVID19 deaths across California topped 9,000 on Thursday, a somber milestone reflecting an average of 153 deaths a day over the last three days. In all, 9,003 deaths have been recorded since the pandemic began.
Statewide, an average of 97 people a day have died this month from COVID19, compared with an average of 64 people each day in June.
The surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths indicates how quickly the virus spread after many counties eased shelterinplace restrictions — and how difficult it is to control.
The number of new coronavirus cases recorded each day has more than doubled across the state this month compared to last month: 8,638 a day in July, compared to 4,007 in June.
Last week, the number of coronavirus cases in California soared past 400,000, giving the state the dubious distinction of having the most infections in the country. On Friday, just 10 days later, cases are expected to pass half a million. The state recorded 492,738 infections on Thursday.
Florida has the second highest case count. And on Thursday, Texas passed New York for the third highest number of cases.
The Bay Area, which recorded 52,324 cases on Thursday, has seen an average of 806 new cases a day, compared with 393 a day in June.
And in San Francisco, if the case surge continues at the current rate, public health officials said they expect to reach an average of 750 hospitalizations a day by mid-October.
In a “plausible worstcase scenario,” Colfax said, that would mean 2,400 people hospitalized by then — and as many as 1,800 deaths by the end of the year.
“These scenarios unfortunately become more likely as each day goes by with the current trends,” he said.
Colfax urged residents to wear masks — a message that Gov. Gavin Newson reiterated Thursday.
“Your actions can literally save lives. Be smart. Do your part. WEAR A MASK,” the governor wrote on Twitter.
San Francisco Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who joined Colfax Thursday in announcing the inpatient center, said that demand for acute care and ICU beds in San Francisco has grown by 15% each week this month.
“Opening this facility will allow the city to shore up our medical resources and bolster our hospital capacity. In doing so, we are proactively preparing for future COVID19 surges,” Stefani said.
Also this week, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced new programs to help the city’s Latino residents learn more about the coronavirus health orders and services designed to help them through the pandemic.
Latinos, who make up 15% of the city’s population, account for half of its coronavirus cases, data show. Public health experts say that crowded living situations and the fact that many Latinos work in essential jobs that make it hard to practice social distancing are the main reasons for the disparity.
The nonprofit “La Familia Unida Contra COVID19” (Families United Against COVID19) campaign will include culturally sensitive messaging about the coronavirus and about resource programs focused on food, housing, finance, and mental health services, Breed’s office said.