California Is First State To Hit 2 Million Cases, And Hospitals Are Out Of ICU Beds

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A California National Guard medic prepares to check the vital signs of an incoming patient before triage tents outside St. Mary Medical Center last week in Apple Valley amid a surge in COVID-19 patients in Southern California.

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Shots — Health News
‘It’s So Much Worse Than Before.’ Dread And Despair Haunt Nurses Inside LA’s ICUs

California ranks 36th among the 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico in cases per 100,000 people since the pandemic began, the Times reports.

«Another spike in cases in the winter holidays will be disastrous for our hospital system and ultimately will mean many more people simply won’t be with us in 2021, said Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, the AP reported.

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Clinicians work on Wednesday in the former lobby of Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley which has been converted into a care space to treat suspected COVID patients.

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Shots — Health News
Coronavirus Is Surging: How Severe Is Your State’s Outbreak?

A map of California on the state’s dashboard is a sea of purple, a color that indicates very high case numbers – all but three counties are at the «widespread risk level.

The number of new daily cases has declined somewhat in the past few days.

«We are experiencing a modest decline in the rate of the growth, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday, according to the AP. A decline over three days «doesn’t necessarily make a trend … but it’s a modest indication of a possible sign of some good news.

Health workers and officials urged Californians to stay home and not gather for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said public health officials have drawn «a straight line between the surge happening now and gatherings that happened at Thanksgiving.

«If you gather for the holidays, our hospitals will be overrun, Garcetti said on Monday, local outlets reported.

«If people don’t stay home for Christmas this year, we’re going to see something that’s, it’s hard for me to even imagine, Patrick Macmillan, a physician in Fresno County, told the AP. «I think it will break the health care system if people don’t stay home.