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Wednesday, June 7, 2023 | 
U.S. & World

Southern California’s ICU capacity is at 0%. And it’s going to get worse

Officials warned the ICU capacity in Southern California could get worse as the pandemic continues.

By Herb Scribner Herb Scribnerhscribner@deseretnews.com
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In this Nov. 19, 2020 file photo, Dr. Rafik Abdou, right, and respiratory therapist Babu Paramban check on a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles

In this Nov. 19, 2020, file photo, Dr. Rafik Abdou, right, and respiratory therapist Babu Paramban check on a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles

Jae Hong, Associated Press

Southern California has 0% capacity in its intensive care unit beds, and the situation might only get worse moving forward, officials told The Los Angeles Times.

What’s going on?

Hospitals will begin moving patients around to help them receive more care now the ICU capacity is at 0%, according to Los Angeles Times.

  • “That often means moving some patients who would typically be in the intensive care unit to other areas of the hospital, such as a recovery area, or keeping them in the emergency room for longer than normal.”
Related

Patients are receiving intensive care now. But it could lead to a point where there are “too many critically ill patients for the limited numbers of ICU doctors and nurses available, leading to greater chances of patients not getting the specialized care they need. And that can lead to increases in mortality,” according to The Los Angeles Times.

Officials told The Los Angeles Times the number of patients with severe cases of COVID-19 went well past projections. Officials will need to create new forecasts to prepare for what’s coming.

More on California

California recently reported its highest number of reported daily deaths of 379, according to KABC. The record surpassed the previous record, which had been set the day before.

  • The state saw 52,281 new cases of COVID-19.
  • If California were its own country, it would rank behind only the U.S. and Brazil in terms of total COVID-19 cases.