Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley will come under a new stay-at-home order beginning Sunday night after their available intensive care unit capacity fell below 15%, creating a critical shortage of ICU bed space in hospitals.
They will join several counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, which are planning to implement similar stay-at-home orders Sunday night and Monday morning, without waiting to cross into the threshold that would require action by the state.
By Tuesday, the stay-at-home orders will be in effect in 28 counties encompassing 84% of California’s population, affecting more than 33 million Californians.
For Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, the order will last at least until Dec. 28 — and will only lift, at that time, if available ICU capacity projections for the following month reach 15% or greater.
The Bay Area orders are expected to remain in effect through Jan. 4, unless crowding in the region’s intensive care units improves earlier than anticipated.
They’re getting more crowded than ever, and unless something is done to turn the tide, California’s intensive care unit capacity will be overwhelmed.
Mortality rates can dramatically increase when ICUs are stretched beyond capacity, and officials have already warned there are a limited number of doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers adequately trained in intensive care.
Quality of care can decrease substantially if hospitals are forced to transfer critically ill patients to other parts of the medical facilities that are not normally designed to care for such patients.
Nearly 20,000 Californians have died after being infected with the coronavirus, responsible for the worst global pandemic in more than a century. Unless the current surge in cases is turned around, California’s death toll could double by the end of winter.
Here’s a look at the remaining capacity of ICU wards in the five regions of California, as of Saturday, according to the the state Department of Public Health.
- Bay Area: 21.7%
- Greater Sacramento Region: 21.4%
- Rural Northern California: 24.1%
- Southern California: 12.5%
- San Joaquin Valley: 8.6%
When other regions’ ICU availability falls below 15%, as is expected this month, the state will order the stay-at-home order to take effect within 24 hours.
