'Surge on top of a surge' to challenge California hospitals

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As coronavirus hospitalizations stabilize in parts of California, patients continue to overwhelm hospitals in a large swath of the state and Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Californians Monday to brace for the effect of a surge upon surge upon surge from recent holiday travel.

Intensive care units in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley have no capacity remaining, according to state figures, and Newsom said it was “self-evident” his latest stay home order would be extended Tuesday in places where hospital ICUs have less than 15% capacity.

Newsom said that even with admissions to hospitals plateauing in some places, the state was destined to move into a “new phase” that it's been preparing for as it sets up hospital beds in arenas, schools and tents, though it is struggling to staff them.

“As we move into this new phase, where we brace, where we prepare ourselves for what is inevitable now ... based on the travel we have just seen in the last week and the expectation of more of the same through the rest of the holiday season of a surge on top of a surge, arguably, on top of, again, another surge,” Newsom said.

State officials also notified hospitals Monday that the situation is now so dire that hospitals should prepare for the possibility that they will have to resort to “crisis care" guidelines established earlier in the pandemic, which allow for rationing treatment.

The current surge of cases is due in large part to Thanksgiving travel and celebrations despite warnings from public health officials not to gather as the state was already in the midst of an exponential growth in cases.

That surge has created the greatest challenge for the state’s health system since the pandemic began and has been regularly breaking records for case counts, hospitalizations and deaths from...