Once believed to be a hotbed for the coronavirus in San Francisco, doctors are not yet seeing the extreme overcrowding in hospitals faced by places like New York.
Right now, UCSF physicians are handling a steady stream of patients with COVID-19 symptoms reaching emergency departments, while also bracing right potential flooding. San Francisco has had 279 confirmed cases as of Friday, and on Thursday the city reported the highest rise in COVID-19 diagnoses. Already more than 4,000 reported cases of COVID-19 are in California.
There were 11 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at UCSF’s Parnassus campus as of Thursday, seven of whom were in intensive care, as per Wachter who made it a point to make this information accessible to the public. The hospital has cut down operations to only those that are necessary in preparation for a future outbreak, making it any less busy than in the months prior to the pandemic.
Wachter said he visited the Parnassus hospital personally on Thursday and noticed that the intensive care unit of the hospital is still packed with vacant beds and the emergency room is still “moderately busy.” Moreover, the UCSF clinics dialled down the number of visitors, with more than 50% of online interactions between doctors and patients now taking place. Since the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients increased at a reasonable pace, the hospital had more time to plan.
Infectious disease experts believe early measures in the area may have slowed the virus ‘progress, including urging people to avoid crowds and shelter in place. Yet experts agree it is still extremely necessary for people to continue to heed public health authorities ‘advice and stay home.
People Needs to Take the Pandemic as a Threat
At any moment, Wachter said he could see the situation taking a dramatic turn. This is for the worse and his team is closely watching for any signs. Some medical experts, such as the cardiologist and researcher Dr Eric Topol, have found. This is from the past few days by analyzing the data. California appears to have taken a turn for the worse.
Wachter emphasized that it is important that people continue to take seriously the pandemic threat. Unless the lockdown doesn’t proceed, people need to stay at home. This is for all those with mild symptoms of COVID-19. Also, for those with no symptoms at all may infect others at a fast rate. About half as many people as New York have been checked by California, conducting just over 66,000-midweek exams. That is far from adequate. Similarly, Mayor London Breed of San Francisco pleaded with people to behave professionally. This is in public environments and threatened to take more drastic action if necessary.
New York City currently has more than 25,000 reported cases of COVID-19. The state deaths have topped 500, as per a New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo briefing Friday. Despite the lack of research, the true number of cases may be much higher.
In New York, the condition becomes so severe that patients move to other facilities at some hospitals. The situation within hospitals characterizes by physicians. This is as “apocalyptic,” with patients dying while waiting for a bed and doctors struggling with limited numbers of ventilators.
Although true figures are difficult to quantify in either area, experts in public health are already investigating. This is why the number of patients sick enough. This is to go to emergency rooms in San Francisco tends to rise linearly rather than exponentially. The two cities had about the same number of reported incidents, two weeks ago.
