Coronavirus hits California hospital workers hard, including more than 175 cases at UCLA

Marsha Santini, a RN at UCLA Medical Center, along with fellow nurses protest the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline health care workers at the UCLA Ronald Regan Medical Center in Los Angeles.(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Apr 17, 2020 / 08:37 AM PDT

Updated: Apr 17, 2020 / 08:37 AM PDT

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The coronavirus has infected California medical workers with much greater intensity than has been publicly revealed, including more than 175 cases at UCLA, according to records reviewed by The Times and a source with knowledge of the situation.

The virus has spread in UCLA’s outpatient clinics, geriatric and labor and delivery units, and in the pediatric intensive care unit, the source said.

The infections at healthcare facilities include at least eight cases involving medical workers at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica; 30 at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in San Pedro who are positive or awaiting results; six at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in Silicon Valley, including one death; 10 at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento; five at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; and hundreds scattered among numerous elder care and assisted living sites throughout the state.

“Because hospitals are not being forthcoming with the information on their employees, I am sure there are clusters that nobody even knows about,” said Steve Trossman, public affairs director of Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), which represents nearly 100,000 healthcare workers. “That is just wrong for people not to know that their local hospital has an outbreak.”

Read the full story on LATimes.com.