When the California National Guard was brought in to bolster an overworked staff at a Riverside County hospital, there were more intensive care patients than beds. To make room, Riverside Community Hospital converted a cafeteria into an overflow space.

Besides caring for the most COVID-19 patients in the county at the time, “our healthcare workers are also getting sick. In addition to that, they’re exhausted. And then we have a national nursing shortage,” said CEO Jackie Desouza-Van Blaricum, explaining why she reached out for assistance.

Amid a coronavirus surge overwhelming hospitals across Southern California, Riverside County and the greater Inland Empire are experiencing some of the most dire conditions.

Infection rates have skyrocketed in the area in recent weeks. Over the last seven days, there were nearly 983 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 residents in Riverside County. The county trails only San Bernardino, which had about 1,012 over the past week, according to The Times’ tally of local health jurisdictions.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.