While Southern California remains in crisis over spiraling coronavirus cases that have pushed hospitals to the breaking point, the San Francisco Bay Area is beginning to show signs of improvement.
In San Francisco, about 100 intensive care unit beds are available for a city with fewer than 900,000 residents, while L.A. County has about half as many available ICU beds for a county of more than 10 million people.
Following the stay-at-home order that went into effect on Dec. 6, San Francisco officials estimate they have averted more than 500 deaths through the spring, and lowered the number of people hospitalized at the forecasted peak of the winter surge from 1,500 to 300.
“Look what that did to our numbers, a decline of an estimate of 1,200 fewer hospitalizations … and over 500 deaths averted,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco‘s director of public health. “Now, we need to continue to make this progress continue.”
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