LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – State officials are dispatched to Los Angeles County hospitals because the authorities call emergency rooms “overflow conditions”.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced that a support team will be headed to Southern California after 96% of hospitals in the county at some point over the weekend diverted emergency patients for overcrowding in emergency rooms.
About 96% of county hospitals were in diversion at some point on Saturday, up from 33% before the surge, the governor said.
On average, hospitals spent about 16 hours a day on diversions, which slowed routine emergency care, Newsom said.
As of Monday, the state of LA County officially listed nearly 7,200 COVID-positive patients in hospitals, including more than 1,400 in intensive care.
Newsom said new hospital admissions due to COVID-19 have plateaued across the state except Southern California.
On Monday, county health officials reported another 73 coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the county’s death toll to 9,555. The county also recorded 13,661 new cases, bringing the total to 733,325.
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