I’m a little bit freaked out by what’s happening here in Los Angeles. We are under stay-at-home orders but lots and lots of people are just refusing to do it. They are gatherindoors in groups, no masks and basically just saying “to hell with it.” I certainly understand the impulse. It’s been 10 months now and we are all sick of it. But I think I’m most horrified by the idea of tens of thousands of people dying at a time when we know that the vaccines are on the way. We just have to hold on for a few more months. If someone I loved got it now, it would be even more devastated, knowing that they were so close to being out of danger.
Christmas arrived in Los Angeles County with hospitals in a full-blown coronavirus crisis.
There are now so many patients that some hospitals are running dangerously low on oxygen and other supplies critical to treating those with COVID-19.
Patients are waiting as many as eight hours in ambulances before they can enter the emergency room. With intensive care units at 0% available capacity, health officials are urging that people avoid emergency rooms or dialing 911 for assistance unless absolutely necessary.
And in a grim reminder that the worst is still likely to come, one L.A. County health official has asked providers to reach out to patients who have serious illnesses or are medically frail to review their advanced-care directives and ensure forms are on file detailing their end-of-life care.
As dire as the conditions are now, there’s growing concern that large numbers of people may opt to once again ignore health guidance and gather with other households to celebrate the holidays — a potentially disastrous outcome experts say would all but certainly trigger another coronavirus surge that would further hammer hospitals already reeling from the Thanksgiving-fueled wave.
The stakes are already high, and the toll already devastating. On Thursday, L.A. County saw its most-ever COVID-19 deaths in a single day: 140.
As the coronavirus continues to spread widely and send unprecedented numbers of Angelenos to the hospital, hospitals in L.A. County are running dangerously low on their supplies of oxygen, a person familiar with the matter told The Times.
Oxygen is critical to treating severely ill COVID-19 patients who have begun to suffocate on account of their virus-inflamed lungs. Doctors and nurses have learned since the early days of the pandemic to, as much as possible, avoid placing patients on ventilators, which involves sticking a breathing tube down the throat.
Many patients instead receive a high-flow oxygen treatment, where oxygen is sent through plastic tubes placed in the nose.
And the need for that assistance is high. While a non-COVID patient may receive six liters of oxygen per minute, COVID-19 patients need 60 to 80 liters a minute.
So now, hospitals need 10 times more oxygen than they did before. There have been periods of time where hospitals have run dangerously low on their stores of oxygen before obtaining additional supplies, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Hospitals are also running short of other key supplies, such as the special plastic tubes used to bring the oxygen into the lungs.
This is a nightmare, and not just for people who get COVID but for anyone with a medical emergency or ongoing chronic condition that requires treatment. I just cannot understand why people aren’t doing everything they can as individuals to help out in this situation.
All you have to do right now is stay home and watch Netflix, go out and get fresh air to exercise (which we can easily do in sunny California) but be cautious around other people and wear a mask whenever you leave your pod. Essential workers have no choice but to go out there and be in the world. The least the rest of us can do is try to protect them and stop the spread by doing these small things that really aren’t that big of a deal.
I know it’s horrible for small businesses but there’s just nothing we can do except buy gift cards , get take-out, support charities and pressure our goddamned government to do what’s necessary to get us through this crisis.
We just have to hold on for a little while longer!
Update — Go to Hell Trump:
Anyway…
The Happy Hollandaise fundraiser goes through the end of the year so if you’re of a mind to kick in a little something below or at the snail mail address on the sidebar, I would be most grateful.
cheers,
digby