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The Los Angeles ICU bed shortage seems more like a budget problem

The Los Angeles ICU bed shortage seems more like a budget problem

Tatiana Prophet
Public Health

Covid-related admissions and deaths have nearly doubled since Dec. 1; but the state can handle them better than we think
By Tatiana Prophet
The L.A. Times, the Guardian, and every medium in between have told us that Southern California ICUs are as good as closed - 0 percent capacity. How could we question them?

Because the word “capacity” is nebulous. Capacity of what? Licensed beds? No. Medical personnel to staff those beds? Yes, that’s it.

“There are still hospital beds, it’s a question of staffing,” said Cathy Chidester, director of L.A. County’s Emergency Medical Services agency, in a telephone interview. “We ask the state for staffing.” By “we,” she means the four hospitals directly under her purview.

She added: “All of the hospitals are looking for staff,“ she said, indicating that the hospitals that operate outside of DHS have staffing registries.

California: Covid-19 affects Latinos most, in both cases and deaths

California: Covid-19 affects Latinos most, in both cases and deaths

Tatiana Prophet
Covid-19

By TATIANA PROPHET

In California, Latinos are the only group that has experienced both more Covid deaths and more Covid-19 positive cases than their percentage of the population.

Like Hispanics, blacks in California show more deaths relative to their population (9 percent of total Covid deaths), but a lower number of positive cases (4 percent of the total). With Hispanics making up 39 percent of the state’s population, and 45 percent of Covid deaths, the numbers are significant. Blacks are 6 percent of California’s population but show 4 percent of all Covid cases and 9 percent of all deaths. Asian, whites and blacks all tested positive in a proportion that is less than their percentage of the general population (see charts).

Animated graph: Yes, Covid-19 deaths are still going down in the United States

Animated graph: Yes, Covid-19 deaths are still going down in the United States

Tatiana Prophet
Health

UPDATE: As of July 4, daily Covid-19 deaths in the United States fell to above the average daily deaths from influenza/pneumonia and below those for diabetes.

Daily Covid-19 deaths for the United States peaked at 2,683 per day on April 21, 2020. View this chart to see the progression of daily deaths compared with the top 15 causes of death, and those average daily deaths from the year 2017.

The graphs that show a huge uptick in cases should be labeled “known cases,” as they represent those that were tested. Tests have been rising int he United States for the last few weeks, resulting in a precipitous rise in cases, many in the 18-49 range. But the death rate for this age group is quite low. Most of the Covid-19 deaths, while tragic, remain above age 80, and involve pre-existing conditions. The anomalies — no preexisting conditions or young people, remain in the hundreds for the entire nation. This is compared with the 120,000-plus deaths now recorded.