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.