Hospitals, morgues, and funeral homes in Southern California are overflowing due to the coronavirus pandemic, with cases likely to rise following Christmas and New Year's.
"People going into emergency departments without life-threatening problems are waiting often 12-18 hours in the waiting room just to get seen," Dr. Mark Eckstein, medical director of the Los Angeles Fire Department, told ABC News. "We're trying to encourage people to not call 911 unless they really need to."
Nearly 1 million people have been infected with COVID-19 in L.A. County and 12,955 have died. Statewide, 2.8 million people have been infected and 30,000-plus have died.
Hospitalizations have plateaued in the state, but Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday cautioned it is too soon to say whether or not the surge in cases was actually going down.
California has implemented some of the strictest restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus, with three regions in the state still under a stay-at-home order — they can return when the ICU bed availability falls under 15%.
Los Angeles County health director Barbara Ferrer on Tuesday mandated essential workers who leave their house to go to work must mask up at home and when they interact with people, saying it will ''add a layer of protection while we get through this surge and try to get our case numbers and our transmission way down.''
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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