California hospitals near ICU capacity amid surge in COVID-19 cases

Hospitals in the eight-county San Joaquin Valley region have had fewer than 10 per cent of staffed adult ICU beds for three consecutive days.

Sacramento: Hospitals in the heart of California's Central Valley are running out of beds in their intensive care units, state officials announced Friday (September 3), as a more contagious version of the coronavirus continues to spread primarily among the unvaccinated population. Hospitals in the eight-county San Joaquin Valley region have had fewer than 10 per cent of staffed adult ICU beds for three consecutive days. State officials labelled it a surge, triggering special rules announced last month that require nearby hospitals to accept transfer patients. In Fresno County and neighbouring counties, the number of confirmed and suspected coronavirus patients in hospitals is more than double what it was four weeks ago, the Fresno Bee reported.