Calif. — San Francisco officials warned that a surge in coronavirus is expected to come within a week or two, and voiced dismay over images of the public crowding beaches and parks across California.
“The worst is yet to come,” San Francisco Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax said at a news conference Monday. “Every community where the virus has taken hold has seen a surge in the number of coronavirus patients who need to be hospitalized. We expect that to happen in San Francisco soon, in a week or two, or perhaps even less.”
San Francisco has already taken steps to decompress the health care system — banning almost all visitors to hospitals and long-term care facilities, canceling elective surgeries and routine medical visits, and ordering appointments be done by phone or video if possible, and opening up tents to care for mild coronavirus patients to keep hospital beds free.
But officials say based on what’s happened elsewhere, the surge will come.
The number of coronavirus cases continues to climb exponentially in California, with more than 1,700 cases and 27 deaths by Monday afternoon. Just three weeks ago, there were only 43 cases and no deaths. Los Angeles County has reported more than 500 cases and eight deaths; the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area has reported more than 800 cases and 14 deaths.
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