In addition, the US has 4,000 daily deaths due to the coronavirus for the first time set a record set just one day earlier. The Johns Hopkins University census shows that the U.S. had 4085 deaths due to COVID-19 on Thursday.
The US also had nearly 275,000 new coronavirus cases. More than 365,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
The numbers are another reminder of the deteriorating situation after traveling for holidays and family gatherings, along with more time indoors during the winter months. There has been an increase in cases and deaths in Arizona, Texas and Florida and California, where some hospitals are on the verge of rationing.
Jae C. Hong / AP
A Los Angeles County hospital has been so overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients that it has now put together a triage team that would ultimately decide the fate of those who are critically ill.
“The hospital system is as far bent as it can bend and the next sound can be a twist,” said Cliff Daniels, chief strategy officer at Methodist Hospital in Southern California.
“These are the unimaginable decisions that need to be made to deny people who need it to care because there are no resources available,” he said. “We have not reached that stage yet. We are fast on our way to get there.”
Some hospitals are so packed that patients are sent hundreds of miles away for treatment.
According to CBS Los Angeles, the state’s emergency medical services have set up an oxygen depot in Riverside County to help with the growing number of COVID-19 patients. The oxygen depot, which consists of two large oxygen generators that will fill large tanks used by hospitals, will increase the local oxygen supply.