About 900 bodies are currently being held at the Los Angeles Medical Investigator’s office, which typically has 500 people, according to spokeswoman Sarah Ardalani. She estimates that about 150 of the bodies overflow from local hospitals running out of the room.
Since the initial Covid-19 boom last spring, there have been a dozen refrigeration units on downtown premises. Ardalani told CNN that another dozen trailers with six coolers would be in place by next week.
Members of the National Guard assisted the coroner’s office in transporting and storing corpses, but that is not enough. Ardalani said the office is working with the state to bring in more aid.
According to data from the California Department of Public Health, the number of available ICU beds has also dropped to the lowest level to date. This is despite indications that hospitalizations in the state are starting to level off.
There are currently 1,094 ICU beds available for the 40 million residents of California. More than 22,000 people are hospitalized with the virus, and nearly 5,000 of them are in intensive care units.
However, the positivity rate in California maintains a downward trend seen over the past few days and currently stands at 13.4%, compared to 14% last Friday, which was the highest level since the widespread testing.
About 90% of the state’s residents are still under home orders because projections show the capacity of the ICU and other factors will remain at critical levels for the next four weeks.
But there is hope.
The Dodger Stadium of LA, which was a test site, will now become a mass vaccination center. According to the website of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the administration of vaccines will begin in the stadium on Friday, with the capacity to vaccinate about 12,000 people a day.
“Vaccines are the surest way to defeat this virus and give a rate for recovery, so the city, the province and our entire team put our best resources on the field to get Angelenos vaccinated as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible. ” Garcetti said.