Huntington Hospital Treating More COVID-19 Patients Than Ever

More people than ever are battling the coronavirus, according to the hospital’s information dashboard.

As of Monday, 82 patients were infected with the virus, exceeding the April record of 70 people battling COVID-19.

Currently, 13 of those patients have been admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit. 

Although the hospital has adequate bed space to treat the patients, if the intake continues at a rapid pace staffing could become an issue.

“We are seeing a rapid increase of COVID-19 positive patients at our hospital,” said Lori J. Morgan, president and CEO of Huntington Hospital. 

“While the news of the vaccine is promising in the coming months, we are still in a pandemic today. Huntington Hospital needs your help,” Morgan said. “We are asking the community to please forgo holiday gatherings, wear a mask, social distance and practice hand hygiene so we can continue to provide essential care for the entire community.”

On Monday, city officials reported 80 news cases and no additional fatalities. There have been 4,227 local cases since the pandemic began and 136 deaths. 

The city reported more than 100 cases on Saturday and Sunday, both grim record-breaking days.

Dwindling availability of ICU beds prompted the state to impose a regional stay-at-home order on the Southern California region, including Los Angeles County, late Sunday night. The order bars virtually all public gatherings, limits capacity to 20 percent at retail stores and 35 percent at stand-alone grocery stores. It also forces the closure of personal care businesses such as barbershops and nail salons.

Barbara Ferrer, the county health officer, said there are still ICU beds available in the county, although capacity varies from hospital to hospital. She again stressed that the availability of physical beds is not the main problem; it’s the availability of trained medical professionals to treat patients in those beds.

The county on Monday reported another 8,086 new COVID-19 infections, lifting the countywide total since the start of the pandemic to 457,880. The county also announced another 27 deaths, raising the death toll to 7,936.

The number of people hospitalized was 2,988, with 24 percent of those people in the ICU.