SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — The Regional Medical Center in San Jose ran out of ICU beds on Wednesday, the hospital confirmed to NewsNation affiliate KRON.
The hospital said the capacity changes quickly, and they are able to free up beds “because we are much better now at treating and releasing patients from the hospital.”
ICU capacity around the state is a cause for concern and the breaking point for leaders in issuing stricter rules during the pandemic.
There are concerns hospitals won’t be able to treat all the people who need intensive care, whether it’s due to COVID-19 or other serious medical conditions.
California said it would enact a regional stay-at-home order for broad areas of the state where collective ICU capacity drops to 15%.
The state is divided into five regions. Some counties in the Bay Area region decided locally to start the stay-at-home order before the capacity gets dangerously low — including Santa Clara County.
The county’s latest data, which was updated on Tuesday, says the ICU capacity is 16%.
Ninety ICU beds county-wide were being used by COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday. In total, 383 patients in Santa Clara County are hospitalized with COVID-19.
The numbers are expected to be higher than reported since Regional Medical Center confirmed it was out of ICU beds on Wednesday morning, and the county last updated its information the day prior.
“The number of available beds represent beds that hospitals are able to use based on current staffing levels,” says the county. “When there is a large increase in patients being admitted, hospitals may increase staffing levels or cancel elective procedures in order to increase the number of beds available for additional patients.”
On Monday, the county set another single daily record with 1,450 new coronavirus cases — double the amount from a week ago.