Nurses fear whatâs to come with coronavirus: âWalk down our unit for a dayâ
Despite health officialsâ pleas that people stay home, millions of Americans are traveling ahead of Christmas and New Yearâs.
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Registered nurse Nicole Grecco works in a COVID-19 unit at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif. [ JAE C. HONG | AP ]
LOS ANGELES â The nurses of California are afraid.
Itâs Christmas Eve, and they arenât home with their families. They are working, always working, completely gowned up â and worn down.
Theyâre frightened by what people are doing, or not doing, during a coronavirus pandemic that has already killed more than 320,000 nationwide and shows no signs of slowing down.
Gowned up and worn down: On Christmas Eve, nurses fear what’s to come TODAY 12/24/2020
The nurses of California are afraid.
It’s Christmas Eve, and they aren’t home with their families. They are working, always working, completely gowned up and worn down.
They’re frightened by what people are doing, or not doing, during a coronavirus pandemic that has already killed more than 320,000 nationwide and shows no signs of slowing down.
They’re even more terrified of what’s next.
“Every day, I look into the eyes of someone who is struggling to breathe,” said nurse Jenny Carrillo, her voice breaking.
The nurses of California are afraid.
It’s Christmas Eve, and they aren’t home with their families. They are working, always working, completely gowned up and worn down.
They’re frightened by what people are doing, or not doing, during a coronavirus pandemic that has already killed more than 320,000 nationwide and shows no signs of slowing down.
They’re even more terrified of what’s next.
“Every day, I look into the eyes of someone who is struggling to breathe,” said nurse Jenny Carrillo, her voice breaking.
A charge nurse at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, Carrillo is haunted by the daily counts of COVID-19 patients. Dark shadows circle her eyes.
The number of available intensive care unit beds has plummeted in Los Angeles County from the continuing influx of hospitalized COIVD-19 patients, with only 92 ICU beds available Thursday countywide, according to data from the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
With about 2,500 ICU beds in the county, that’s an availability far below 1 percent. The county has a population of more than 10 million people.
According to state data, Ventura County clocked in at 35 beds available as of Wednesday, or 3.7 percent of total capacity.
The Southern California region ICU bed availability is less than 1 percent. The state’s stay-at-home order becomes mandatory if the regional percentage dips below 15 percent, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in November.