Coronavirus

Surge In COVID-19 Cases Overwhelms California Hospitals

Nearly 17,000 people are currently hospitalized with either confirm or suspected cases of COVID-19.

Surge In COVID-19 Cases Overwhelms California Hospitals
Damian Dovarganes / AP
SMS

Cases of COVID-19 are exploding across California — and hospitals are struggling to keep up.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's infectious disease director, says parts of California are “just right at that cusp of getting overrun.”

Nearly 17,000 people in the state are currently hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. The Associated Press reported 3,500 of those patients are in intensive care units.

California health officials released a model showing — if trends continue — the state could reach 75,000 hospitalizations by mid-January.

California has had more than 1.8 million total coronavirus cases and 22,000 deaths. Hospitalizations surged by nearly 80 percent in the past two weeks, exhausting medical resources and front-line health care workers.