California Reaches ‘Zero’ ICU Capacity, Though Beds Available in Many Hospitals

The State of California has officially reached “zero” percent in its intensive care unit (ICU) capacity as the state battles the nation’s worst coronavirus surge.

The San Francisco Chronicle notes that the “0%” figure does not necessarily mean there are no beds available. Rather, it means that according to an algorithm used by the state, the maximum number of licensed ICU beds has been reached, and many hospitals are now using their “surge” capacity to accommodate additional patients.

Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday explained:

What this 0% means is they have essentially used up all of their licensed beds, and they are now into this surge capacity. It varies a lot from hospital to hospital. In Southern California, you have some hospitals that, I think, they are at 200%. So they are doubling up patients in rooms, they have patients in the emergency room that are getting intensive level of care. And we’re seeing this across the region in Southern California and in the San Joaquin Valley.

But some of those hospitals may have a few beds. It’s not necessarily saying that every hospital is at 0%. It just means that, for the whole region, there are enough of those hospitals at overcapacity that it takes away from the total number for the region, and that’s the same for the state.

The New York Times notes that “California’s worsening outbreak has canceled out progress in other parts of the country.” As of Dec. 29, California had 99.3 cases per 100,000 people — by far the worst case rate in the U.S. Tennessee was second, with 79.7.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.