For nurses, California's virus outbreak has a personal toll

For nurses, California's virus outbreak has a personal toll

SeattlePI.com

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — For Caroline Brandenburger, the coronavirus outbreak that has overwhelmed California hospitals comes with a very personal toll.

“Just today we had two deaths on this unit. And that’s pretty much the norm,” said Brandenburger, who works on the COVID-19 unit at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, south of Los Angeles. “I usually see one to two every shift. Super sad.”

“They fight every day, and they struggle to breathe every day even with tons of oxygen. And then you just see them die," Brandenburger said. “They just die."

California avoided surging cases for months, but now the virus is raging out of control there, as it has done in many other states. Only Arizona tops California in cases per resident and, with 40 million residents, the huge state is seeing staggering caseloads: more than 2.5 million confirmed infections.

A surge following Halloween and Thanksgiving produced record hospitalizations, and now the most seriously ill of those patients are dying in unprecedented numbers. California health authorities reported Thursday 583 new deaths and a record two-day total of 1,042.

There have been more than 28,000 COVID-19 deaths in the state since the start of the pandemic.

Hospitalizations are nearing 22,000, and state models project the number could reach 30,000 by Feb 1. Already, many hospitals in Los Angeles and other hard-hit areas are struggling to keep up and warned they may need to ration care as intensive care beds dwindle.

Lawmakers and public health officials have repeatedly praised medical workers as heroes as they struggle to treat the infected. Many nurses already stretched thin are now caring for more patients than typically allowed under state law after the state began issuing waivers that allow hospitals to...

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