US military medical teams dispatched to California hospitals hard-hit by Covid-19

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/20/us-military-medical-teams-california-hospitals-covid19


Mario Koran in San Francisco
Mon 20 Jul 2020 14.31 EDT


US military medical teams have been deployed to five California hospitals to assist in a war against coronavirus that has taxed healthcare staff in hard-hit areas of the state.

Doctors, nurses and other professionals dispatched by the US air force will join medical staff in northern California’s Lodi, Fresno, Visalia and Stockton, and in southern California’s Rancho Mirage, illustrating the sweeping toll the virus is taking on the nation’s most populous state.

Work is already under way for the 100 military healthcare professionals who reported for duty on Friday after the state requested assistance; 60 more staff members are expected to deploy by the end of the week, a military spokesman told the Los Angeles Times.

The relief comes as medical officials describe a shortage of medical workers as the biggest challenge to responding to the ongoing surge.

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In rural Placer county, for example, just 18% of ICU beds are available. San Benito county currently has no capacity to handle more ICU admissions, Newsom said, a reminder that “county by county, things look very different than they do statewide.”

Military doctors have also joined the ranks of healthcare professionals in Texas and Florida as the states continue to set daily records for deaths and new infections.

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