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San Joaquin Valley Region has lowest number of available ICU beds at just over six percent

Hospital (FILE)
Posted at 11:54 AM, Dec 07, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-08 11:47:58-05

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KERO) — As businesses are shut down or further restricted due to COVID-19 in the heart of the holiday season Governor Gavin Newsom held a press conference Monday morning to talk about the latest numbers that triggered the stay-at-home shutdown over the weekend.

Newsom said COVID-19 patients in state hospitals has increased by 72% in the last couple of weeks from 6,000 cases to more than 10,000.

The state has been broken up into five regions. Kern County is in the San Joaquin Valley Region which has the lowest number of available ICU beds at just over six percent.

In a tweet, Newsom said that Northern California Region has an ICU capacity of 28.2%, followed by Bay Area Region at 25.7%, Greater Sacramento Region at 20.3%, and Southern California Region 10.9%.

According to the state's website, Kern County has just 30 ICU beds available. There are 46 COVID positive patients in area ICU's with nearly 200 COVID patients being treated in county hospitals. Those numbers are expected to be updated Monday.

As of Monday morning, public operations like hair salons, barbershops, movie theaters, playgrounds, and museums along with all indoor and outdoor dining at restaurants are ordered to shut down. For restaurants, takeout and curbside pick-up are allowed.

Private gatherings of any size or kind are also not allowed and mask-wearing and physical distancing in public is required. And worship services may only take place outdoors.