Southern California is experiencing a surge in coronavirus patients that has left ICU bed capacity in the area’s hospitals at 0 percent, state officials announced Thursday. The announcement coincides with a new high of coronavirus deaths within the U.S. topping 17 million positive cases. California saw 379 COVID-19 related deaths on Thursday, higher than the 293 deaths the state saw on Wednesday. The state is seeing more coronavirus cases than the entire country of Germany, along with an alarming death rate that is the equivalent of one person from the state dying every four minutes. “I want to be very clear: Our hospitals are under siege, and our model shows no end in sight,” Christina Ghaly, director of Los Angeles County’s Department of Health Services, said at a press conference. The state began distributing Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine this week and is expecting to get another 393,000 doses to arrive next week.
