Unusually Quiet

From the LA Times: California’s relatively quick action to close businesses and order residents to stay home has tamped down the coronavirus pandemic and left many hospitals largely empty, waiting for a surge that has yet to come. The initial success of the unprecedented shutdown of schools, businesses and other institutions has pleased experts and public health officials, prompting calls to keep the restrictions in place, at least into May, to help cement the progress.

...Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood has been has been unusually quiet, said an attending physician, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. Patients have been admitted, but few. “It’s almost like ominous,” he said. “The volume has been the lowest it’s been ever.”

There are currently 41 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital, a figure that appears to have plateaued in recent days, according to the university’s dashboard. The doctor said they are encouraged by the state numbers, but remain anxious. “Are we just waiting for the peak?” he asked. There had been a “high panic” about a month ago, as doctors and nurses watched television news accounts of overflowing wards in Italy, said the UCLA physician, adding: “Now it’s more like being scared to admit a little bit of confidence, maybe telling everyone … we’ve actually achieved something. We won’t admit to ourselves that we’re out of the woods immediately, until late May.” ...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-10/california-coronavirus-slowed-hospitals-empty-new-york