Ambulances wait hours to offload patients as Santa Clara County hospitals burdened with soaring COVID-19 cases

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Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Ambulances wait hours to offload patients at Bay Area hospitals
Ambulances wait hours to offload patients at Bay Area hospitalsThe Santa Clara Public Health department says "on several occasions over the past week," ambulances have waited up to seven hours to get a patient into the emergency department due to the surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The novel coronavirus pandemic is causing massive wait-times at Santa Clara County hospitals.

UPDATE: Ambulances wait more than 7 hours outside Santa Clara County hospitals as COVID-19 cases soar

The Santa Clara Public Health department says "on several occasions over the past week," ambulances have waited up to seven hours to get a patient into the emergency department. The extended wait times are "largely due to the significant volume of patients at hospitals, which have been heavily affected by the increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations."

While ambulances wait, EMTs are unable to respond to other emergencies.

RELATED: 44 emergency staff at Kaiser Permanente San Jose infected with COVID-19, officials confirm

Dozens of staff members at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center's emergency department have tested positive for COVID-19 within the past week and hospital officials say an inflatable costume may be the cause.

The fire department has served as a backup six times because so many ambulances "were tied up at hospital emergency departments."

The county is very concerned about the impact COVID-19 is having in the hospitals and in a statement to ABC7 News, the health department said, "this strain on hospitals affects patients with all types of needs: trauma care from accidents, heart attacks, strokes, and the many other reasons-including COVID-19-that any resident might on a moment's notice need emergency transport and access to hospital-level care."

On Saturday, 689 people were hospitalized in the county.

The county reported 887 new COVID-19 cases from the past few days. 10% of all ICU beds are available within the county, health officials tweeted on Sunday.

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