Medical support teams from the U.S. Air Force are being deployed to two Los Angeles County hospitals amid the recent spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
LAC+USC and Harbor-UCLA medical centers, two of the county’s largest public hospitals, will receive the teams Friday to help in their intensive care units, county officials said.
About 40 medical providers, including doctors and nurses, and other support staff will be distributed among the two hospitals, a military spokesperson said.
Some hospitals in the state have been strained with the surge in coronavirus hospitalizations, particularly with staffing shortages. Last week, the military deployed teams to five hospitals throughout California, including Eisenhower Medical Center in Riverside County.
On Thursday, L.A. County reported 2,210 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19 — the fifth day in a row where hospitalizations topped 2,200. Officials said 28% of the people hospitalized were in an ICU.
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