More than the enthusiasm to ring in the New Year, it was the desperation to bid adieu to the previous one. The very sentiment that caught many a reveller in the heat of the moment is going to cost the state dearly in the weeks to come.
As post-holiday infections surge, less than a week into the 'new year' it is California that the virus has got the better of. If statistics are anything to go by, California's daily Covid count remains around four times what it was during the summer peak. Just the scenario that the US didn't want to picture and the news the world didn't want to hear.
Along with the cases, the hospitalisations have surged and reportedly, there are more than twice the number of Covid-19 patients in California hospitals now as there were a month ago.
"This is likely to be the worst month of the pandemic in LA County. The surge from holiday gatherings is here and cases will increase due to parties and travellers returning to LA County. We must use the tools we have to prevent more suffering and death and protect frontline workers," reads the official account of LA Public Health.
The state reported 29,633 new cases on Monday. COVID hospitalisations were up by 18 per cent in the last two weeks and ICU's were up by 22 per cent in the last weeks.
The Governor sounds the alarm
In December, already the ICUs across the state were overrun with Covid cases in the first two weeks. Making the California Governor Gavin Newsom warn, "This is not something to be trifled with. Think about what the January number may look like if we continue."
Crunched healthcare system
How badly has the situation crunched the healthcare system in the state is anybody's guess. Many intensive care units in the hospitals are overflowing and there is an acute shortage of oxygen. California, while facing an oxygen shortage for its patients, has deployed the US Army Corps of Engineers and the California Emergency Medical Services Authority to help refill and deliver oxygen tanks. LA County's EMS agency issued guidelines for emergency workers to use the "minimum amount of oxygen necessary" to keep patients' oxygen saturation level at or just above 90 per cent.
Too late to realise now?
Those caught in the first wave of infection across the world didn't have a choice. The virus was new, information was very little and awareness even more so. Did these people have a choice? "I'm convinced this post holiday surge was avoidable. Many of us had a lacklustre holiday season in the interest of public health," remarks a user. While several blamed Trump for the post holiday surge too.
Vaccine would help but...
Yes, they would help but the Newsom said that vaccines were just ramping up. Considering they faced some early challenges and it'll still be time before we can rely on vaccines alone. He also said that so far, the state had administered only about 35 per cent of the Coronavirus vaccine doses it received.
