BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
No beds are currently being used at the San Mateo County Event Center, and in fact, beds are even being taken out of the center and sent to hospitals, the county manager said Friday (April 10).
The event center in San Mateo was set up as a temporary hospital earlier this month by the county and with help from the California Air National Guard.
When first set up, the center held 250 hospital beds spaced six feet apart from one another, but now the center has 125 beds, and still no patients.
County Manager Mike Callagy said the other 125 beds were removed and sent to county hospitals, which are already staffed and treating patients.
One of the big challenges for opening the temporary hospital would be finding health care workers to run the hospital, Travis Kusman, emergency medical services director said on April 1.
Of the 652 people who have tested positive for COVID-19, 86 are hospitalized, with 27 patients in the ICU.
Upon announcing the center, Callagy said he hoped that the beds at the event center never be used. However, the county is housing 14 COVID-19 patients in a hotel, Callagy said yesterday. These patients no longer need to be in a hospital, but are still being quarantined but cannot go home yet. Of the 652 people who have tested positive for COVID-19, 86 are hospitalized, with 27 patients in the ICU.
Testing down
Because people are staying home and the spread of the virus appears to be slowing in the county, it appears that less people are getting tested.
Also at the event center is a COVID-19 testing site.
However, over the past week, testing has gone down, with the site closing up Friday.
Callagy said he wants the requirements of one symptom for essential employees, and two for anyone else, to be lifted. This could allow for more widespread testing, or in the least, on-demand testing for essential employees, he said.
