By Robert Haugh
On Saturday, the Santa Clara Convention Center was set up as a temporary Federal Medical Station (FMS) to care for up to 250 people. That would increase hospital bed capacity in Santa Clara County by about 10 percent.
This facility will not house critically ill or COVID-19 patients. It’s being set up to increase capacity of other local hospitals to handle a potential increase in COVID-19 cases.
It’s provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response.
According to a City press release, the “FMS provides beds, supplies and medicines for short-term, sub-acute care.”
According to a report on KTVU, Santa Clara County has a total of 2,500 hospital beds. Approximately 400 of those are pediatric beds and about 350 of them are intensive care unit (ICU) beds. 290 more beds could be converted for ICU use. COVID-19 patients will need the ICU beds.
Playgrounds, Parks and Trails
Here’s info from a City press release on playgrounds, parks and trails:
Effective 7 p.m. Friday, March 20, all City playgrounds are closed.
Parks and trails remain open.
When using parks and trails, the public is urged to practice social distancing by maintaining at least six feet of distance from others who are not part of one’s household.
