Month: August 2021

Santa Cruz County health leaders confirmed Tuesday there was a COVID-19 outbreak at the Driftwood HealthCare center in Santa Cruz over the weekend, but the facility quickly activated infection control measures.“Which means accelerated or increased amount of testing that's done every week on both residents and employees. The other thing they do is hold any new admissions until they have at least one round of negative tests,” said Dr. David Ghilarducci, deputy health officer for Santa Cruz County.Three employees initially tested positive; two of them had a rapid test but a lab test on both eventually came back negative. However, all three are on a 10-day quarantine. County health leaders said no residents have tested positive for COVID-19.Health officials said the infection control mea...

An IV setup for Covid patient is positioned outside the room so other nurses can change out bags without donning protective gear in the Providence Alaska Medical Center ICU, Aug. 17, 2021. (Photo by Kate Pojedinec / Providence Alaska Medical Center) The people caring for Alaska’s most vulnerable patients say a new flood of COVID-19 cases is stressing the state’s already compromised intensive-care system at levels they’ve never seen before. Alaska’s ICU system is maxed out — too many patients and not enough staffed beds, medical professionals from the state’s top doctor to floor nurses said this week. Summer is normally a busy time for hospitals, as tourists, vehicle wrecks and outdoor recreation crank up patient numbers, or rural residents put off medical care to pull in salmon for the w...