By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, March 30, 2020
The spread of the novel coronavirus has upended life across the Golden State. On March 19, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an order that all individuals living in California were to stay at home except for essential activities like buying groceries or getting necessary health care. Public schools, nonessential businesses like gyms and entertainment venues, and parking lots at many state parks and beaches, are closed.
The health care sector, on the other hand, continues to serve patients while actively preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic. Health experts predict that California’s surge hasn’t come yet. Grant Colfax, MD, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said he expects in a week or two to see a surge in coronavirus patients who need to be hospitalized, Erin Allday reported in the San Francisco Chronicle. Newsom recently increased the estimate of additional hospital beds needed for Californians who become sick with COVID-19 from 20,000 to 50,000.
Here’s what you need to know about how California is adopting policies related to health care coverage, workforce, telehealth, and palliative care to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic.
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