Hospitals in California on the brink of crisis

Strict stay-at-home orders were renewed indefinitely on Tuesday (December 29) for much of California, as the state's top health official said that many hospitals were teetering on the brink of crisis.

Flora Bradley-Watson reports.

California extended a strict stay at home order on Tuesday for the majority of its residents, as hospitals in the state said they were on the brink of crisis.

Tough restrictions imposed earlier this month on social and economic life in Southern California have been extended indefinitely.

Los Angeles County has been particularly hard hit by the virus, with 90 percent of hospitals there overwhelmed by an influx of patients.

Over the past weekend, they've been forced to divert incoming emergency patients to other facilities.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said some hospitals had been forced to weigh up the effectiveness of certain treatments for certain patients who are unlikely to survive.

"There are emergency room physicians and ICU clinicians and nurses looking at how they stretch themselves effectively to so many different patients and of course, as I was sort of describing in the rubber band analogy that if you stretch far enough, certainly the ability to address all the patient's needs, to address the demands of new patients becomes harder" While Ghaly said hospitals weren't rationing medical supplies and treatment, he expects conditions to get worse as the surge in infections from the holiday season translate into hospitalisations.

Residents are being urged to stay indoors and avoid travel, except for grocery shopping, medical appointments, and exercise.

Restaurants are only able to do take-out and bars have been closed altogether, in what are some of the toughest restrictions in the U.S.