At a breaking point, critical care specialist Dr. Scott Eisman says close to two-thirds of the entire population in his hospital is COVID positive.
"It's just extraordinarily explosive and dangerous right now," Dr. Eisman said.
Eisman is on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19 at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas. He says COVID-19 cases have spiked so intensely in the last few weeks that there haven't been any signs of stopping.
"It's the opposite, it's been increasing very rapidly, and the severity as well is also very rapid, the impact it has on other patients who don't have COVID and their ability to get care is profound,” Eisman said.
And not just in the South Bay of San Diego County, the North has also seen a severe surge. Dr. Eisman says the Scripps ICU in Encinitas is running at 183 percent of its normal licensed beds.
"Nobody has been spared, it's been like this in Los Angeles, it's like this in South County and Imperial County. It's a crisis everywhere, and some places, it's more a crisis than others, but it's a crisis everywhere,” Eisman said.
Even with a vaccine out, he says the calls for social distancing, hand washing, mask wearing and no large gatherings, can't be ignored.
