Increasing percent of hospital patients in Alameda County are COVID-19 patients

The county is reporting that an increasing percentage of patients in Alameda County hospitals are COVID-19 patients. From a county e-newsletter:

As of July 28:

• 9.1% of hospital patients in Alameda County were confirmed COVID-19 positive, higher than 6.3% last week, and 3.3% a month ago but still within our goal of 50% or less. 
• 19% of the patients in ICU beds were confirmed COVID-19 positive, up from 12% last week. 
• 36% of the 2,343 total inpatient hospital beds and 35% of the 330 ICU beds were available, and 100% of the 1,221 surge beds were available

Oakland remains a hotspot for the county’s coronavirus cases, at 4,458 in the city out of 11,131 in the county, or 40 percent of the cases.

The number of hospitalizations are also generally trending upwards since the beginning of July. While it’s gone up and down, on July 1, there were 123 hospitalization in the county; as of July 28, there were 213 hospitalizations.

Oakland Zoo Re-Opens

The Oakland Zoo re-opened on Wednesday. According to the NBC Bay Area article, “Only 2,500 visitors will be allowed each day, and people will not be allowed to touch some displays.”

Parrott said the health department allowed the zoo to reopen by classifying it as an outdoor park, according to the article. Oakland Zoo president Joel Parrott said that the health department reclassified the zoo as an outdoor park, allowing it to re-open. “We can spread people out on our pathways,” Parrott is quoted in the article. “It will be just like hiking in our state parks.”

Author Profile

Momo Chang

Momo Chang is a freelance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the Oakland Voices Co-Director. Her work focuses on healthcare, immigration, education, Asian American communities, food and culture. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune. Momo has received journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for investigative reporting and the Asian American Journalists Association, among others. Her work has appeared in the East Bay Express, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, and The New York Times. Momo is primarily a print journalist who also produces audio and visual stories for documentary film and radio. She is a Senior Contributing Editor for Hyphen and formerly the Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).