Our second episode in the coronavirus series tackles how hospitals were under pressure to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic overwhelmed New York City hospitals when it first reached the East Coast in March 2020. Although, California experienced an early wave of the illness, their hospitals seemed to fare better at first. We talk with Dr. Katrina Peters from the UCSF-Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital about California’s approach to the pandemic. Because so little information was available early on, it was difficult for hospitals to develop coherent plans. She walks us through the steps the hospitals had to take as the pandemic developed just to prepare itself to accept patients safely.
Eventually however, the gains made were later eroded by a renewed outbreak in the state. Dr. Peter’s observations, together with what we learned from Dr. Sheppard in our last episode, help paint a grim picture of the pandemic’s progress.