BajaNomad

Americans from Mexico with COVID-19 Overwhelm Hospitals in Imperial County

BajaNomad - 5-19-2020 at 05:59 PM

The only two hospitals in Imperial County were forced to close their doors to new coronavirus patients on Tuesday, after admitting scores believed stricken with the virus from Mexico’s nearby border town of Mexicali.

The patients were U.S. citizens believed to live in Mexicali, capital of the Mexican state of Baja California, and had been turned away from hospitals overrun with coronavirus cases there, said Dr. Adolphe Edward, chief executive officer of the El Centro Regional Medical Center.

Edward said his 161-bed hospital in El Centro, the main city in Imperial County about 100 miles east of San Diego, took in 65 COVID-19 patients on Monday night, while the 106-bed Pioneers Memorial Hospital in nearby Brawley admitted 28.

“Our numbers just skyrocketed last night,” Edward said on his hospital’s Facebook page.

https://timesofsandiego.com/life/2020/05/19/americans-from-m...

[Edited on 5-20-2020 by BajaNomad]

BajaNomad - 5-19-2020 at 06:07 PM

https://www.kpbs.org/news/2020/may/19/citing-overnight-rises...

BajaNomad - 5-20-2020 at 07:24 PM

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-19/imperial...

BajaNaranja - 5-21-2020 at 11:49 AM

Ouch... but thanks for sharing this info.

Alm - 5-21-2020 at 05:11 PM

They are sending patients from El Centro to San Diego and other SoCal locations: https://kmph.com/news/local/virus-cases-spike-in-california-...

Every time after holiday gatherings there is a spike 10-15 days later. Now there is a spike after Mother's Day, and before that there was a spike 2 weeks after Easter. In the border areas like this, cases from one side of the border are leaking to the other side, and neither side is doing anything to screen the incoming traffic.

BajaNaranja - 5-27-2020 at 01:56 PM

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/05/27/coronavirus-...
Coronavirus on the border
MAY 27, 2020

Excerpts:


"...approximately half of the coronavirus patients in several California border hospitals, including El Centro Regional Medical Center, are recent arrivals from Mexico. As a result of that surge, Imperial County, home to El Centro, has a much higher concentration of coronavirus cases — 760 per 100,000 residents — than any other county in California"


"Forty-eight percent of patients at Scripps Mercy in Chula Vista last week had visited Mexico in the week before they were admitted."


“We don’t think the border should be closed, but we do think health checks and contact tracing would make a difference,” said Chris Van Gorder, the chief executive of Scripps Health, which runs the hospital. “What we don’t want is people going back and forth across the border and infecting other people.”


"Some health experts say the epidemiological curves in border cities on both sides will eventually overlap. “There are so many people crossing back and forth that it becomes one homogeneous rate,” said Arturo Rodriguez, the public health director of Brownsville, Tex. “In other words, you have three rates: the U.S., Mexico and your border rate.”

SFandH - 5-27-2020 at 02:22 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaNaranja  
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/05/27/coronavirus-...
Coronavirus on the border
MAY 27, 2020

Excerpts:


"...approximately half of the coronavirus patients in several California border hospitals, including El Centro Regional Medical Center, are recent arrivals from Mexico......."


It's too bad they didn't say "are Americans recently crossing the border from Mexico" instead of "are recent arrivals from Mexico"

I'm concerned that many readers will assume "recent arrivals from Mexico" means Mexicans are crowding US hospitals and start screaming to close the border.

David K - 5-27-2020 at 03:05 PM

Thanks to the new wall, you may be comforted to know any Mexican citizens are legally here and considered essential crossers. Of course, only 'essential American citizens' or residents of Mexico should be south of the border, for now. I am seeing Facebook trip photos of Americans getting through who just want to play in Baja! Maybe that's essential to them...? Heck, it is kind of to me, too! :lol:

Alm - 5-27-2020 at 09:52 PM

Quote: Originally posted by SFandH  
Excerpts:

"...approximately half of the coronavirus patients in several California border hospitals, including El Centro Regional Medical Center, are recent arrivals from Mexico......."
[/rquote]

It's too bad they didn't say "are Americans recently crossing the border from Mexico" instead of "are recent arrivals from Mexico"

I'm concerned that many readers will assume "recent arrivals from Mexico" means Mexicans are crowding US hospitals and start screaming to close the border.

Could be both gringos and Mexicans.
There are Mexicans traveling to work in the US every day.
And there are gringo PR and Mexican green card holders with residences and/or relatives on both sides of the border. A "permanent resident" that doesn't spend most of his time in the alleged country or permanent residence is basically an oxymor.on. Here in Canada immigrants lose PR if they are not here at least 3 years out of 5, renewal of PR card is not automatic, you must submit passport with entry/exit stamps, to calculate the time in and out.

With these "essential" travelers it will take a long time for epidemic to subside.

BajaNaranja - 5-27-2020 at 10:30 PM

From the WaPo article:

When [Adolphe Edward, chief executive of El Centro Regional Medical Center] posted a video update on Facebook last week explaining that his overwhelmed hospital would temporarily stop accepting more covid-19 patients, he received a stream of messages criticizing him for prioritizing patients from across the border.

“Send them back to Mexico,” one person wrote.

“The border should have been closed from day one,” wrote another.

Edward, a former Air Force physician who helped lead the U.S. military’s medical team in Baghdad, tried to explain that these were Americans he was treating.


TMW - 5-28-2020 at 07:20 AM

Personally I don't care if El Centro is helping to treat Mexicans. If we don't work together it will come back to bite us. By the way it is not illegal to medically treat an illegal, the US Supreme Court has already ruled on that.

[Edited on 5-28-2020 by TMW]

Saturated hospitals, airlifts as California border region virus cases surge

BajaNomad - 5-30-2020 at 07:45 PM

'Coronavirus cases are surging... Mexicali, capital of the Mexican state of Baja California, has the third-highest number of confirmed COVID cases in Mexico, with its main hospitals at four-fifths capacity, state health department data shows. Only a few miles beyond the border fence, Imperial County, California, is coping with the most COVID hospitalizations per capita in the state - well over twice the rate of the next highest county. For the past two weeks, Imperial County’s largest hospital has used helicopters to fly some patients to other clinics, including those over 100 miles (160 km) away in San Diego and Palm Springs, because its intensive care unit is full... Part of the wave of patients are U.S. citizens who live in Mexico and cross to seek care, Cruz said. At least 57 patients have arrived in ambulances that picked them up at the Calexico port of entry in the last two weeks, some unconscious by the time they reached El Centro...'

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-mexico...

‘This is a war’: A look at Mexicali’s efforts to respond to COVID-19 calls

BajaNomad - 5-30-2020 at 08:05 PM

--
The ambulance idled outside the Mexicali General Hospital for nearly an hour before the paramedics left the man on a gurney inside. He was in critical condition, and temperatures soared past 100 degrees.

Doctors informed ambulance team leader Angel Valladolid Pimentel on Wednesday morning that both public hospitals in Mexicali had run out of beds for COVID-19 patients. The 20-year veteran leads a group of 15 firefighters working 24-hour shifts to respond to all coronavirus-related calls in the industrial city of just over 1 million people — with one ambulance and a small car.

On a later service call, Valladolid Pimentel recommended a family buy an oxygen tank for a woman who was having problems breathing, because she wasn’t critically ill and there were no hospital beds. There’s a 24-hour shop in Mexicali that is renting out medical equipment. He showed them how to use it to monitor her at home.

“This is a war, a total war,” Valladolid Pimentel said in Spanish. “All we can do is try, nothing more.”

Coronavirus cases and deaths are surging in Mexico, as decades of deterioration in the country’s health care system have left it vulnerable and ill-equipped to handle the pandemic. The air-conditioning broke for a few hours at Mexicali General Hospital on Thursday, resulting in protests by staff outside the building.

The country is reporting more than 81,000 cases and over 9,000 deaths as of Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.

At the U.S.-Mexico border, Mexicali is at the heart of the outbreak in the northern state of Baja California. Local hospitals are reaching capacity as Mexicali now reports the third-most coronavirus cases among all cities in the country — there were 2,226 confirmed cases with 205 virus-related fatalities in Mexicali as of Friday, according to Baja California public health officials.

Meanwhile, about a two-hour’s drive north in Riverside County, health officials told the state they have “sufficient” hospital capacity in their approved request to rapidly reopen. About 60% of the Southern California’s county’s hospital beds and 80% of intensive care beds are in use, spokeswoman Brooke Frederico said.

Traffic seldom moved to the side as Valladolid Pimentel drove through the wide streets of Mexicali, even with a full siren and lights on. People stood in line to buy tacos to-go while others waited outside of convenience stores. He often got stuck behind traffic at stoplights.

The Mexicali mayor declared an emergency on May 22, ordering all businesses to close by 7 p.m.; it remains in effect. Baja California health officials report only 79% of hospital beds at Mexicali General Hospital and 78% at the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, or IMSS Hospital, are in use — but on the ground, the paramedics are grappling with a different reality. Doctors are now asking Valladolid Pimentel to give priority to critically ill youth, he said.

His units, organized by the Mexicali Fire Department, initially began with eight firefighters each, but some staff requested vacations, resulting in smaller teams, Valladolid Pimentel said.

Wait times for the units to arrive at homes over the last week ranged from 30 minutes to four hours, depending on how long it took to filter out non-coronavirus emergency calls and how quickly the response team’s ambulance was available. The ambulance remained on the ramp of Mexicali’s General Hospital for 2½ hours last Friday morning, waiting for a coroner to pick up the body of a patient who died in transport.

Two teams working overlapping shifts starting at midnight on May 21 responded to 28 calls over the course of 24 hours — eight patients were dead on arrival and one died en route to the hospital, according to log records kept by the teams.

The family of 75-year-old Lucila Barron, who died Sunday at the hospital after being transported from her home, suspects there were no available respirators, her daughter Norma Alicia Soto said. When she talked to her mother on the phone, she heard her gasp for air.

Firefighters rest when they can.

Firefighter Illych Sanchez Melgoza, a heavy-set former semi-professional baseball player, said in Spanish that he was confronted by a family member of a patient who died on a recent call. “You killed him,” the man’s son said.

“I did not kill him,” Sanchez recalled responding firmly, having already interviewed other family members. “Tell me where he was 15 days ago. Tell me which party he went to.”

Sanchez’s face showed concern as he put on a Tyvek suit for another call.

“They blame us, when they are dead,” Sanchez said, “but (they) don’t want to stay at home.”
--

https://www.desertsun.com/in-depth/news/health/2020/05/29/me...

RFClark - 5-31-2020 at 09:59 AM

Imperial County had no new reported cases of the Wuhan Virus yesterday according to Johns Hopkins. Riverside County also reported no new cases from the same source.

BajaBlanca - 6-1-2020 at 03:12 AM

Sanchez's last comment is chillingly true. How awful to blame the firefighter.

Alm - 6-1-2020 at 11:10 AM

Quote: Originally posted by TMW  
Personally I don't care if El Centro is helping to treat Mexicans. If we don't work together it will come back to bite us.

This is exactly what happened. The epidemic came to Mexico from the US due to lax border control (and poor containment policy in the US as well). Now it's coming back.

paranewbi - 6-1-2020 at 11:45 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Alm  
Quote: Originally posted by TMW  
Personally I don't care if El Centro is helping to treat Mexicans. If we don't work together it will come back to bite us.

This is exactly what happened. The epidemic came to Mexico from the US due to lax border control (and poor containment policy in the US as well). Now it's coming back.


Actually, there are a large number of Mexican/Tijuana residents as well as US citizens of Mexican descent who work in our local hospitals. I know because we are friends to several as well as my wife is a nurse at two of San Diego's largest hospitals.

Hard as they try, it is not a perfect system for the workers at hospitals and there could be plenty of opportunity for these workers to take back to their neighbors what is claimed to have 'come from the US poor containment policy'.

It is well known in the medical community that the overwhelming of Scripps Chula Vista and now Mercy hospital is from workers with access to the US from Tijuana and those who chose to live there who are citizens here. They have the access so why choose to go to the TJ medical system?

And by the way...where you would think it would come from, the homeless masses in San Diego, have not presented itself. Why?

The two named hospitals will not turn anyone away, citizen or not, insured or not, and they are the main hospitals in San Diego serving the homeless/street people. Yet those numbers are not there. Think about that.

Now back to your mind meld.





[Edited on 6-1-2020 by paranewbi]

Alm - 6-1-2020 at 04:22 PM

US containment of this epidemic have been poor from the beginning, there is nothing to "claim" here. US residents and Mex temporary workers in the US were taking infection back to Mexico and other Mex residents (and US semi-expats) are now taking it from Mexico to the US. Minimal screening at the border, minimal contacts tracking, minimal isolation. Not to say that they are doing it right in Mexico.

Alm - 6-1-2020 at 04:38 PM

Quote: Originally posted by RFClark  
Imperial County had no new reported cases of the Wuhan Virus yesterday according to Johns Hopkins. Riverside County also reported no new cases from the same source.

Real number of yesterday's cases will become known in about a week, it takes time for symptoms to develop and patients get tested. We are not out of the woods yet.

Tioloco - 6-1-2020 at 04:44 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Alm  
US containment of this epidemic have been poor from the beginning, there is nothing to "claim" here. US residents and Mex temporary workers in the US were taking infection back to Mexico and other Mex residents (and US semi-expats) are now taking it from Mexico to the US. Minimal screening at the border, minimal contacts tracking, minimal isolation. Not to say that they are doing it right in Mexico.

Closing the border 100% between the 2 countries would have had a worse impact on the citizens of both countries than the virus will have. The numbers are still not anywhere near panic status if you look at them on face value and stop listening to reporters hyping the situation for their viewership.
But panic sells news. Sadly always will.

Alm - 6-2-2020 at 02:01 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Tioloco  

Closing the border 100% between the 2 countries would have had a worse impact on the citizens of both countries than the virus will have. The numbers are still not anywhere near panic status if you look at them on face value ...

Let's not get confused.

Screening at the border, contacts tracking and isolation doesn't mean closing the border.

The numbers (in Mexico) have just peaked in the last several days, hovering around 3000/day. The downward slope is usually less steep than the upward.

There is statistics, you may check it for yourself. 10,000 deaths and counting.

You missed one word.....

thebajarunner - 6-2-2020 at 02:17 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Alm  
Quote: Originally posted by Tioloco  

Closing the border 100% between the 2 countries would have had a worse impact on the citizens of both countries than the virus will have. The numbers are still not anywhere near panic status if you look at them on face value ...

Let's not get confused.

Screening at the border, contacts tracking and isolation doesn't mean closing the border.

The numbers (in Mexico) have just peaked in the last several days, hovering around 3000/day. The downward slope is usually less steep than the upward.

There is statistics, you may check it for yourself. 10,000 deaths and counting.


You need to rewrite this
10,000 reported deaths and counting

Lots of speculation that the real number is six/ eight/ ten times what is reported....

Remember the great earthquake where they finally just sealed off the underground rail because it was full of bodies, no one ever knew how many.

It is very hard to believe that given the lack of controls by AMLO that Mexico only has had 10% of US tally, very hard indeed...

Alm - 6-3-2020 at 10:14 AM

Bajarunner, you're right. The real number of cases (and deaths) is probably several times higher.

Just wanted to say that in Mexico it is now in more severe stage - has just peaked or still rising in some areas - than in the US where it seems to decline.

Coronavirus Jumps the Border, Overwhelming Hospitals in California

jaymtb - 6-7-2020 at 06:52 PM

Coronavirus Jumps the Border, Overwhelming Hospitals in California

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/us/coronavirus-border-mex...

Earlier:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/world/americas/virus-mexi...

‘It's Too Little, Too Late': Sentiments From El Centro Residents Amid Growing COVID-19 Cases

BajaNomad - 6-30-2020 at 10:51 PM

--
The small border towns of El Centro and Calexico in Imperial County are getting national attention due to their growing number of coronavirus cases.

Imperial County has a population smaller than the City of Chula Vista and has faced more than 5,000 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

The pressure is on at the county's largest hospital, El Centro Regional Medical Center, which continues to add beds and hospital space for patients.

"The staff is exhausted because we've been doing this since the first of March," said Dr. Adolphe Edward, chief executive officer for El Centro Regional Medical Center (ECRMC). "120 to 130 days of non-stop work. Of course, you're going to get exhausted, of course, you're going to express that you're really tired."

The hospital is also transferring COVID-19 patients at a high rate, sending them to hospitals around California including San Diego and Stanford.

NBC 7 asked Dr. Edward where the spike of cases and spread was coming from.

"When Yuma opened and when San Diego opened, our own families here are going to Yuma and San Diego and coming back," he responded. "So, how do you really figure the epidemiology of the population?"

South of El Centro is Calexico which borders the Mexican border town of Mexicali. Baja California Health officials said their hospitals are 90% full of COVID-19 cases.

Some Imperial county residents blame the county saying their efforts were "too little, too late." The Imperial County Health director disagrees.

"We've been working Monday through Sunday and very long hours trying to keep the community safe and healthy and we're going to continue doing that," said Imperial County Health Director Janette Angulo.
--

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/its-too-little-too-la...

Ken Cooke - 6-30-2020 at 11:21 PM

There has been growing scrutiny in the Riverside area of patients being flown by helicopter from Imperial County into Riverside County for medical treatment related to Covid-19. I saw a YouTube video filmed in a local church, featuring an unnamed Nurse describing the life flights from the border region north of Calexico into Riverside County - as far northwest as Riverside City.

SFandH - 7-1-2020 at 07:30 AM

If people don't smarten up and start following the rules to prevent infection there won't be any place for those helicopters to fly to.

The gov will need to build quick set-up hospitals to handle the overflow and bring in refrigerated trucks to handle the recently deceased.

BajaNomad - 7-1-2020 at 12:05 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Ken Cooke  
There has been growing scrutiny in the Riverside area of patients being flown by helicopter from Imperial County...


'There wasn’t enough room for a sudden influx of COVID-19 patients at El Centro Regional Medical Center. So new patients had to be transferred to hospitals hundreds of miles away. Helicopters circled overhead while waiting for the hospital’s only heliport to open up. Judy Cruz, director of the emergency department, described the scene that day like something out of the 1979 war movie “Apocalypse Now.” “Never had I seen helicopters flying out here like it’s Vietnam,” she said.'

'Below those helicopters, patients were screened inside military-grade medical tents set up in the hospital’s parking lot to handle the overflow. Inside the hospital, roughly 50% of all in-patients have COVID-19. The intensive care unit on the second floor has been unofficially renamed the COVID wing. More than 200 COVID-19 patients have been transferred out of Imperial County, a rural community bordered by Arizona and Mexico that has the highest per capita rate of COVID-19 cases in California. At first, they went to San Diego County or Palm Springs. But now patients are being transferred to Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Sacramento, county officials said.'

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-15/imperial...

elcentro.jpg - 135kB

BajaNomad - 7-1-2020 at 12:09 PM

Quote: Originally posted by SFandH  

The gov will need to build quick set-up hospitals to handle the overflow and bring in refrigerated trucks to handle the recently deceased.


It was reported on a San Diego TV news station last night - and I can't find an online reference for it - that Imperial County hospitals were now bringing in refrigerated trailers for the deceased.