Bay Area Hospitals Prepare To Potentially Receive Cruise Ship Coronavirus Patients
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Hospitals in the Bay Area Monday were preparing to accept any potential cases of COVID-19 that were disembarking the coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess cruise ship at the Port of Oakland.
Outside UCSF Parnassus, tents were set up waiting for any potential cases. No word has been revealed about where the 21 infected cases from the ship will end up, but the tents will be awaiting them at whichever hospital they are sent to.
"Individuals will not come into contact with the general public at any point of their journey," California governor Gavin Newsom assured the public at a news conference Sunday.
There are 100 negative pressure rooms in San Francisco and around 200 in the Bay Area. The 50 rooms at Zuckerberg SF General Hospital were initially meant to stop the spread of measles and tuberculosis, but can now also be used to contain the coronavirus and stop its spread.
"Air pulls from the hallway into the anteroom rather than flowing out into the hallway, where there are other people," explained Dr. Lisa Winston, hospital epidemiologist at ZSFGH. There is also a two-door system in the rooms.
"When you come through the second door, you're in the patient's room and this room also has negative pressure when it comes to the anteroom. Air is flowing into this room and not out of this room," Winston said.
If any patients coming off of the ship require hospitalization, it's very likely they'll end up at a Bay Area negative pressure room to stop the spread of the virus to anyone else.