County officials on Wednesday continued to stress the dire situation faced by hospitals and even morgues as COVID-19 cases continue to mount.

The crisis prompted Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents Long Beach, to request the USNS Mercy medical ship return to the Port of Los Angeles to help treat patients or lend staff assistance to hospitals, some of which are so full they are treating patients in hallways, gift shops and conference rooms. There was no immediate word on whether the federal government would honor her request.

Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the Department of Health Services, said Wednesday the county would welcome any resources from the federal government to help exhausted and overwhelmed staff members at public and private hospitals.

“Our hospitals continue to be under siege,” she said during a media briefing Wednesday.

The 1,000-bed USNS Mercy arrived at the Port of Los Angeles on March 27 to provide relief for Southland hospitals that were preparing for an anticipated surge of coronavirus patients in April. The ship was not brought in to treat COVID-19 cases, but to handle other patients and free up hospital beds for virus treatment.

It departed on May 15 for its home port in San Diego.

It was difficult last spring to identify patients “suitable for transfer” to the offshore vessel, Ghaly said. The ship treated fewer than 100 people during its time here. But that was at a time when hospitals were not in surge and were not overwhelmed, Ghaly said.

The county on Wednesday reported there are now 7,415 people hospitalized throughout the county for COVID-19. About half of all patients in the county’s four public hospitals are infected with COVID-19, and the situation is similar in private facilities, Ghaly said.

In Long Beach, 70% of all ICU beds were being used by COVID-19 patients, Health Director Kelly Colopy said Tuesday.

As of Wednesday, there were just 47 intensive care unit beds available in the entire county, and 630 regular acute-care beds.

The volume of patients has led to some “unfortunate outcomes” for some patients who were not able to be offloaded in ERs quickly by ambulances, Ghaly said. She did not elaborate when asked for details about whether individuals died, how many and where.

The county on Wednesday reported 274 new deaths from the virus, pushing the total to 10,056 since the beginning of the pandemic in March. The higher total Wednesday is in part due to a reporting delay.

Officials said an average of 150 people are dying of COVID per day, compared to an average of 170 people dying each day from all other causes.

The situation in hospital morgues is so dire that the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office has been storing bodies on their behalf, and National Guard troops have been called in to help the coroner’s office with administrative duties, officials said.

The case total for Wednesday was 10,392, a number that is likely lower because some testing sites were closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Barbara Ferrer, director of the Department of Public Health said.

The county’s positivity rate is now 20%, which means one in five people who are tested are positive.

The virus continues to throttle two groups in particular: the Latino community, and low-income residents, many of whom work in essential services such as grocery stores, transit facilities, the medical field and manufacturing.

“They all need our respect,” Ferrer said. “They all need our support. They all need to be protected. They do not get to stay home.”

A bit of good news: As of Tuesday, 78,022 frontline health care workers have received their first dose of vaccine. Another 1,398 EMTs and paramedics, 3,189 staff and residents at skilled nursing facilities have also been vaccinated.

At a city media briefing, Mayor Robert Garcia said the city expects to complete vaccinations for all of its medical workers, including hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and EMTs and paramedics. On Jan. 11, the city will begin vaccinating other frontline workers, including teachers and grocery clerks.

Melissa Evans is the Chief Executive Officer of the Long Beach Post and Long Beach Business Journal. Reach her at [email protected], @melissaevansLBP or 562-512-6354.