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  CALIFORNIA ICU availability in Southern California at 0% amid deluge of COVID-19 patients A nurse holds a COVID-19 patient’s hand Tuesday before she is intubated by a medical team in the intensive care unit at Loma Linda University Medical Center. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) By  LUKE MONEY ,  RONG-GONG LIN II ,  SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA DEC. 17, 2020 1:17 PM   UPDATED 2:20 PM The availability of intensive care unit beds throughout Southern California reached critical mass Thursday, with 0% open, the latest sign of how the worst wave of the coronavirus is hammering hospitals and pushing healthcare systems to their limits. Though officials have noted that the number of available ICU beds changes constantly as new patients are admitted or stabilized, the number of unoccupied beds in California’s most populous region has steadily eroded as hospitals have been flooded by unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 patients. ICU availability throughout Southern California — ...

  THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS California Activates 'Mass Fatality' Program As State Sets New Virus Records Facebook Twitter Flipboard Email December 17, 2020 2:32 PM ET BRAKKTON BOOKER Twitter California Gov. Gavin Newsom holds up a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a Los Angeles medical facility. Coronavirus cases continue to soar in the state as hospitals struggle to keep up with the surge. Jae Hong/AP Confirmed coronavirus infections and virus-related deaths are soaring in California, the nation's most populous state, setting new records as hospitals struggle to keep up with the onslaught of cases. It's prompted the state activate its so-called " mass fatality " program, which coordinates mutual aid across several governmental agencies. On Thursday, California  reported  52,281 new daily confirmed coronavirus cases and 379 new virus-related deaths, according to state data. This brings the state's total number of cases to more than 1.7 million, ...