Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California are "seeing a leveling off of Covid-19 cases," Stephen Parodi, an infectious disease doctor and associate executive director with The Permanente Medical Group in Northern California, told Politico. The hospitals have also seen a drop in calls related to colds and coughs since the region began enforcing social distancing.
Jahan Fahimi, medical director of the emergency department at University of California San Francisco's Parnassus campus, told Politico that the shelter-in-place order implemented early on is the most plausible explanation as to why there are fewer cases in the area compared with elsewhere in the US.
"We're definitely cautiously optimistic," Fahimi said. He also said there isn't a surge in patients who need intensive care.
Dr. Bob Wachter, professor and chair of the department of medicine at UCSF, told CNBC on Thursday that the emergency room at UCSF's Parnassus campus is only "moderately busy," with hospital beds still unoccupied in the intensive care unit. According to the CNBC report, the healthcare workers at the hospital have had ample time to prepare for an expected surge in patients — through such measures as postponing surgeries — since the number of critical cases has been climbing at a manageable rate.
San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center is seeing similar situations.