Coronavirus Update: Gov. Newsom Says Sleep Train Arena Will Have 363 Beds
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — As California prepares for the anticipated surge of coronavirus cases in the coming weeks, Governor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday the Sleep Train Arena will be available to house 363 hospital beds.
This comes days after the Chief Engineer of the Army Corps of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, said the empty arena will be converted into a field hospital for coronavirus and non-coronavirus patients.
A large part of the state's surge plan includes ensuring there will be enough beds and ventilators in California for the anticipated patients. Newsom said Wednesday he's looking to secure 66,000 beds, 30,000 of which would come from the existing hospital system. The remaining beds need to be procured from other sites, including Sleep Train Arena.
"So every day we're stacking more of those beds, more of those supports in going out, as I said already, finding over 4,252 ventilators as part of phase one goal of 10,000," Newsom said during a press conference Wednesday.
Newsom began his press conference Wednesday by saying 774 COVID-19 patients are currently in the ICU beds. According to Johns Hopkins Wednesday afternoon, 9,399 people have tested positive for coronavirus in California, and 199 people have died.
The governor's Office of Emergency Services said work has not yet begun at the arena.
"We expect a more formal announcement in the coming days once all of the details are pinned down with our federal partners," a Cal
OES spokesperson said.
