Finally, Bay Area hospitals shutter COVID wards as threat of coronavirus recedes - The Mercury News

It’s evident in the voices of the health care workers who have just come through perhaps the most trying period of their professional lives.

The number of coronavirus patients has plummeted to single digits at many medical centers as the state chugs toward Tuesday’s reopening.

On Thursday, the hospital had just three coronavirus patients, a typical number over the last several weeks.

“The hospital is busier,” said Sanjay Kurani, hospital medical director at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, in a comment echoed by doctors across the region.

“We have quite a lot in play right now,” said Adrienne Green, chief medical officer for UCSF Medical Center.

When the coronavirus hit, Green and other chief medical officers from across San Francisco started meeting to share what they were learning about how to fight the deadly virus.

So will virtual doctor visits and other ways of digitally sharing health information and monitoring people remotely — even those requiring intensive care — that exploded during the pandemic.

“There’s a lot to be said for virtual, and there are so many wearable devices” that can transmit health information to health care providers, said William Isenberg, chief quality and safety officer for Sutter Health.