Ships. Dorms. Hospitals on the verge of closure. As the coronavirus continues to spread across the Bay Area and beyond, officials are scrambling to add beds for ill patients before California’s healthcare system is overwhelmed.

On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said his team is predicting that more than half the state’s residents — some 25.5 million people — will get COVID-19 over eight weeks. Most people will likely not require hospitalization, but the state is estimating that the number who do could require 20,000 hospital beds beyond California’s current stock of about 90,000.

To boost capacity, the state has acquired beds at Seton Medical Center in Daly City, which just weeks ago was on the verge of closure. The governor is in talks with the University of California and California State University systems to open up vacated dorms to fight the disease. U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie told NPR he had “freed up our newest facility in Palo Alto, California, and turned that into a center that would receive those veterans who have the COVID-19.” And Newsom has requested that a Navy hospital ship be stationed off the coastline for non-coronavirus patients in an attempt to free up beds on land for those infected.

“This is really important,” said David Canepa, a San Mateo County supervisor who has pushed in recent months to keep Seton from closing. “This is purely and simply about saving lives.”

According to Canepa, the state will lease 177 of the struggling hospital’s approximately 360 beds for at least the next six months, paying an initial $5 million and then between $2.5-$3.2 million a month in operating expenses after that. Coronavirus patients, Canepa said, will be kept on certain floors.

“The situation here is so fluid,” Canepa said, adding that the lease could extend beyond the initial 180 days and traveling nurses could be brought in to help care for patients.

The current owner, Verity, declared bankruptcy in 2018 and, according to Canepa, the state’s use of the facility will not stop bidders from continuing to negotiate to buy the embattled hospital, which has long served the region’s lowest-income residents and acted as Daly City’s largest employer.

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) applauded the state’s decision to lease beds at Seton.

“This is a hugely important step for the Bay Area’s capacity to support those needing medical help. Seton Medical Center is a pillar of our community, and has a talented staff with much to give during this crisis,” Wiener said in a statement. “I applaud Governor Newsom’s decision to keep Seton open, and offer my full support through the transition.”

A spokeswoman for the local VA Sierra Pacific Network said that as of Friday midday, two veterans who tested positive for the coronavirus were receiving treatment at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. But no patients are being transferred from the facility to make accommodations for patients who have COVID-19, the spokeswoman, Armenthis Lester, said.

“The risk of transmission to other patients and staff remains low, as the veterans are being cared for in isolation by staff who are specially trained on the latest Centers for Disease Control treatment guidelines,” Lester wrote in an email, “and utilizing personal protective equipment and infection control techniques.”

The governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for information about the higher education systems working with the governor to fight the spread of the virus, and CSU said it was in conversations with his team but couldn’t provide details.

A spokesman for UC, Andrew Gordon, said in an email that UC was working closely with state agencies.

“Toward that end, UC is in in contact with Gov. Newsom about the use of University housing facilities to support efforts to care for those infected with coronavirus and fight its spread,” Gordon said.

UC, Gordon noted, has not closed student housing or other services like dining halls and some students remain in the dorms. But, Gordon added, as students leave campuses, remaining students who have roommates have been moved into single-occupancy rooms to allow for the social distancing health experts recommend.

“Meanwhile, the university has begun to create an inventory of available space and determine the feasibility of repurposing some housing facilities for temporary emergency use,” Gordon said. “At no time, would students on campus be co-mingled with those being sheltered temporarily, and UC would continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of students and staff.”

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Mountain View’s coronavirus economy: Tech gives, tech takes away In news conferences throughout the week, Newsom has talked about the need to take whatever measures are necessary to limit the damage done by the coronavirus. He has asked the federal government for help, including the use of a 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship, the USNS Mercy, which is expected to be stationed in the waters near Los Angeles.

“If we meet this moment,” Newsom said Thursday night, “we can truly bend the curve.”

Check back for updates.