Since the COVID-19 pandemic has taken over the society, Orange County has 882 confirmed cases and 14 of those cases are confirmed deaths, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency. The most affected county in California in Los Angeles County which has 6,377 cases confirmed and 147 deaths.

Eric Garcetti, the Mayor of Los Angeles, took action to transform the Los Angeles Convention Center into a hospital to help ease the strain of hospitals throughout the county.

“We are utilizing every resource to confront the COVID-10 crisis, the Los Angeles Convention Center will now become a federal medical station,” said Mayor Garcetti in a tweet.

Recently, Orange County has seen a rise of confirmed COVID-19 cases in just a week, rising to 400 total cases. If they continue to rise and affect Orange County, the Anaheim Convention Center should be turned into a temporary hospital to help the COVID-19 pandemic.

Events like D23 Expo, VidCon and the Starpower National Talent Competition that take place at the Anaheim Convention Center have all been postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Even though people’s perception of the center will change once they see hospital beds with sick people in them, it will be a necessity for the county to help stop the virus.

The city of Anaheim currently has 92 of the county’s 882 confirmed cases, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

A large portion of Anaheim’s population of 359,339 can easily be affected in a matter of months if Orange County residents do not take this virus seriously. It will lead to a cluster of patients in local hospitals. When all those beds are full, where will the city look to? The answer should be the Anaheim Convention Center.

On Mar. 26, the city of Anaheim approved an emergency economic recovery plan around $15 million to support city spending for seniors, the homeless, families in poverty, business promotion and tourism.

“The plan, brought forth by Mayor Harry Sidhu, calls for up to $8 million in community spending and $7 million to support business and tourism,” according to the city’s website.

If the spread of COVID-19 continues, will there be enough money to aid the transformation of the Anaheim Convention Center into a medical facility? It is a scary thought, but the vacant space at 800 W. Katella Ave in Anaheim can be the difference in saving lives.

The answer is the Anaheim Convention Center.