The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirms 59 new deaths and 4,592 new cases of COVID-19. This is the largest increase in new cases in Los Angeles since the pandemic began, surpassing the count of just two days before 4,244 new cases. In the last 48 hours there have been 7,350 new cases.
COVID-related hospitalizations are also at a record 2,173 people on Thursday. That beats the old record of 2,103 people hospitalized, which was also set Tuesday.
To be absolutely clear, that means LA has established registries for new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in two of the last three days.
Those numbers come the same day that the State of California reported that its 7-day average of new daily cases totaled more than 8,000 for the first time. That average has increased 295 percent in the past month.
“We are seeing a higher rate and higher numbers than we have seen before,” Los Angeles Public Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said Thursday.
Hospitalizations skyrocket in Los Angeles County. Wear a cloth face covering and stay at least 6 feet … twitter.com/i/web/status/1…—
LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) July 16, 2020
Dr. Davis indicated that health officials are concerned about the capacity of the hospital and the ICU. He said that “all” the hospitals in the region are “looking to implement the increase capacity.”
When asked when those beds could be depleted, Dr. Davis said, “Right now, we don’t have a precise number or track record” as to when the county will be out of ICU beds, but he said the numbers are they are “shooting”.
The number of beds in the ICU is more limited, and health officials are closely monitoring this situation.
There are currently 1,389 ICU beds available out of a total of approximately 4,800.
