On Wednesday, Los Angeles Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer reported 3,266 new coronavirus cases in the region for a total of 164,870 cases. Ferrer said the 7-day average of new daily infections has more than doubled in the past month. The daily positivity rate for the new tests is now 8.5 percent.
“This week, I think, could be a turning point,” said Ferrer.
“COVID-19 appears to be on its way to claiming more lives in Los Angeles County than any disease other than coronary heart disease,” said the director. The flu, he said, is not as deadly as COVID-19. In the first six months of 2020, COVID-19 killed twice as many people in the region as the flu during the 8-month flu season this year and last year.
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A big component of the increases is that, according to the director, “almost 60 percent of the new cases we’re seeing are among young adults.” He indicated that hospitalizations among that group are also increasing.
Ferrer said there was a record 2,207 COVID-related hospitalizations as of Wednesday. That’s just 25 patients below the all-time high of 2,232, which was recorded on Monday. It marked the fourth consecutive day that hospitalizations were over 2,000.
Given the lower demand for ICU beds and fans among youth, a change is expected in the need for ICU beds and fans. The capacity of those currently seems adequate.
But, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, “the number of ICU beds with staff may be inadequate.”
The number of ICU beds with staff is “hovering between 130-160 beds on any given day,” Ghaly said. That is for a population of 10 million. If there is an additional demand, it may be necessary to increase the beds. “The main problem is staffing,” said Ghaly, noting that a higher level of staffing is needed to maintain a bed in the ICU.
There were 64 new deaths, for a total of 4,213. “Deaths are on a downward trajectory,” said Ferrer, but that number could rise rapidly due to the number of hospitalized patients.
This occurred when Governor Gavin Newsom reported a record 12,807 new cases of coronavirus on Monday. He said this total was “the highest in the nation.” The previous record was produced on July 7, 11,694.
California now has 413,576 confirmed cases of COVID-19. That exceeds 408,886 seen in New York State as of Wednesday. New York was previously the most affected state in the union.
According to a Sacramento Bee calculation, that means that about 1 in 96 state residents has or has had the virus.
California hospitalizations due to COVID-19 increased by 79 to a total of 7,170. That means the number of hospitalizations has more than doubled in the state in less than six weeks. The number of virus-related ICU patients in the state increased by 52 to 2,058 in total.
Two days after California Governor Gavin Newsom authorized it, Los Angeles County is allowing the reopening of hair salons, nail and nail salons, and some personal care services related to amended rules. Read them here.
Services must be provided outdoors. Services that cannot be provided outdoors should be discontinued until indoor operations are allowed to resume. Any personal grooming service provided outdoors must meet the requirements of the local permitting agency. Services that cannot be performed with facial coatings for both the worker and the client or that require touching the client’s face are not allowed, for example, eyelash services, eyebrow waxing and depilation, facial treatments, etc.
