UPDATED 4:15 PM A day after Los Angeles County reported a record number of new coronavirus cases, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health confirmed that it had the highest number of COVID-related hospitalizations on Wednesday since the pandemic began. There are currently 2,193 people hospitalized with coronavirus. That breaks a record set just two days earlier.
Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer called the new data “disturbing and surprising”, before warning that a county-wide stay-at-home order may be coming back.
The director announced that the 7-day moving average of the test’s positivity rate is up to 9.8 percent. That compares with 9 percent earlier this week.
Ferrer said the county had seen 2,758 new COVID-19 cases reported in the past 24 hours. While it was not a record high, the number was significant enough to prompt the director to say, “We are in an alarming place.” She went on to say that “the 7-day average of 2,859 new cases per day is double that of June.”
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“We don’t want to see more than 3,000 cases a day,” he said.
“We now see a 3-day average of more than 2,000 people hospitalized for COVID-19, more than at any other time since the pandemic began,” said Ferrer. Those are the highest rates the region has had since the pandemic began.
“There has also been an increase in patients needing ICUs and ventilators,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. She then reported that the effective transmission number is now 1.07. That’s from 1.01 at the end of last week.
As a result, “the number of ICU beds may become inadequate,” he warned. Hospitals and local health officials, according to Ghaly, are “working to implement disaster plans.” The biggest problem limiting ICU beds is the staff, she said, not the beds themselves.
The number of remaining beds in the ICU, frustratingly, was not given. But Ferrer revealed that there are currently 2,193 people hospitalized with COVID-19.
According to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, there was a record total of 2,103 hospitalizations Monday in the county, with 766 beds remaining. On Monday there was an increase of 565 patients in the ICU compared to 397 a month ago, Garcetti said at the time. There were 141 ICU beds remaining in the Los Angeles metro area at the time, according to the mayor.
“These trends were related to stocks two weeks ago,” said Ferrer, noting the recent Memorial Day holiday. But, after several workplace closings after outbreaks, companies also need to improve, he said.
“All workplaces,” he said, “must deploy essential resources for each worker.”
“Keeping business open is only possible if we can curb the spread,” said Ferrer. Business owners and operators, he continued, “have a moral corporate responsibility to keep employees healthy.”
When asked about a renewed order for Safer-At-Home, Ferrer said: “We cannot remove anything from the table. We have to do everything possible to protect the health care system. Do we want to return to a safer home order? Absolutely not.”
However, trends seem to have led LA in that direction.
On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered all counties to close their restaurants, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, wineries, zoos, and bars for indoor service. The bars were ordered to close entirely.
Additionally, LA and 31 other counties on the state’s watch list must close gyms, houses of worship, nail and nail salons, and closed shopping malls. Other local LA counties affected include Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Diego, Orange, and virtually all other Southern California counties.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed COVID-19’s record of new cases and hospitalizations in one day with 4,244 new cases and 2,103 people currently hospitalized.
That compares with 2,593 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
Of the 2,103 people hospitalized on Monday, 27 percent of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU and 19 percent are confirmed cases in ventilators. According to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Monday there were only 766 hospital beds left for the region’s 10 million residents.
That led Garcetti to say the city’s COVID-19 threat meter is “on the verge of red,” the highest level, which would mean a complete shutdown in Los Angeles due to the pandemic.
The county confirmed 73 new Covid-19 deaths Tuesday. This is one of the highest numbers of new deaths reported in a day and may reflect a delay in reporting deaths over the weekend. “To put that in perspective, Ferrrer said, 76 deaths is the most we’ve seen since this pandemic started.
There were 44 new coronavirus deaths Wednesday, with a total of 3,932 total deaths in Los Angeles County since the pandemic began.
On Wednesday, health officials also announced that the county is expanding its testing footprint by 65 percent in the coming weeks, especially in South Los Angeles. Currently, the region performs around 100,000 tests a day for a population of 10 million.
The new health officer order, effective today, prioritizes those who have symptoms, are in high-risk settings. Known close contact. Essential workers. Effective today. Unless you fall into one of those categories, you may not need to be tested.
The order comes a day after Governor Gavin Newsom announced similar guidance on the evidence.
