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Los Angeles County reported 10,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, December 24, extending an alarming three-day increase that has raised deep concern among public health officials and health officials in the region, who fear a record number of cases by the end of the year.
The 9,988 new cases of COVID-19 brought the county’s total since the start of the pandemic to 1,595,239 cases.
The 21 new deaths from COVID-19 released on Friday brought the county’s overall total to 27,533 so far.
The county will not update its coronavirus measurements on Christmas Day.
The total of people hospitalized across the county jumped nearly 50 overnight, to 850 people, according to the state database; 181 patients were in intensive care.
Of the more than 9,900,000 people tested; 15% of those tested positive, the county reported.
The surge in COVID-19 infections is mainly blamed on the rapid spread of the omicron variant, which was first discovered in South Africa and rapidly migrated around the world, including all 50 US states. Health officials said there was no evidence that omicron could cause more serious illness, but it can easily be spread from person to person, including those who have been vaccinated.
The statistics continue to reflect a continued surge which the county public health director said could lead to a record number of daily infections by the end of the year.
Fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19, Thursday’s 8,633 new infections jumped 33% from Wednesday’s 6,509.
Wednesday’s number was more than double the Tuesday’s total, when 3,052 cases were reported.
Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer warned this week that if infections continue to grow so dramatically, the number of daily cases could surpass 20,000 by the end of the year, peaking at of the pandemic.
She also said omicron will become the dominant strain in the county within weeks.
Ferrer noted on Wednesday that the number of hospitalizations had so far remained relatively stable, attributing vaccines to preventing those infected from becoming seriously ill. But on Thursday, the number of coronavirus-positive patients in county hospitals rose to 801, surpassing 800 for the first time since early October, according to the state figure
The vast majority of people hospitalized are not vaccinated, Ferrer said, insisting that the number of hospitalizations for vaccinated residents has remained low and stable since the vaccines became available. According to county figures, the hospitalization rate for unvaccinated people was 25 per 100,000 residents on Wednesday, compared to just 1 per 100,000 for those vaccinated.
Unvaccinated people are five times more likely to be infected with COVID-19, Ferrer said, 21 times more likely to be hospitalized and 18 times more likely to die.
The average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus rose to 6.6% on Thursday, according to the county, more than triple the rate from a week ago.
As of Sunday, 78% of eligible county residents aged 5 and older had received at least one dose of the vaccine and 70% were fully immunized. Of the county’s 10.3 million people, 74% have received at least one dose and 66% are fully immunized.
Black residents continue to have the lowest overall vaccination rate, at just 56% with at least one dose. Among Latino / a residents, the rate is 62%, compared to 75% of White residents and 84% of Asians.
The county does not immediately consider a return to lockdown or other severe restrictions on public activity, Ferrer said, but that will depend on actions residents take to slow the spread of the virus.
Yet some live shows and other forms of entertainment have been canceled due to outbreaks among staff or have become virtually out of caution.
USC and UCLA, for example, have postponed basketball games scheduled for next week due to COVID-19 protocols in both programs.
And on Friday, USC announced that the first week of the spring semester, which is due to start Jan. 10, will be virtual. This follows the announcement by several University of California campuses earlier in the week that their spring campuses will be virtual for a fortnight to begin.
Also highlighting the increase in cases on Friday, a rush to at least one testing site, with a Kaiser Permanente testing operation in Gardena, saw a line of cars three blocks from the city in the morning.
The cars meandered north on Figueroa Street, east on Victoria Street, south on Broadway, and west on West Griffith Street to the Kaiser parking lot. The vehicles then zigzagged across the lot to the test area.
People there said they waited up to three hours to get tested at the drive-thru site, causing some frustration.
“We’ve been two years and still at square one,” said Gerald Rivas, a resident of San Pedro. “They should have figured this out a long time ago and started sending tests.”
The long line, however, highlighted the current concern over the spike in cases.
Gloria Guerrero, of San Pedro, said she canceled a family trip to Palm Springs and came to get tested as a Christmas present to her son.
“My neighbor and her grandson currently have COVID,” Guerrero said. “My son was worried and wanted me to get tested.
The community-organized nonprofit relief effort, commonly known as CORE, says it will expand COVID-19 testing capacity in the coming weeks. To meet demand during the push, CORE, co-founded by actor Sean Penn, hopes to increase testing to a minimum of 1,000 daily tests at its Los Angeles sites, from an average of 250 tests per day before the push. ‘omicron.
CORE said it will meet demand by adding two new sites per week during the holidays. The association currently operates 11 testing clinics, both on fixed and mobile sites. He hopes to increase to 13 units by December 30 and to 15 by the end of the first week of January.
Details on the location of the new sites were not available. CORE is also working to deliver rapid testing at eight of the sites by the first week of January.
“The recent surge of COVID-19 cases fueled by Omicron does not surprise us at CORE. Less than 3% of people in low-income countries have been vaccinated, and until our world leaders continue to prioritize immunization of the world’s most underserved populations, new variants will emerge and flare-ups will follow, ” CORE said in a provided statement. serving the city’s news.
“We are working with our regional partners to ensure we provide access to the most marginalized and vulnerable communities, where people cannot afford to spend three hours in line to get tested,” added the ‘association.
CORE partners include Pasadena Job Center, YMCA, Girls Club of LA, Los Angeles Health Services, Alma Family Center, City of Santa Fe Springs, Los Angeles County Libraries, Herald Christian Center, Union Station, Echo Park Residents, LA City Parks and Recreation, the Mayor’s Office, LA Apparel, NoHo Alliance, Graff Lab, Flow Health, Carbon Health, Fulgent, LA County and Curogram.
CORE was founded by Penn and Ann Lee in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. During the pandemic, he partnered with the city to provide free tests, vaccines and support services to vulnerable communities in Los Angeles. It has expanded operations in the United States and abroad and administered more than 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccines and more than 5.9 million COVID-19 tests globally as of December 2021. More than information is available at coreresponse.org.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced an effort to expand access to testing statewide, primarily by increasing the hours of operation of state-run sites. The state has nearly 6,300 testing sites, he said.
“We were able to determine that 90% of Californians… have access to a testing site that is less than 30 minutes from their home, 60% only 15 minutes from their home. We have 257 OptumServe partners, and we are working with them to extend hours of operation, to extend them especially where demand is high and there are bottlenecks, ”Newsom said.
County officials have pledged to explore options to respond to the outbreak.
“I have always been transparent and honest with a variant such as Omicron and potentially other variants that may occur in the future, every option needs to be on the table,” she said. “Every tool we have must be available to protect people’s lives and livelihoods. “
Otherwise, Ferrer warned, the hospital system could be overwhelmed.
“I think if we can all do this, all of us, each person, we commit to celebrating as safely as possible, which may mean you change some of your plans,” she said, “we are going to be OK.
City News Service, Editor Hoard Freshman, and Editors Chris Haire and Lisa Jacobs contributed to this report.
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